The Reichmann's

by Anthony Bianco

Book Overview

Traces the rise and fall of the devoutly religious Jewish dynasty that built the world's greatest international real estate empire. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679308121
• ISBN13: 9780679308126
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: Random House Canada
• Length: 810 Pages
• Weight: 2.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Details of a lost culture and a lost business empire

The book discusses in great detail the Reichmann family's role both in Jewish culture over the last couple hundred years and in the real estate developement business over the last 40 or so years. The part I liked the best was the descriptions of 18th and 19th century Jewish life in the "oberland"(sp?) of Hungary. A lost culture, thanks not only to the Nazis but also to Jewish Emancipation.In a way, it is inspirational, as it shows how one family managed to integrate a healthy, traditional religious expression with philanthropy and business acumen. It also shows that you cannot understand what makes that family "tick" without understanding the rich culture and religion of orthodox jewishness.The greatest strength of this book, in my opinion, is that it is a _history_ of the family and its business, religious, philanthropic, and cultural dealings. It isnt the hagiography that so many business biographies in the popular press tend to be.

Great reading over 2 centuries and 3 continents

A great, excellent book, that one should not start reading at 8 pm - he or she might finish it only at 8 am the next morning. It is not so much a book about any single person, rather about what difficulties one can stand if one truly believes in future success, as this family's members alwazs did.The only question the reader might ask is, why do we start a story about a company that became big in the late 60s with the founder's ancestors of the early 19 century ? The reason becomes clear at the end, at the time this empire crumbles under the weight of a speculation gone sour; the power of this family lies in its strong, sometimes self-negating values of family and faith, a red line that turns through the book and evolves at points where you would least expect them.If this was a fiction book, one should put it aside as too fancy, characters too good and too brave to be true etc. But this is real, and I was very please to learn that this last great speculation has turned fine again in the meantime and Mr Paul Reichmann into one of the big players in British real estate again.The book is really great reading, in a language that combines both the right terms and enough sense for personal emotions the members of the family felt during their sometimes brutal voyage through this century. I was especially glad to see that this book is a fine farewell to the libel suit the Reichmanns had to fight in order to get away from the hilarious blame that they were money launderer, drug trafficers etc. It is quite clear after reading the book that these men and women just had more power through their faith and more ability in money matters in their finger-tips than any other person can ever aquire in Harvard or through the full experience of a lifetime. They are just excellent speculators and investors and never had any doubt to fail.You should read this book to understand that everything is possible, that nothing will stand in your way if you truly believe - no matter if you are jewish or christian. Put this book after reading right next to your bible, that is the best place and the most honorable you can give it. I have given this book to 3 friends as a christmas gift, and all of them loved it as I do it.Dr. Rudolf C. King CEO, princeandprince.com Ltd Owner of HouseOfCommerce, Indonesia

Terrific reading over more than 2 centuries and 3 continents

A great, excellent book, that one should not start reading at 8 pm - he or she might finish it only at 8 am the next morning. It is not so much a book about any single person, rather about what difficulties one can stand if one truly believes in future success, as this family's members alwazs did.The only question the reader might ask is, why do we start a story about a company that became big in the late 60s with the founder's ancestors of the early 19 century ? The reason becomes clear at the end, at the time this empire crumbles under the weight of a speculation gone sour; the power of this family lies in its strong, sometimes self-negating values of family and faith, a red line that turns through the book and evolves at points where you would least expect them.If this was a fiction book, one should put it aside as too fancy, characters too good and too brave to be true etc. But this is real, and I was very please to learn that this last great speculation has turned fine again in the meantime and Mr Paul Reichmann into one of the big players in British real estate again.The book is really great reading, in a language that combines both the right terms and enough sense for personal emotions the members of the family felt during their sometimes brutal voyage through this century. I was especially glad to see that this book is a fine farewell to the libel suit the Reichmanns had to fight in order to get away from the hilarious blame that they were money launderer, drug trafficers etc. It is quite clear after reading the book that these men and women just had more power through their faith and more ability in money matters in their finger-tips than any other person can ever aquire in Harvard or through the full experience of a lifetime. They are just excellent speculators and investors and never had any doubt to fail.You should read this book to understand that everything is possible, that nothing will stand in your way if you truly believe - no matter if you are jewish or christian. Put this book after reading right next to your bible, that is the best place and the most honorable you can give it. I have given this book to 3 friends as a christmas gift, and all of them loved it as I do it.Dr. Rudolf C. King CEO, princeandprince.com Ltd Owner of HouseOfCommerce Indonesia HouseOfCommerce@ibm.net Munich Germany

Brian Wells Esq. Reviews "The Reichmanns"

Just as stated in the dust cover of the book, Anthony Bianco's book "The Reichmanns"combines the themes of at least three other books i.e."World of Our Fathers", "The Warburgs" and "Barbarians at the Gate." Addtionally, the book throws some addtional light on Margaret Thacher's England and the Mulrooney government of Canada in the 1980s. The book reads like a novel and holds the reader entranced all the way to the end. This reviewer came to the book without even having heard of the Reichmann family previously and still found the book a very comfortable read. The book makes very few pretensions about the previous knowlege of the reader. What unfamiliar terms are used by Bianco in this book are Yiddish and Hebrew phrases intentionally added to lend an authentic atomosphere to the book. The terms are repeated often enough that they too become a comfortable part of the text. Bianco, as the author of a previous book on business and the economy--"Rainmaker"-- is well suited to the subject matter. Early in the book he sets out to explain the fresh egg trade in Europe prior to World War II (revealing that England imported most of the fresh eggs that it consumed and most of those eggs came from Hungary).. But his style draws the reader in and the book ends up making even the egg trade of Europe interesting to the average reader.

Bianco has crafted a book fabuously rich in detail.

I found Bianco's book to be very rich in detailabout eastern European Jewry. It shows the strengths and weaknesses of the isolated Orthodox society in which only some Jews live but many tend to be judged by. The main story of getting great wealth was of less interest. I would recommend it it to anyone who puzzles over the forces behind the Jewish Holocaust