Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power

Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power by Zachary Karabell

Brown Brothers are conservative bankers. They are willing to invest and take risks, but they do so with their own money. They have been around for over two centuries. Part of their ethos is to not get involved with too many things and work behind the scenes. They are still often involved in the "non-public" part of Wall Street. They exited contriversaral industries (such as cotton produced by slaves) when seeing that it is not the best financial investment. They helped grease international trade by providing letters of credit for those visiting other countries. Prescott Bush, father and grandfather of future US presidents was once a partner. 

The story follows a mostly chronological narrative, though does jump around a bit. Both the history of the firm as well as that of individual people and times are followed. Brown Brothers seem to be exactly what you would expect to think of "bankers" rather than the high-flying wall street types that have become predominant recently. They have relationships and influence without flash.