University Press of America
Pages: 186
•
Trim: 6½ x 9¼
978-0-7618-6570-4 • Hardback • April 2015 • $88.00 • (£68.00)
978-0-7618-6571-1 • eBook • April 2015 • $83.50 • (£64.00)
Subjects: History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800),
History / Military / United States,
History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies),
History / Social History,
Biography & Autobiography / Historical,
Business & Economics / U.S. Economy,
History / Military / Ancient Warfare,
History / Intellectual History
Timothy H. Kistner is an attorney in Boston where he lives with his wife, Alex. A graduate of Tufts University and Boston University School of Law, he previously served in the Obama administration at the Department of Homeland Security.
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
Prologue: October, 1814
Chapter 1: A Colonial Childhood, 1755–1775
Chapter 2: Revolution and Riches, 1775–1792
Chapter 3: The Wealthy Merchant, 1792–1802
Chapter 4: War Again, 1802–1807
Chapter 5: Embargo and Politics, 1807–1812
Chapter 6: I Would Spend All My Wealth, 1812–-1815
Chapter 7: New Horizons, 1815–1821
Chapter 8: Final Years of an Industrialist, 1821–1832
Bibliography
Index
In this well researched and finely written biography, Kistner deconstructs the image of Israel Thorndike as the Scrooge-like tight fisted Yankee wedded to Federalist ideology. Instead, we meet a person who rises from nothing to become one of the nation’s wealthiest men. Along the way he makes his share of enemies and mistakes but through the prism of Thorndike’s extraordinary life we get a clear view of the fierce battles that shaped the economy and politics of American Republic in its early days while at the same time catching a glimpse into the family social life of New England’s elite.
— William M. Fowler Jr., Recipient of the 2023 Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award
With brisk pacing and a fine sense of the broader American narrative, Kistner gives us a full and rich biography of a man who was arguably the most successful entrepreneur in early New England. Kistner casts Israel Thorndike as a peerless businessman and a significant Federalist politician, with a range of ventures that included privateering, an extensive overseas trade network, internal improvements, and textile manufacturing.
— Benjamin L. Carp, Daniel M. Lyons Professor of American History, Brooklyn College, CUNY
In this detailed biography of Massachusetts entrepreneur Israel Thorndike, Timothy H. Kistner. . . .expertly and judiciously fills in the missing details based on careful research. . . .[The book] provides the general reader with an informative, enjoyable narrative account of several critical business and political events of the period.
— New England Quarterly