Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
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(as of Sep 29, 2024 04:26:49 UTC – Details)
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty – his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
When 11-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the 19th century, no one could have imagined that one day he would, through ruthlessness, cunning, and a pathological desire for money, build two empires – one in shipping and another in railroads – that would make him the richest man in America. His staggering fortune was fought over by his heirs after his death in 1877, sowing familial discord that would never fully heal. Though his son Billy doubled the money left by “the Commodore”, subsequent generations competed to find new and ever more extraordinary ways of spending it. By 2018, when the last Vanderbilt was forced out of The Breakers – the 70-room summer estate in Newport, Rhode Island, that Cornelius’ grandson and namesake had built – the family would have been unrecognizable to the tycoon who started it all.
Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson, Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Cooper and Howe breathe life into the ancestors who built the family’s empire, basked in the Commodore’s wealth, hosted lavish galas, and became synonymous with unfettered American capitalism and high society. Moving from the hardscrabble wharves of old Manhattan to the lavish drawing rooms of Gilded Age Fifth Avenue, from the ornate summer palaces of Newport to the courts of Europe, and all the way to modern-day New York, Cooper and Howe wryly recount the triumphs and tragedies of an American dynasty unlike any other.
Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Customers find the book interesting and well-presented. They praise the writing quality as wonderful, authoritative, and well-written. Readers describe the family history as interesting and an interesting study in family dynamics. They also say the book provides a fascinating inside look at NYC high society. Readers praise the research quality as exceptional, well-documented, and professional. However, some find the book uninteresting, confusing, and tedious to read. Opinions differ on the detail, with some finding it excellent, while others say it’s pointless.
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