Robert Sobel (February 19, 1931 – June 2, 1999) was an American professor of history at Hofstra University, and a well-known and prolific writer of business histories. He was also a chess Master, who represented the United States at the 1957 and 1958 Student chess Olympiads; he defeated thirteen-year-old future World Champion Bobby Fischer at Montreal 1956.
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Biography
Sobel was born in the Bronx, in New York City, New York. He completed his B.S.S. (1951) and M.A. (1952) at City College of New York, and after serving in the U.S. Army, obtained a PhD from New York University in 1957. He started teaching at Hofstra in 1956. Sobel eventually became Lawrence Stessin Distinguished Professor of Business History at Hofstra. Since his death, the university established the Robert Sobel Endowed Scholarship for Excellence in Business History and Finance.
Sobel's first business history, published in 1965, was The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market. It was the first history of the stock market written in over a generation. The book was met with favorable reviews, and solid sales, and Sobel's writing career was launched. Several of his subsequent books were best sellers.
Besides writing more than 30 books, Sobel others, authored many articles, book reviews, and scripts for television documentaries and mini-series. From 1972 to 1988, Sobel's weekly investment column, "Knowing the Street," was nationally syndicated through New York Newsday. He was also regularly published in national periodicals, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. At the time of his death, Sobel was also a contributing editor to Barron's Magazine. He was a regular guest on financial and other news shows, such as Wall Street Week and Crossfire.
Sobel was perhaps most famous for his only work of fiction, the 1973 book, For Want of a Nail. This book is an alternate history in which Burgoyne won the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War. This unique work was just like a real history book, but detailing the history of an alternate timeline, complete with footnotes. Sobel had authored, or co-authored, several actual text books. For Want of a Nail was republished in 1988 and won several science fiction awards.
But Sobel's dominant passion was Wall Street, a metaphysical neighborhood that had fascinated him since childhood. "It is as though you are walking through a historical theme park, with this engaging man at your side pointing out the sights," said Andrew Tobias, the author and investment guide, in a review in The New York Times of The Last Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1960's (W. W. Norton, 1978).
Most of Sobel's books were written for a general audience, but he never bristled when some scholarly writers dismissed him as a "popularizer," said his colleague and friend George David Smith, a professor of economic history at New York University. "Quite the contrary -- he saw that as his mission in life."
Chess master
In his younger years, Sobel reached the Master level in chess. He defeated future World Champion Bobby Fischer, who was a 13-year-old Master at the time, in the first Canadian Open Chess Championship in Montreal 1956, in a sharp attacking game (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044415, Robert Sobel vs Robert Fischer, Canadian Open, Montreal 1956, King's Indian Defence (A49), 1-0). In that tournament, Sobel also defeated 8-time Canadian Chess Championship winner Maurice Fox. Sobel represented the United States at the Student Olympiad, Reykjavik 1957, on the first reserve board, scoring 2.5/4 (+2 =1 -1), and the Americans placed fifth. He also played for the U.S. in the 1958 Student Olympiad at Varna, scoring 0/2 on the first reserve board, as the U.S. placed sixth (http://www.olimpbase.org/playersy/brxtvjjd.html). He tied for 3rd-4th places in the 1957 New Jersey Open Championship at East Orange, with 5.5/7, a point behind Fischer, who won the tournament and avenged his loss in Montreal to Sobel (The Games of Robert J. Fischer, edited by Robert Wade and Kevin O'Connell, Batsford 1972, pp 138-140). Sobel seems to have given up serious competitive chess soon after beginning his career as a Hofstra professor.
Selected quotations
| “ | The British created a civil-service job in 1803 calling for a man to stand on the Cliffs of Dover with a spyglass. He was supposed to ring a bell if he saw Napoleon coming. The job was abolished in 1945. | ” |
From a February 22, 1999 Barron's Magazine article by Robert Sobel:
| “ | Remember the old story about the two traders who kept selling a case of sardines to each other raising the price each time? A sure-fire profit on every trade. Then one decided to sample the contents and found them inedible. 'What did you expect' said his colleague. They were for trading, not eating. | ” |
From The Great Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1920s, by Robert Sobel:
| “ | The cult of the stock market was, in the end, the greatest fantasy in an age filled with illusion. | ” |
| “ | Take Radio Corporation of America the star of the market in 1928..... When it had nothing but promise, RCA was a $573 stock. Three decades after the promise was realized, it was going for less than half its 1929 high. Think about that trying to assess the prospects for some of today's high flyers [Internet stocks]. | ” |
Selected bibliography
Fiction
- Sobel, Robert (1973). For Want of a Nail...; If Burgoyne had won at Saratoga. New York: Macmillan.
Non-fiction
- Sobel, Robert (1960). The Origins of Interventionism: The United States and the Russo-Finnish War. New York: Bookman Associates.
- Sobel, Robert (1965). The Big Board: A History of the New York Stock Market. New York: Free Press.
- Sobel, Robert (1967). The French Revolution. New York: Ardmore Press.
- Sobel, Robert (1968). The Great Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1920's. New York: Norton.
- Sobel, Robert (1968). Panic on Wall Street: A History of America's Financial Disasters. New York: Macmillan.
- Sobel, Robert (1969). The Automobile Makers. New York: Putnam.
- Sobel, Robert (1970). The Curbstone Brokers: The Origins of the American Stock Exchange. New York: Macmillan.
- Sobel, Robert (1971). Conquest And Conscience: The 1840's. New York: Crowell. ISBN 0-690-20939-8.
- Sobel, Robert (1971). Biographical directory of the United States executive branch, 1774–1971. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Pub. Co.. ISBN 0-837-15173-2.
- Sobel, Robert (1972). The Age of Giant Corporations: A Microeconomic History of American Business, 1914–1970. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-837-16404-4.
- Sobel, Robert (1973). Machines and Morality: The 1850s. New York: Crowell. ISBN 0-690-00266-1.
- Sobel, Robert (1973). The Money Manias: The Eras of Great Speculation in America, 1770–1970. New York: Weybright and Talley.
- Sobel, Robert (1974). The Entrepreneurs: Explorations Within the American Business Tradition. New York: Weybright and Talley. ISBN 0-679-40064-8.
- Sobel, Robert (1975). Herbert Hoover and the Onset of the Great Depression 1929–1930. New York: Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-47334-6.
- Sobel, Robert (1975). N.Y.S.E.: a history of the New York Stock Exchange: 1935–1975. New York: Weybright and Talley. ISBN 0-679-40124-5.
- Sobel, Robert (1976). The Manipulators: America in the Media Age. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press. ISBN 0-385-08526-5.
- Sobel, Robert (1976). Inside Wall Street: Continuity and Change in the Financial District. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-05643-0.
- Sobel, Robert (1977). The Fallen Colossus. New York: Weybright and Talley. ISBN 0-679-40138-5.
- Sobel, Robert (1978). They Satisfy: The Cigarette in American Life. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-12956-4.
- Sobel, Robert (1980). Last Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1960's. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-01309-X.
- Sobel, Robert (1980). The Worldly Economists. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-029-29780-X.
- Sobel, Robert (1981). IBM: Colossus in Transition. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-812-91000-1.
- Sobel, Robert (1982). ITT: The Management of Opportunity. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-812-91028-1.
- Sobel, Robert (1984). Car Wars: The Untold Story. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24289-9.
- Sobel, Robert (1984). The Rise and Fall of the Conglomerate Kings. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-812-82961-1.
- Sobel, Robert (1986). The entrepreneurs: An American Adventure. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-42020-2.
- Sobel, Robert (1986). IBM vs. Japan: The Struggle for the Future. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-812-83071-7.
- Sobel, Robert (1986). RCA. New York: Stein and Day. ISBN 0-812-83084-9.
- Sobel, Robert (1986). Salomon Brothers, 1910–1985: Advancing to Leadership. New York: Salomon Brothers.
- Sobel, Robert (1987). The New Game on Wall Street. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-84527-2.
- Sobel, Robert (1987). Quality of Earnings: the Investor's Guide to How Much Money a Company is Really Making. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-029-22630-9.
- Sobel, Robert (1988). Biographical Directory of the Council of Economic Advisers. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-22554-0.
- Sobel, Robert (1989). Trammell Crow, Master Builder: The Story of America's Largest Real Estate Empire. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-61326-6.
- Sobel, Robert (1989). Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States 1983/88. Westport, Conn.: Meckler. ISBN 0-930-46600-4.
- Sobel, Robert (1990). Biographical directory of the United States executive branch, 1774–1989. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26593-3.
- Sobel, Robert (1991). The Life and Times of Dillon Read. New York: Truman Talley Books/Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24959-1.
- Sobel, Robert (1993). Dangerous Dreamers: The Financial Innovators from Charles Merrill to Michael Milken. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-57734-0.
- Sobel, Robert (1998). Coolidge: An American Enigma. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Pub.. ISBN 0-895-26410-2.
- Sobel, Robert (1999). When Giants Stumble: Classic Business Blunders and How to Avoid Them. Paramus, N.J.: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-735-20059-9.
- Sobel, Robert (2000). The Pursuit of Wealth: The Incredible Story of Money Throughout the Ages of Wealth. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-585-18949-8.
- Sobel, Robert (2000). AMEX: A History of the American Stock Exchange. Washington, D.C.: BeardBooks. ISBN 1-893-12248-4.
- Sobel, Robert (2000). Thomas Watson, Sr.: IBM and the Computer Revolution. Washington, DC: BeardBooks. ISBN 1-893-12282-4.
- Sobel, Robert (2000). The Great Boom 1950–2000: How a Generation of Americans Created the World's Most Prosperous Society. New York: St.Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-20890-1.
- Sobel, Robert; Roger Lowenstein, Louis Rukeyser (2006). Crashes, Booms, Panics and Government Regulation. Ashland, Or.: Blackstone Audiobooks. ISBN 0-786-16489-1.
Fan sites
- For All Nails "Sobel-heads" flesh out or extend the history from the book For Want of a Nail.
- Alternative History "Sobel, must be numbered with Tolkien among the handful of creators of a complete imaginary world."
External links
- Beard Books Tribute to Robert Sobel
- "Robert Sobel, 68, a Historian of Business, Dies," New York Times, 4 June 1999.
- "Booknotes" Transcript and archived copy of Brian Lamb's detailed television interview of Robert Sobel concerning his best selling book, Coolidge: An American Enigma
References
- Hand, Judson, "If Washington Hadn't Been the Father of His Country," Sunday (New York Daily) News, 18 February 1973.
- Henriques, Diana B., "Robert Sobel, 68, a Historian of Business, Dies," New York Times, 4 June 1999, page C-18; 1999 WLNR 3054857.
- MacGregor, Martha, "The Week in Books," New York Post, 31 March 1973.
- Sicilia, DB, "Remembering Robert Sobel (1931-1999)" Enterprise & Society: The International Journal of Business History, Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 182-187, (March 2000).
- Skow, John, "Parlor Games," Time, 9 April 1973.