LEHMAN BROTHERS ALUMNI

The Center for Jewish History has broken new ground with this richly produced book, unique in concept, content, and format. With candor and wit, fifty-five descendants of Mayer Lehman--youngest of the three founding brothers of Lehman Brothers--vividly portray the German immigrant, his formidable wife Babette, and their seven colorful offspring. Four generations of Lehmans lay bare their family chronicle filled with details and eccentricities that are both poignant and entertaining. As one of America's great German-Jewish financial dynasties, the Lehmans factor significantly into Stephen Birmingham's 1967 book, Our Crowd (also published by Syracuse University Press), which immortalized the great Jewish families of New York in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.