What an extremely interesting book! The history of the Rothschild women was captivating and once started had to keep going to see how their deeply complicated role within the family evolved throughout time. This was not an easy read but as a fan of history I found it to be a complete and satisfying read.

Rothschild. A name that brings to mind a great banking empire. While many acknowledge the men of the Rothschild family for establishing the dynasty, the women, those born into the family and those who married in, contributed to it as well. This is their story.

The name Rothschild is one I've occasionally read, and all I really knew was that they were a wealthy family involved in banking. When I first saw this book, I was intrigued to learn more about the family and there was a lot to learn! This family had branches in several countries and while the main family branch was involved in financing, there were other ventures that the family pursued.

Each section focuses on the women of that generation and which lady became the family matriarch. Each generation had influential hostesses who assisted their husband with political ambitions. There were those who pursued love outside of family expectations, becoming outsiders of their culture and faith.

The only reason I didn’t rate this five stars is because it is a heavy read. There are a lot of details of the time and individuals associated with the Rothschild family. It was difficult to come back to because I would feel lost about where in time I was at on the page. But once I began reading, I could catch up.

This is a book that those interested in the family and history in general will enjoy.

The word Rothschild is synonymous with generational wealth, banking and their legacy. What is not very well known are the women of this majestic family. The Women of Rothschild by Natalie Livingstone brings to light the women of the Rothschild family who played pivotal role in the transformation and strengthening of this family, which may be known to some, but is largely hidden from the public.

Natalie has provided details right from the start of the family's matriarch, whose methods lay the foundations for this family. Every woman from this family has played an important role, may it be for their family, or to this world.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC of the Women of Rothschild
This took me a while to read as it's more historical information than a novel. I found it hard to stay engaged and keep reading, just wasn't my cup of tea.
It's filled with so much information about this very powerful and famous family. I'm not usually one to read historical biographies but had some interesting parts, i could not keep the women/characters straight though, I read it periodically in between other light reads
Well written and filled with an immense amount of history

This turned out to be a fascinating read! It hadn't been on my radar until I received a NetGalley invite to read, and I quickly jumped on it--both as I am a history buff and the topic looked interesting.

I was definitely not disappointed, and indeed quite pleased. A dense read? Yes, lol. But worthwhile for sure; the women of Rothschild lived intriguing lives worthy of sharing. I hope this sparks more books to be written; there's certainly no dearth of material available.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

It took me awhile to get through this. It is an interesting book that highlights these remarkable women and I certainly learned a great deal about this family.

In November, I made a point to read more history nonfiction for #nonfictionnovember, including an ARC of The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Dynasty by Natalie Livingstone. This fascinating book focuses on the matriarchs of the Rothschild family, women who were formidable in their own right but have been lost to history until now. The author takes the reader from the family’s humble origins in Germany to its ascension in English royal palaces and grand estates.

She chooses a few Rothschild women to highlight in each generation, and my favorites were Charlotte and Constance who were involved in extensive charitable works and Nica and Miriam who risked their lives for the Allies in WWII. I loved the details from both world wars, and my heart was in my throat as one Rothschild family fled across Europe with Kaiser Wilhelm’s German army marching at their heels. The WWII stories were almost unbelievable with Nica using her own pilot license to help with the French resistance efforts in Africa and Miriam serving as a code breaker at the famous Bletchley Park. One Rothschild family estate was even turned into a Red Cross hospital and RAF airfield!

Time and again, the women in the Rothschild family proved their keen intellect and political acumen only to be relegated to the sidelines. As women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they found creative ways to fight for their beliefs whether it was voting rights for women or supporting the burgeoning movement to create Israel. They also had to deal with religious prejudice as Jewish women in Protestant England, which caused many family rifts as several women made marriages outside of the faith.

If you love real stories about fascinating women from history, you’ll want to read this book!

I was blown away by the depth of knowledge and the depth of scope in this wonderful piece of non-fiction. I will admit that this family was one I was not very familiar with abd I came away with a sound education. Engrossing and enjoyable

This was an interesting history of the Rothschild women. It details how the dynasty began and all of the influence these women held throughout the history of the family and the Rothchild bank. These women, who are little remembered in Rothschild history, were poets, writers, artists, scientists, philanthropists and so much more. They were the backbone and at times the brains of the family and deserve as much recognition as their male counterparts. They survived wars, tragedy and societal shuns for their religious beliefs and still continued this great legacy. This was a very interesting read.

Strong , independent, resourceful women have often played important roles throughout history. The Rothschild family women are a shining example of that. For generations, across Europe to New York City, in diverse endeavors such as philanthropy, business and supporting artists, the Rothschild women have been outstanding.

Culled from a variety of sources, this is nonfiction that reads like fiction. A fascinating look at what women can do, it would be a worthy addition to a women's studies program collection.

A great book about the forgotten women of a dynamic and eternal dynasty. I didn't know much about the Rothschild's and it was a bit confusing with repeating names but to learn about their lives and how it changed over the years was fascinating.

For a nonfiction book, this one was filled with interesting insights into a family that is well known. I really enjoyed the focus on the women’s contribution to the family fame and fortune, even if a lot of it was focused around propping up the men socially.

The family history in general was fascinating. I found it so interesting how much the family contributed to Jewish history. The way that the women were disregarded and left out of the fortune was awful but I loved how they came back and proved themselves to be valuable business partners.

While the history included was so interesting, there were some parts that dragged. The details about the men’s runs for political positions were a bit on the dry side and there were other parts that I think required a bit more historical background knowledge (that I don’t have 😅) to understand better.

Overall, if you have some background knowledge on the happenings in Europe in the late 1800s and through the 1900s, this is a great read!

The Women of Rothschild is a very well written and researched story spanning from the 1800s to the 2000s. Detailing the dynasty of the Rothschilds, this is a must read for fans of history and biographies.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

My Interest

The name “Rothschild” conjures up for me images of unimaginable wealth. Aristocratic families are a big interest of mine, so when I saw this on NetGalley I requested it and somehow got both a print and an audio copy. I listened to the audio.
The Story

Starting in the 18th century in “Jewish ghetto” and ending in the late 1990s, this biography purports to tell the real story of the women behind the Rothschild men. We are promised that the women were more than mere wives and mothers. What did these women do as the wives and daughters of one of the world’s best known Jewish families? That is what the biography sets out to tell us. The family is compared to a royal family because they all hate each other but close ranks and form a united front in public–I loved that, even if I couldn’t stop and write out the exact quote. (NetGalley’s reading app doesn’t have any features and I forgot and downloaded to it and not Kindle, so it wasn’t easy to find it).

In the early years the women were more involved with the family business, but as time went on they fell into the normal society lady type charitable works. There is nothing unusual about a great “lady” helping with encouragement and money to improve the education of poor children, nor is there really anything unusual about them working to improve health conditions. It was unusual for anyone to take up the cause of Jewish “women of the night,” but as others were doing it for non-Jewish women of that profession I don’t really see it as that unique.

Fast-forward to the 20th Century. While various men of the family involved themselves in the late 19th Century with the Prince of Wales “Marlborough House” set, there was little remarkable about that, either. They had pots and pots of money. The Prince often needed it. Sir Ernest Cassel (Grandfather of Edwina Mountbatten) was another Jewish financier in the Marlborough House set.

Finally, somewhere around World War II or just after we get to some slightly more interesting activities. A Rothchild woman contributed to a report hoping to de-criminalize h o _ – se-u _; ! ty. Good thing, since at least one of the men had such proclivities. Miriam became an expert on fleas and other parasites. She was finally even welcomed by “professionals” for her extensive knowledge. Veronica, aka “Nica’ gets the lion’s share of the coverage–or rather her famous male associates to. Thelonious Monk and Charlie “Bird” Parker. The hose she built for jazz sessions was called “The Cat House.” And, she observed first hand a Jim Crow-era beating in New Castle, Delaware (a Civil War border state) that Monk endured.

Finally, another end-of-the-book Rothschild, discovers that motherhood isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Being rich and having discovered this, she got to write about it. Wow. I think Betty Friedan beat you to it, Sweetie, but …. Goodness knows it must be way harder to be a Mom with a ton of money in the 1990’s than in the stifling suburbia and low pay of the early 1950s!

Miriam, of flea fame, also did contribute in a very humanitarian way to the founding of Israel and the Zionist movement as led by the nation’s first President, Chaim Weizmann. That was very commendable and I would like to have heard more about that.
My Thoughts

I’m being a bit snarky for a reason. There is so much MORE material in here (as there often is in such biographies of pre-21th Century women) about the men. And the man with the most coverage wasn’t even a Rothschild! He was Theolnious Monk, a great jazz musician. I love his music, his talent, but I came to read about how different the Rothschild women were. Instead I found out they did exactly the same sort of charity work as most other titled ladies of the era until about the time of World War II. Helping decriminalize you-know-what is very noteworthy. Also, Miriam certainly deserves praise for sticking to her studies and taking her naturalist studies to the professional level. (I loved that she included her son in her research)/

This is not a bad biography. I learned a lot. The prose is well written. It just didn’t profile enough about the women that was “exceptional.” I also found it very weird that they married cousins and it was even possible for an uncle to marry a niece–though not the very bold uncle whose announcement of such a marriage was one of the stories in the book. Too weird for words. Liberty Rothschild, the hidden “Rosemary Kennedy” of the family, deserved more attention, but alas, the records about her treatment were mostly burnt. I also like the appearance at the very, very end of Lady Bird Johnson and her “beautification” schemes with wildflowers. That was wonderful. She gave the world a gift–nice to see someone outside America, and with influence, admiring her work.
My Verdict

3.5

Natalie Livingstone's history of the brilliant women of the extensive, world-spanning Rothschild clan is impeccably researched and gloriously readable. From the 1753 birth of Gutle, the original clan matriarch, into the women of the modern era family, we come to know these women's interests, talents, and roles played in their political and economic times. What a story! And all true.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I went into this book blind, having known almost nothing about this wealthy Jewish family that shaped by European history. However, after reading the book, I still don't feel like I know very much. This book read like an encyclopedia and was mainly just a litany of facts and quotes mashed together to form a loosely organized book. I had trouble keeping the numerous characters straight, and resorted to Wikipedia and Google on many occasions to help me better understand what I was reading. This book was really dry and the writing style never made the characters come alive to me. It was a slog to get through and I kept hoping for more details that would make the women more interesting. I think the author was trying to show that the women in the Rothschild family were just as interesting and historically relevant, but the way this book was written had the opposite affect on me; I found them to be dull and uninteresting, completely dwarfed by the men. I retained little of what I read because I had to struggle so much to stay engaged with what I was reading.

I do appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I also appreciate the amount of research and work the author put into this book. Unfortunately, it was just not a book for me.

This is one thoroughly researched history book! The level of detail with which Natalie Livingstone describes the lesser-known women of the Rothschild banking empire is astounding. While it is dense and not good for a casual read, I enjoyed learning about the Rothschilds, their business practices, and (especially) their family drama. I appreciated how Livingstone highlighted the accomplishments and influence of the women--who were literally written out of the business in the patriarch's will--and how the Rothschild enterprises wouldn't have been nearly as successful without them.

TW for inbreeding, I suppose, and death. Lots of death.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC. To be transparent, I did not finish this book. I have not had the time, but can I just say I am blown away by this Livingstone's research skills. I made it about 68% of the way through before life got in my way. The Women of Rothschild are the true backbone of their families and Livingstone begins with such great detail about a time I knew so little about, I really felt like I learned something new from this book. For those of you who are looking to learn the background of all the Rothschild, please pick this up. Also, Natalie if you read this, please let me in on your prep work process because I am impressed!

The Women of Rothschild was an informative book, but a dry history read. While I enjoy non-fiction, I was missing the heart of the women who were the subjects of the book. This felt more like an academic treatise than a book for pleasure. If that style of writing is one you enjoy, then this is the book for you. If it’s not, then I would advise you to skip this particular book.

Rothschild is a huge family and the book is very well researched but it read like a history book. It was very factual but there was no heart to it. I knew what the women did but not why. I didn't feel like I really got to know any of the women. There is a family tree but I think those who read a physical book will be able to benefit from it. I read on a Kindle and without the ability to enlarge it was useless. I was confused with the numerous people named Charlotte, Hannah, Mayer, and Nathan.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a digital copy.