The accomplishments and diversity of the interests of Victor, third Baron Rothschild were remarkable. A zoologist by choice and training, he also formed the finest collection of 18th-century English books in private hands. In World War II he was head of counter sabotage in MI5, also being responsible for ensuring that presents of food, drink and cigars to Winston Churchill contained no poison or bombs. He coordinated research for Shell, was the first director of Edward Heath's creation, known as the Think Tank. He chaired the family business, N. M. Rothschild and Sons, and presided over the Royal Commission on Gambling. Then came the Blunt scandal. Ultimately declared innocent by Margaret Thatcher of having spied for Soviet Russia, Rothschild escaped prosecution for having breached the Official Secrets Act only after the humiliation of interrogation by Scotland Yard's Serious Crimes Squad. Yet he was the victim of what Kenneth Rose, his biographer, sees as a cruel and relentless campaign of denigration that temporarily obscured his achievements.

Dr Henri de Rothschild was a fifth generation Rothschild and perhaps the most famous of the Paris Rothschilds of the fin-de-siècle period. A 'sleeping partner' of the bank and the non-drinking owner of Mouton-Rothschild, Henri spent much of his life building medical institutions and promoting scientific medicine, including the promotion of Ehrlich's Salvarsan to cure syphilis and the use of radium to cure cancer. His hospital in a working class area of northern Paris boasted the latest in medical advances. Henri was particularly influential in developing the new science of infant feeding, while his broader concerns with infant health led to his playing a prominent role in the development of the specialty of pediatrics. This biography of Henri de Rothschild focuses on his medical achievements and that of his close family in France. Henri, his wife Mathilde and his mother Thérèse all had busy medical careers during World War I. The book also gives an account of both women's experiences of the war. Along with his explicitly scientific medical concerns, Henri was also a prolific playwright and, under the pseudonym André Pascal, wrote several plays about doctors. This book situates the plays, and particularly the themes of charlatanism, women doctors and medical ethics, in their contemporary context of the social and medical life of Paris. A fascinating and vividly written study of a somewhat neglected figure in the history of the illustrious Rothschild family, this book will make a valuable addition to the libraries of scholars in the history of medicine and those studying child health and welfare, the portrayal of doctors in literature, and more broadly the social and cultural life of early-twentieth century Paris.

Betty Rothschild grew up in Frankfurt nurtured in Jewish tradition and tutored in French, music, and drawing. At nineteen, she married her uncle James and moved to Paris where she presided over a salon famous for its opulence and the brilliance of its guests. Betty was a friend of Queen Marie-Amelie, the pupil of Chopin, and was painted by Ingres. She prepared her five children to assume leading roles in French society while simultaneously serving the Jewish community. She devoted her vast energy to philanthropic activities with a particular emphasis on the needs of young Jewish women.

In this short biography of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), historian and journalist Amos Elon describes how the founder of the Rothschild dynasty started out by dealing in rare coins and traveling across Germany while still confined, as a Frankfurt Jew, to its Judengasse. Assisted by his five skilled sons, Rothschild subsequently built up a fortune by helping manage the investments of the Landgrave of Hesse, circumventing Napoleon’s blockade of England and funding Napoleon’s eventual defeat. “This slim, charming volume is actually a biographical essay, yet it succeeds in snatching its elusive subject from oblivion.” — Ron Chernow, The New York Times “This is a fascinating story.” — The New York Review of Books “A memorable first biography of a near-mythical founding father.” — Publishers Weekly “A thoroughly researched, fascinating, and altogether exemplary biography.” —Kirkus Reviews “Amos Elon’s portrait of the man who fathered a dynasty makes fascinating reading for anyone even mildly interested in money and power and their effects on history. Founder is a rich and colorful examination of [Meyer Amschel Rothschild]” — Morley Safer “Elon’s book... is a thoroughly researched and absorbing biography.” — St. Louis Jewish Light “A biography that’s a must read for today’s entrepreneurs.” — Houston Chronicle

Beautiful, romantic and spirited, Pannonica, known as Nica, named after her father’s favorite moth, was born in 1913 to extraordinary, eccentric privilege and a storied history. The Rothschild family had, in only five generations, risen from the ghetto in Frankfurt to stately homes in England. As a child, Nica took her daily walks, dressed in white, with her two sisters and governess around the parkland of the vast house at Tring, Hertfordshire, among kangaroos, giant tortoises, emus and zebras, all part of the exotic menagerie collected by her uncle Walter. As a debutante, she was taught to fly by a saxophonist and introduced to jazz by her brother Victor; she married Baron Jules de Koenigswarter, settled in a château in France and had five children. When World War II broke out, Nica and her five children narrowly escaped back to England, but soon after, she set out to find her husband who was fighting with the Free French Army in Africa, where she helped the war effort by being a decoder, a driver and organizing supplies and equipment. In the early 1950s Nica heard “’Round Midnight” by the jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk and, as if under a powerful spell, abandoned her marriage and moved to New York to find him. She devoted herself to helping Monk and other musicians: she bailed them out of jail, paid their bills, took them to the hospital, even drove them to their gigs, and her convertible Bentley could always be seen parked outside downtown clubs or up in Harlem. Charlie Parker would notoriously die in her apartment in the Stanhope Hotel. But it was Monk who was the love of her life and whom she cared for until his death in 1982. Hannah Rothschild has drawn on archival material and her own interviews in this quest to find out who her great-aunt really was and how she fit into a family that, although passionate about music and entomology, was reactionary in always favoring men over women. Part musical odyssey, part love story, The Baroness is a fascinating portrait of a modern figure ahead of her time who dared to live as she wanted, finally, at the very center of New York’s jazz scene.

A sumptuously illustrated book presenting the highlights of Renaissance court treasures, bequeathed to the British Museum by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, MP in 1898.