Astor
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
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, #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.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Customer Reviews
A Fascinating History Viewed Through A Certain Lens
This book serves as a good primer into the history of the Astor family and the lives and times of certain members. Cooper seems to tell the story through a lens that capitalism is inherently bad, however. It becomes a distraction if you’re simply interested in learning more about this fascinating clan.
Great choice
Excellent- well researched story-
Excellent narration
Love the depth
Sad what money can do to people
A Fabulous Storyteller Spills the Tea
What an entertaining audiobook from a fabulous storyteller and an amazing historian.