Ronald Chernow Biography and latest books by Ronald Chernow

Ronald Chernow (born 1949) is an American biographer. He is the author of Washington: A Life, Alexander Hamilton, The House of Morgan, and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., among other works.

Life and career

Born in Brooklyn, New York Chernow graduated with honors from Yale University and Cambridge University with degrees in English literature. He then began a career as a freelance journalist. From 1973 to 1982, he published more than 60 articles in national publications. In the mid-1980s, he began work at the Twentieth Century Fund, a think tank based in New York City, where he was director of financial policy studies. Chernow\'s wife Valerie, a sociologist, died in 2006.

Chernow is a current (2010) member and past president of the Board of Trustees for PEN American Center, the eastern U.S. branch of International PEN, an international literary and human rights organization.

Banking

His first book, The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance was published in 1990 and won the National Book Award for nonfiction. The book traced the history of four generations of the J.P. Morgan financial empire. The Warburgs, Chernow\'s 1993 account of the German-Jewish Warburg banking family, was awarded the Columbia Business School\'s George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. The book was named as one of the year\'s twelve best nonfiction books by the American Library Association and a Notable Book by The New York Times.

Chernow\'s 1997 collection of essays, The Death of the Banker, touched upon his earlier writings and chronicled "the decline and fall of the great financial dynasties and the triumph of the small investor."

John D. Rockefeller

In 1998 Chernow published his biography of John D. Rockefeller, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. The book reflected Chernow\'s continued interest in financial history, especially when shaped by compelling and influential individuals. The biography was selected by Time magazine and The New York Times as one of the year\'s ten best books.

Alexander Hamilton

In 2004, Chernow published his 832-page biography, Alexander Hamilton. The biography won the inaugural George Washington Book Prize for early American history. The reviews in the major scholarly journals were favourable. Professor Stephen B. Presser of Northwestern University wrote: "This book is one of those happy rarities: a popular biography that should also delight scholars....This is the kind of synthetic narrative history and biography that is rarely done to such high standards and is clearly one of the best introductions to the American formative era available. Moreover, the way Chernow integrates international affairs, domestic politics, economic and constitutional theory, and astute psychological analysis is nothing short of wondrous."

Chernow’s biographies are special because of his understanding of psychology is acute and his subjects are memorable. Most readers will agree that after finishing this book they feel as if they have actually spent time with the subject who he writes about.

Washington

Chernow\'s 904-page Washington: A Life was released on October 5, 2010. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography (2011) and the American History Book Prize.