A recognized scholar in modern French history, Schor (City U. of New York) offers a concise biography of Betty de Rothschilde (1805-1886), the matriarch of the French Rothschilde family. Drawing upon thousands of letters, and legal and financial documents housed at the Rothschilde Archive in London, the text is the first biography of a woman known for her French patriotism; her famed Parisian salon in which she hosted Balzac, Heine, Meyerbeer, Scheffer, Rachel, Chopin, and members of the diplomatic corps; her appreciation of the value of education; and her generosity as a modern Jewish woman philanthropist. Annotation 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
