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Philip L. Merkel

Author

Revising the Morgan Myth

The Morgans: Private International Bankers, 1854—1913. By Vincent P. Carosso. Harvard. $65.00. We 20th-century Americans are preoccupied with money. Like it or not, a fascination with things material is a pervasive national obsession. Movies a [...]

The Robber Baron As Hero

The Life and Legend of Jay Gould. By Maury Klein. Johns Hopkins. $27.50. Jay Gould was the kind of person whom Americans of the 19th-century loved to hate. At first glance, this is perplexing, since Gould was the archetypical self-made man, a sort [...]

Brandeis and Democratic Progressivism

Louis D. Brandeis: Justice for the People, By Philippa Strum. Harvard. $27.50. When Woodrow Wilson tapped Louis D. Brandeis for the Supreme Court in 1916, the nomination generated more adverse reaction than any previous Supreme Court appointment i [...]