{"product_id":"before-the-gilded-age-w-w-corcoran-and-the-rise-of-american-capital-and-culture-9781647123611","title":"Before the Gilded Age: W. W. Corcoran and the Rise of American Capital and Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe first modern biography of financial pioneer and philanthropist W. W. Corcoran\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBefore the Gilded Age\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the extraordinary ways in which W. W. Corcoran shaped the emerging cultural elite and changed the capital and the country both for better and for worse. A complex and controversial character, Corcoran influenced banking and finance, art and American culture, philanthropy, and the nation's capital.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on extensive archival research, \u003ci\u003eBefore the Gilded Age\u003c\/i\u003e examines the fascinating life of an entrepreneur ahead of his time. A generation before Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller donated vast sums of money, Corcoran gave away most of his fortune and helped shape American philanthropy. His dedication to landscaping the emerging National Mall predates plans for New York's Central Park. Other legacies included cofounding the Riggs Bank and founding the Corcoran Gallery of Art, whose collection has been dispersed among other arts organizations in Washington, DC, including the National Gallery of Art.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMark L. Goldstein provides a colorful account of a political chameleon who successfully transcended political party, geography, and ideology to become one of the richest and most influential people in the country even as he navigated such controversies as rumors that he was linked to plots to kill President Lincoln. \u003ci\u003eBefore the Gilded Age\u003c\/i\u003e also offers readers a detailed historical perspective on the development of banking, investing, lobbying, art collecting, and philanthropy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMark L. Goldstein \u003c\/b\u003ehas held senior positions at the US Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the US Government Accountability Office. He holds a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University and a PhD in US history from the University of Maryland, College Park.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Georgetown University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50521669239058,"sku":"9781647123611","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_60b14a1e-255b-4da5-bfea-63375c270b70.jpg?v=1731110636","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/before-the-gilded-age-w-w-corcoran-and-the-rise-of-american-capital-and-culture-9781647123611","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}