In March 2005 the business world woke up to an unprecedented full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal calling for the removal of Morgan Stanley's CEO. Less than four months later, a group of eight retired, multimillionaire executives had orchestrated a stunning revolt within the most prestigious and—until recently—most successful financial-services firm on Wall Street. Now acclaimed journalist and historian Patricia Beard brings together the entire behind-the-scenes story, exposing the tale that shook high finance. This riveting real-life thriller is a must-read book for anyone who wants to understand the past, present, and future of American business.

The inside story of the power struggle that rocked Wall Street's most prestigious financial institution What began with a shot over the bow ended in a shocking coup d'etat. In less than four months a group of eight retired executives orchestrated a stunning revolt within Morgan Stanley, the venerable and—until recently—most successful financial services firm on Wall Street. Now acclaimed journalist and historian Patricia Beard brings together the entire behind-the-scenes story in Blue Blood and Mutiny, a real-life business thriller exposing the tale that shook high finance. In March 2005 the business world woke up to an unprecedented full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal calling for the removal of Morgan Stanley's CEO. It was paid for by a cohort of eight former Morgan Stanley executives, including an ex-chairman and an ex-president, who soon would be dubbed the "Eight Grumpy Old Men." Their target was CEO Philip Purcell, a midwesterner who had come to power following Morgan Stanley's 1997 merger with Dean Witter Discover, where Purcell had been chief executive. In his eight years as CEO, Purcell had presided over a 50 percent decline in stock price since its peak in 2000 and a series of high-profile government and civil lawsuits that had tarnished the company's once-sterling reputation. Just a few months after the Journal ad, Purcell would retire under pressure, and former president John Mack, who had been pushed out by Purcell, was appointed CEO. The "Eight Grumpy Old Men" won the battle. The revolt of the Eight is about more than the stock price, or any bottom-line metrics: it signals a clash of cultures and a battle for the soul of American business. Since its founding, Morgan Stanley has been an elite enterprise guided by J. P. Morgan Jr.'s motto "A First Class Business in a First Class Way." The House of Morgan stood for something larger than success with honor; its ethos was unique—some would say sacred—and the eight retired executives believed this ideal had been undermined during Purcell's reign. Opening the long-closed doors of a bastion of Wall Street that has maintained the strictest privacy until now, Blue Blood and Mutiny weaves the history of Morgan Stanley with the inside story of the fight for dominance between two competing business cultures—one, the collegial meritocracy handed down from the days of J. P. Morgan, and the other, a cold, contemporary corporate model. Here is the season's must-read book for anyone who wants to understand the future of American business.

The behind the scenes story of the power struggle that rocked Wall Street's most prestigious financial institution. In March 2005 the business world woke up to an unprecedented full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal calling for the removal of Morgan Stanley's CEO. It was paid for by a cohort of eight former Morgan Stanley executives, including an ex-chairman and an ex-president, who soon would be dubbed the “Eight Grumpy Old Men.” Their target was CEO Philip Purcell, who had come to power following Morgan Stanley's 1997 merger with Dean Witter Discover. In his eight years as CEO, Purcell had presided over a 50 percent decline in stock price since its peak in 2000 and a series of high-profile government and civil lawsuits that had tarnished the company's once-sterling reputation. Just a few months after the Journal ad, Purcell would retire under pressure, and former president John Mack, who had been pushed out by Purcell, was appointed CEO. The “Eight Grumpy Old Men” won the battle. Opening the long-closed doors of a bastion of Wall Street that has maintained the strictest privacy until now, Blue Blood and Mutiny is real-life business thriller exposing the tale that shook high finance. Weaving the history of Morgan Stanley with the inside story of the fight for dominance between two competing business cultures—one, the collegial meritocracy handed down from the days of J. P. Morgan, and the other, a cold, contemporary corporate model, acclaimed journalist and historian Patricia Beard has written a must-read book for anyone who wants to understand the future of American business.

Nothing ever changes at Wauregan... That is the mystique of the idyllic island summer colony, the comforting belief its multi-generation families have lived by for half a century. But in 1948, after a world war has upended countless lives, it is not certain that the islanders will be able to return to “the old days”—and for Helen Wadsworth, the war is not over. Helen’s husband, Arthur was declared missing in action during an OSS operation in France, and she is unable to find out what happened, or whether he might, even now, be alive. Raising a teenage son, who, like his mother longs to know the truth, Helen turns to Frank Hartman, her husband’s best friend and his partner on the OSS mission on which Arthur was lost, while Frank escaped. But Frank seems more intent on filling the void in Helen’s life, which Arthur has left than in answering her questions. And then Peter Gavin, a young Marine who was captured and tortured by the Japanese returns to the island with his faithful war dog; and man and dog enter the lives of Helen and her son. Unsure of whom to trust, or what to believe, Helen takes matters into her own hands. As she seeks the truth, she makes a shocking discovery that will alter the course of her life, and change her perceptions of love and war. A mystery, a love story and an insider’s view of a private world, A Certain Summer resonates long after the last page is turned. “Equal parts novel of manners, historical fiction, and a quiet examination of social mores, A Certain Summer weaves important questions about class, gender, trauma and family through its seemingly simple narrative as artfully as an experienced hostess arranges the seating at a dinner table, so that conversations flow....But Ms. Beard shows that even magical retreats like Wauregan are subject to the vicissitudes of the modern world....In the end...it seems that Wauregan’s magic prevails in its very ability to change in a way that stays true to its origins, or even more precisely, that magic prevails as Wauregan learns it must change to stay true to its origins.” —The East Hampton Star “Woven into this tale of loss and romance are themes of intrigue, growth, betrayal, psychological trauma and a fulfilling healing process. Beard’s attention to historical details and understanding of the realities and shortfalls of privilege make a satisfying read.” —Publisher’s Weekly “A richly evocative debut novel.” —Goodreads “A really satisfying read...I’m crazy about A Certain Summer...a perfect summer book.” —Bookreporter.com

Glamorous, cultured, and ambitious -- but fatally young and naive -- James Hazen Hyde was twenty-three when he inherited the majority shares in the billion-dollar Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1899. Five years later, at the pinnacle of social and financial success, he made a fatal miscalculation, and set in motion the first great Wall Street scandal of the twentieth century. On the last night of January 1905, Hyde gave one of the most fabulous balls of the Gilded Age. Falsely accused of charging the party to his company, he was sucked into a maelstrom of allegations of corporate malfeasance that involved the era's most famous financiers and industrialists. The shocking revelations that followed commanded hundreds of front-page stories and led to a government investigation that became a nationwide obsession and changed the law. Set against a backdrop of magnificence, excess, and corrupting glamour, "After the Ball's" themes are stunningly fresh: greed and chicanery, flawed love between fathers and sons, and contradictory American attitudes about wealth.