Great Lives from History: The Incredibly Wealthy features 445 essays covering 446 people from all time, worldwide. The vast majority of the individuals included in this set have never been covered in this series before, and all of them have never been covered from the perspective of how they generated and used their wealth, impacting society as a whole. Many of these individuals--major "players" but often persons behind the scenes--are not covered in other biographical reference works of this magnitude. Each one of these essays has been specially written for this set. The subjects of these essays are wealthy people who earned their fortunes in a wide range of endeavors from ancient times into the twenty-first century--coverage that is essential in any liberal arts curriculum. The editor's criteria for including these individuals in this publication took into account the amount of their wealth; their historical significance; their representation from a wide range of countries and historical periods; the sources of their wealth from a vast range of endeavors; their relevance to class curricula; and their interest to high school, undergraduate, and general readers. For purposes of this publication, the term "incredibly wealthy" is defined to include men and women who were or are among the wealthiest people during the times in which they lived. Many of these individuals were members of the wealthiest families of their times; profiles of numerous members of the Vanderbilt, Rothschild, and Rockefeller families, for example, are represented here. - Publisher.