'The best short biography of the year... a tour de force.' Ian McIntyre, The Times

By the middle of the nineteenth century the five Rothschild brothers - in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Vienna and Naples - controlled the finances of Europe more closely than any family ever had before, and were a byword for the power which great wealth can bring with it.

But the man who founded this dynasty has always been an elusive figure who generally merits no more than a few pages in books which concentrate on the achievements of his offspring.

Amos Elon's wonderful biography Founder gives us, in as complete a form as possible, the life of this remarkable man for the first time.