An absorbing portrait of Edmond de Rothschild, who defied his class to help build a nation--and found his identity in the process

Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) was born into one of the wealthiest families in history, but his legacy lies beyond banking, art, and aristocratic privilege. In this compelling biography, award-winning historian and journalist James McAuley tells the story of a man who defied his elite world to support a radical cause: the creation of a Jewish homeland.

Drawing on rare access to archives--including Rothschild's own long-lost memoir--McAuley reveals how and why this reserved French aesthete became a driving force in the early Zionist settlement of Palestine. Rothschild's journey from the salons of Paris to the fields of Eretz Israel is a tale of emotional awakening, political conviction, and personal transformation--of a man's search for a cause and discovery of himself.