Henry Clay Frick: The Gospel of Greed
Schreiner, a career journalist, former senior editor for Reader's Digest, and accomplished writer (Code of Conduct, LJ 12/91), presents the first full-length biography of the noted coal and steel magnate and art collector. How Frick parlayed modest investments into a vast fortune and shrewdly affiliated himself with Andrew Carnegie, the Mellons, and other powerful associates; capitalized his sharp investment in coke, turning it into an industry; and manipulated labor and wielded the power that came with his fortune-all this is carefully examined here in copious financial detail. Schreiner has done as much as possible with public records and resources in the face of the Frick family's reticence, leaving it for a future biographer to explain how and why Frick plowed his fortune into the creation of one of the world's great art collections. This is entertaining and informative reading for those concerned with the rise of the steel industry and the making of immodest fortunes during the Gilded Age. For public and academic libraries specializing in business and biography.Susan E. Parker, Harvard Law Sch. Lib.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.