Description
Book SynopsisTHE FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARThis absorbing collective biography of the genius Nobel family reveals how the Nobels' business and personal lives were fundamentally intertwined with the histories of Sweden and Russia, as well as the economic and entrepreneurial development of Europe in the long 19th century.The name Nobel is mainly associated with the Nobel prize. However, Alfred Nobel was only one of a family of conspicuously gifted individuals. The Nobels, who moved from Sweden to Russia in the 1830s, ran one of Russia's biggest machine factories and founded the Russian oil industry. Using thousands of Nobel family letters and other documents shared here for the first time, Bengt Jangfeldt provides a fascinating and authoritative multi-generational chronicle charting the family exploits. The author describes how the father, Immanuel Nobel, a polymath architect, inventor, and engineer set the family on a path to financial success amidst a backdrop of imperial Russian
Trade ReviewThis eloquent book … reads like an official history … [A] punchy historical story [is] at the heart of this very readable tale — the translation is superb —it is the incidental details, so eloquently expounded by Swedish scholar and Russia expert Bengt Jangfeldt, that are riveting. -- Lesley Chamberlain * Financial Times *
This gripping and deeply researched volume wonderfully tells the tale of the Nobel family, bringing new evidence and perspectives to show how their business and personal lives were intertwined with the histories of Sweden and Russia. * Steven Nafziger, Professor of Economics, Williams College, USA *
Table of ContentsForeword
Part 1 1. Immanuel 2. Immanuel Nobel & Sons 3. Immanuel and Andriette
Part 2 4. Ludvig 5. Robert 6. Robert & Ludvig 7. The Nobel Brothers 8. The End of an Epoch
Part 3 9. The Third Generation 10. Emanuel 11. The Age of Greatness 12. Welfare and Charity 13. Political Unrest, Economic Growth and War 14. Anno 1917
Part 4 Postscript Afterword Family Tree Picture Credits Notes Bibliography Index
