American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune

Engaging, concise and easy to read while still providing the reading with all of the important facts.

I had never heard of Jay Gould but his story is a fascinating one. For a story taking place in the mid to late 1800s I thought the book was a great read with enough detail to give the reader insights and tales from an interesting period of US history. Big money controlled big industry and this is a good depiction of the era

Really enjoyed reading about the Gilded Age. Very insightful and well written.

Actually, my rating would be 4 1/2 since some professional reviewers suggested that the author's scholarship was less than rigorous. Nonetheless, I couldn't put the book down. Jay Gould was a name I'd heard, but I knew little about him. He lived in the rough and tumble times of the late 19th Century when financial manipulation was the order of the day. Manipulating markets was commonplace, and it would be a mistake to criticize Gould since all the other major Wall Street players were doing the same thing. At one point, he and his partner James Fisk even tried to corner the gold market. Gould's primary focus across the arc of his career was railroads. In the 19th Century there were scores of them, most created to serve small specific markets. Gould's vision was to combine many of these small lines into one continuous line that would cross the entire U. S. from coast to coast. Unfortunately, Gould died before his vision could be realized. Reading the book was a nostalgia trip. So many railroads were brought to mind, MKT, NYCentral, Pennsylvania, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Wabash, Erie, Texas Pacific. At some point Jay Gould was involved with them all. His principle nemesis was Cornelius Vanderbilt, and each was always trying to bankrupt the other. At the time of his death, Gould may have been the wealthiest man in the U. S. According to the book, Forbes rated Gould as the fourteenth wealthiest man in U. S. history. This book brought Gould to life and also served to highlight the era of the Robber Barons of which there were many featured in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about that colorful era.

Jay Gould was richer than the Rockefellers, nastier than Brian from "Family Guy," and quirkier than Elon Musk. In "American Rascal" author Greg Steinmetz not only colorfully captures the ruthless, unscrupulous robber baron, he also explains why anyone living in 2022 should care about Gould and his manipulations. Steinmetz is a gifted writer and thorough researcher. If you love history -- or love great villains -- you'll enjoy this book.