This is not as scholarly a book as Simon Schama's "Rembrandt's Eyes", and so it should be judged with distinct criteria. This is a family history as related by one of its members, so in exchange for the objective view of the Historian, we trade a certain objective detachment for an intimate portrait of the man, his family, and the legacy of art he collected. I was amused to read that one person thought that some of the works bought by Mr. Frick were "Duds". I would agree that when your collection includes multiple paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Renoir, Veronese, El Greco, and Van Dyck, to name a few, some are perhaps "better" than others. I would also suggest no one would take a pass if offered a work for their own.
Mr. Frick was a very tough businessman, at times brutal, and he never hesitated to employ these tactics when he perceived his business interests were threatened. This does not make him unique among the major Capitalists that built this Country, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Fisk, and many other were also notorious by today's standards, or were they? Private armies may no longer be used, but public welfare, and the fate of employees is not always at the top of the list today either. I do not attempt to justify what they did, rather to suggest a more dispassionate view is in order. Our "Robber Barons" are often compared to the Kleptocrats of today's Russia, and that truly is absurd.
Fortunately many of these men amassed great collections of art whether rare books, paintings, historical documents, or something else that caught their interest, and we are the beneficiaries of their collections. The Morgan Library or The Frick Collection simply could not be duplicated today. Theoretically Mr. Bill Gates could pay the price, but where would you find a brace of Vermeer's offered for sale?
The book is not perfect in it's history as others have pointed out, however on balance I believe the work to be excellent, and certainly the most personal insight into the life of Mr. Frick.
Mr. Frick and others like him make easy targets, that they were flawed is not the issue, they were. They also gave back in a variety of forms a great deal of the wealth they accumulated. This may not be enough for some or even for many, but to have left no legacy other than that of brutal businessmen, I suggest, would be a great deal more disappointing.
This book satisfies on many levels. If you are an art lover, you are amazed at the artwork and how beautifully the publisher reproduced it. It's the next best thing to being in Frick's art collections yourself.
If you are interested in Frick or the post Civil-War industrial era, you will at last find a revealing biography of the man that finally acknowledges that he was a human being, albeit flawed in some ways. This book should shatter some commonly held myths about Henry Frick.
My only complaint is some incomplete research. I have discovered several historical errors that a good editor should have caught. For example, and perhaps most blatant, many figures and stated facts relating to the 1889 Johnstown Flood are incorrect. But Frick's reaction to the Flood is an insight not known to many until now.
Mrs. Sanger should be proud of her book. This will serve as a definitive history of both the man and his legacy. This will be a valuable addition to your library.