The descendants of Mayer Amschel Rothschild conquer the European financial world: Salomon Rothschild rises to become the leading banker in Austria during the Vormärz, his son Anselm Salomon founds the Creditanstalt, and grandson Albert becomes the richest man in Europe. The Rothschilds are elevated to barons and lords, financing states, wars, factories, and railway construction, while also being patrons and collectors. The Rothschild family business owns the largest bank in the world until 1914. Based on extensive research in the London Rothschild Archive, Roman Sandgruber paints a masterful picture of the family's rise and the fate of its Austrian branch. He depicts business dealings and transactions, scandals and dramas, bringing the unique success story of this Jewish bourgeois family back to life.