For years, New York's great Jewish banking families have been aloof, mysterious, clannish and arrogant. Considering themselves an elite One Hundred, the families married only within "Our Crowd." Today their family trees interlace endlessly. The pivotal names are Loeb, Lehman, Lewisohn, Straus, Schiff, Seligman, Goldman, Warburg, Guggenheim. Around them cluster those who succeeded in "marrying in" to this citadel of privilege, power, philanthropy and pride. Where they came from, how they made their money, how they spent it provides the plot for this fascinating narrative. "Remarkable individuals, resplendent dynasties--out of the opulent fabric of their lives Stephen Birmingham has fashioned superb social history." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)