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Settings, Address Book, and Help Address Book H-Net Review Publication: ' eutsche Bank in A!erica' H-Net Review Pro"ect istribution #ist $H-R%&'%()H-N%*+,S-+% -. on behal/ o/ H-Net Sta// $hbooks),A'#+H-N%*+,S-+% -. Sent: 01 2ebruar3 4556 04:54 *o: H-R%&'%()H-N%*+,S-+% Attach!ents: 7hristopher 8obrak+ Banking on 9lobal ,arkets: eutsche Bank and the -nited States, 0:;5 to the Present+ 7a!bridge 7a!bridge -niversit3 Press, 455;+ <51 pp+ =><+55 ?cloth@, 'SBN 6;:-5-<40-:A14<->+ Reviewed b3 %laine 9lovka Spencer ? epart!ent o/ Histor3, Northern 'llinois -niversit3@ Published on H-9er!an ?2ebruar3, 4556@ 7o!!issioned b3 Susan R+ Boettcher eutsche Bank in A!erica eutsche Bank, throughout !ost o/ its eBistence the largest and best known o/ 9er!an3's universal banks, has established in recent 3ears a creditable record o/ collaborating with respected scholars in the eBa!ination o/ its corporate past+ A 04<th anniversar3 volu!e, co-authored b3 #othar 9all, 9erald + 2eld!an, Harold Ca!es, 7arl-#udwig Holt/rerich, and Hans %+ BDschgen, and published in 066<, was one worth3 product o/ such collaboration+ 'nitiated b3 the bank's !anage!ent board and based on the substantial resources o/ the bank's historical archive, the volu!e provided a co!prehensive overview o/ the shi/ting /ortunes o/ eutsche Bank /ro! its creation in 0:;5 to the close o/ the twentieth centur3+ SubseEuent publications, notabl3 Ca!es's studies o/ eutsche Bank during the National Socialist 3ears, have provided additional insight into how the bank /ared as it con/ronted the challenges o/ a changeable business and political environ!ent+ Friginall3 established as a "oint-stock venture to service the /inancial needs o/ 9er!an /oreign trade, eutsche Bank has a long histor3 o/ cross-border initiatives+ As a conseEuence, one aspect o/ the bank's past inviting additional in-depth scrutin3 is its engage!ent in the /inancial a//airs o/ various parts o/ the world+ 'n GBanking on 9lobal ,arketsG, 7hristopher 8obrak has chosen to /ocus on the relationship o/

eutsche Bank with A!erican businesses and govern!ent agencies+ He traces this i!portant but at ti!es troubled interaction /ro! the latter decades o/ the nineteenth centur3 to the eve o/ the current /inancial upheavals+ 8obrak e!phasiHes that business histor3 should be presented within a broad /ra!ework o/ political and econo!ic histor3+ His wide-ranging narrative is set against a backdrop o/ dra!atic trans/or!ations on both sides o/ the Atlantic+ Fn the A!erican side, the stor3 he tells pla3s out against a background o/ sudden shi/ts in the status o/ the -nited States /ro! being the world's largest debtor nation be/ore the 2irst (orld (ar to being the greatest creditor nation in its a/ter!ath and then back again in the 06:5s to greatest debtor status+ Fn the 9er!an side, the stor3 centers on the disastrous conseEuences o/ two lost world wars and the struggle to rebuild a/ter each+ *he periodiHation o/ 8obrak's stud3 re/lects the con"unction o/ these ver3 di//erent but interrelated tra"ectories+ *he /irst, !ost detailed, and !ost richl3 docu!ented o/ the three !a"or sections o/ his account /ocuses on the role o/ eutsche Bank in channeling invest!ents into a rapidl3 eBpanding A!erican industrial econo!3 be/ore 060>+ *he bank's /inancial involve!ent in the -nited States /ocused on basic industries, ranging /ro! railroads and electri/ication to !ining and !achine building+ *he bank's agents interacted with such giants o/ A!erican business as *ho!as %dison, C+ P+ ,organ, Cohn + Rocke/eller, and Ca!es C+ Hill+ *he !ost notable, and at ti!es pain/ul, o/ the A!erican ventures that eutsche Bank helped /inance was the construction o/ the Northern Paci/ic Railroad+ 'n relating the color/ul /inancial saga o/ the Northern Paci/ic, 8obrak draws eBtensivel3 on transatlantic eBchanges between 9eorg von Sie!ens, spokes!an o/ the bank's !anage!ent board /ro! 0:;5 to 0655, and Henr3 &illard, 9er!an i!!igrant, deal!aker, and railroad t3coon+ A!ong his !ultiple roles, &illard served as eutsche Bank's representative in the -nited States to 0:61, the 3ear an insolvent Northern Paci/ic had to be bailed out+ -sing the Sie!ens-&illard correspondence and that o/ their i!!ediate successors, 8obrak highlights both the vital i!portance to the bank's overseas initiatives o/ personal relationships and the di//iculties encountered be/ore the 2irst (orld (ar in securing reliable in/or!ation to guide the bank's decisions relating to distant invest!ents+ 'n this transatlantic correspondence, 8obrak sees re/lected as well di//erences in A!erican and 9er!an business cultures, a the!e to which he returns repeatedl3 throughout his stud3+ *he co!ing o/ the 9reat (ar !arks the beginning o/ the second o/ the

three !a"or sections o/ 8obrak's stud3+ 'n the wake o/ the 2irst (orld (ar, the east-to-west /low o/ capital was reversed+ *he pri!ar3 /ocus o/ eutsche Bank's engage!ent with the -nited States was no longer channeling invest!ent into A!erican industrial eBpansion but rather atte!pting to settle warti!e clai!s, recover 9er!an assets, and bring /oreign capital into 9er!an3+ Panics and so!eti!es disappointing invest!ents notwithstanding, the prewar decades had been overall a pro/itable, hope/ul era /or eutsche Bank+ 2ollowing the 2irst (orld (ar, in the wake o/ !ilitar3 de/eat and runawa3 in/lation, a preponderance o/ 3ears o/ instabilit3, disappointing returns, and troubled relations with the outside world clouded the bank's prospects+ 9er!an3's loss o/ a second world war brought the dis!e!ber!ent not onl3 o/ the nation but also o/ eutsche Bank+ Not until 06<; would its three regional successors succeed in reuniting to /or! a reconstituted eutsche Bank+ 7o!!enting on his coverage o/ develop!ents between 060> and 06<;, 8obrak points to the availabilit3 o/ Ca!es's studies o/ eutsche Bank under the *hird Reich as his reason /or li!iting his own account o/ the NaHi 3ears+ *he /inal section o/ 8obrak's narrative eBa!ines the hal/ centur3 between the reestablish!ent o/ a uni/ied eutsche Bank and toda3's headlines+ 7entral to his account o/ the bank's initial postwar recover3 is the role Her!ann Cose/ Abs ?a !e!ber o/ the bank's !anage!ent board since 061: and its spokes!an /ro! 06<; to 06A;@ pla3ed+ Abs, /riend and con/idant o/ 7hancellor 8onrad Adenauer, was the !ost pro!inent 9er!an banker o/ the earl3 3ears o/ the 2ederal Republic+ He was a!ong those instru!ental in securing a voice /or eutsche Bank and the new (est 9er!an republic in international /inancial councils+ -nder Abs's successors, eutsche Bank beca!e increasingl3 !ultinational, opening branches in #ondon and New Iork in the 06;5s and purchasing #ondon invest!ent bank ,organ 9ren/ell in 06:6+ 'n the closing 3ears o/ the twentieth centur3, the ongoing technological revolution in the conduct o/ /inancial transactions and unbridled develop!ents in global !arkets !ade swashbuckling (all Street institutions with their high-3ielding innovative /inancial products into increasingl3 inviting !odels /or e!ulation+ eutsche Bank's acEuisition in 066: o/ Bankers *rust, an aggressive New Iork based invest!ent bank, !arked an i!portant step into A!erican invest!ent banking+ rawing on 455A interviews with eutsche Bank associates, 8obrak notes the intent o/ the institution's leadership to adopt a !ore innovative business plan and build a !ore !ultinational leadership tea!+ 8obrak's narrative concludes "ust short o/ the current period o/ /inancial troubles+ 'n their wake, eutsche Bank would begin counting its losses--apparentl3 /ewer than those o/ !a"or

%uropean and A!erican rivals--and rethinking its options+ 8obrak intended GBanking on 9lobal ,arketsG to appeal to a diverse audience, including historians, econo!ists, and business people+ He has produced a clear and accessible case stud3 o/ international banking+ His use o/ /inancial theor3 and "argon is restrained+ Notable individuals rather than balance sheets are at the /ore/ront o/ his account+ 9iven 8obrak's reliance /irst and /ore!ost on the correspondence and reports in eutsche Bank's archives, it is the changing perspectives and concerns o/ the bank's leading personalities that co!e through !ost clearl3+ 8obrak does not clai! to o//er startling reinterpretations o/ 9er!an-A!erican relations between 0:;5 and the present+ (hat he does o//er is a use/ul accounting o/ nearl3 0>5 3ears o/ d3na!ic transatlantic /inancial interaction and institutional change+ 7itation: %laine 9lovka Spencer+ Review o/ 8obrak, 7hristopher, GBanking on 9lobal ,arkets: eutsche Bank and the -nited States, 0:;5 to the PresentG+ H-9er!an, H-Net Reviews+ 2ebruar3, 4556+ -R#: http:JJwww+h-net+orgJreviewsJshowrev+phpKidL41;0> *his work is licensed under a 7reative 7o!!ons Attribution-Nonco!!ercial-No erivative (orks 1+5 -nited States #icense+

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