The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate

The story of three generations of Trumps in a “copiously researched” (The New York Times) narrative and an account of the presidential candidate’s extraordinary path to success. “Rich, detailed, and informative, and not just for Trump loyalists or detractors” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
This richly detailed account of the Trump family reflects America’s transformation from a land of striving immigrants to a world in which the aura of wealth alone can guarantee a fortune. The Trumps begins with a portrait of Donald's immigrant grandfather Frederick Trump, a restaurant owner who amassed the first Trump fortune by providing miners with food, liquor, and easy access to women during the Klondike gold rush. His son, Fred, took advantage of New Deal policy, using government subsidies and loopholes to construct hugely successful housing developments in the 1940s and 1950s. The profits from those enterprises paved the way for Donald's roller-coaster ride into the new century.
With his talent for what he calls “truthful hyperbole,” Donald Trump turned the deal-making know-how of his forebears into an art form. By describing Donald’s much-publicized life in the context of his family, Gwenda Blair adds an important dimension to a glitzy, larger-than-life contradictory figure known around the world as The Donald.