"National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist   From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Alexander Hamilton: here is the essential, endlessly engrossing biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.8212the Jekyll-and-Hyde of American capitalism. In the course of his nearly 98 years, Rockefeller was known as both a rapacious robber baron, whose Standard Oil Company rode roughshod over an industry, and a philanthropist who donated money lavishly to universities and medical centers. He was the terror of his competitors, the bogeyman of reformers, the delight of caricaturists8212and an utter enigma.   Drawing on unprecedented access to Rockefeller8217s private papers, Chernow reconstructs his subjects8217 troubled origins (his father was a swindler and a bigamist) and his single-minded pursuit of wealth. But he also uncovers the profound religiosity that drove him 8220to give all I could8221 his devotion to his father and the wry sense of humor that made him the country8217s most colorful codger. Titan is a magnificent biography8212balanced, revelatory, elegantly written.
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