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Astor
The number one New York Times bestselling authors of Vanderbilt return with another riveting history of a legendary American family, the Astors, and how they built and lavished their fortune.
The story of the Astors is a quintessentially American story—of ambition, invention, destruction, and reinvention.
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society.
The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic, one of many shocking and unexpected twists in the family’s story.
In this unconventional, page-turning historical biography, featuring black-and-white and color photographs, #1 New York Times bestselling authors Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe chronicle the lives of the Astors and explore what the Astor name has come to mean in America—offering a window onto the making of America itself.
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Reviews
Too much extraneous material: the Titanic movies, the gay night scene in NYC, the actress Lucile Langhanke. And the author can’t resist slipping in an f word.
By AlastairLC
Enjoyable read, generally about growth of wealth by early immigrants to NYC and the USA, specifically the Astor family. Makes me want to read more by Cooper. Bravo!
By tnarkie1
Very odd book. It did not focus enough on the Astor family.
By Bibi Cakes1
A bit superficial
By 213MAM
A very good read of history, place, people and time that feels relevant to 2023. What I would give to be a fly on THE Mrs. Astor’s wall!
By Mommy's Night Out