Prologue: "With devouring fury" -- "Large, wild, fiery, black" -- "In mirth and refutation; in ridicule and laughter" -- "Vive la guillotine" -- The literary banker -- "The ruin inflicted on innocent creditors" -- "The young gentleman out of Miss Austen's novels" -- A death in India -- The...

This book is not only a biography of Howard F. Ahmanson but also the story of the financing of the postwar housing boom and the tremendous growth of Los Angeles. Americans have long believed that homeownership is fundamental to the strength of our democracy and the character of our people....