Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune

(Hardback)

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The number oneNew York Timesbestselling authors ofVanderbiltreturn with anotherriveting history ofa legendary American family, theAstors, and how they built and lavished their fortune.

The story of theAstorsis a quintessentially American storyof ambition, invention, destruction, and reinvention.

From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astors son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society.

The familyfortune,first madebyabeaver trapping business that grew into an empire,wasthen amplified by holdings inManhattanreal estate. Over the ensuing generations,AstorsruledGilded AgeNew York societyandinserted themselves into political and cultural life,but also suffered the mostfamous loss on theTitanic,one ofmany shocking and unexpected twists inthe familys story.

In this unconventional, page-turninghistorical biography, featuring black-and-white and color photographs,#1New York Timesbestselling authorsAnderson Cooper andKatherineHowechronicle the lives of theAstorsand explore what the Astor name has come to mean in Americaoffering a window onto the making of America itself.

Reviews

Splendid. . . . haunting and beautifully written. . . . This is a terrific book. Washington Post on Vanderbilt "An incredible story." People on Vanderbilt A dramatic tale expertly told of rapacious ambition, decadent excess, and covert and overt tyranny and trauma. . . . With resplendent detail, the authors capture the gasp-eliciting extravagance of the Vanderbilt Gilded Age mansions. . . . With its intrinsic empathy and in-depth profiles of women, this is a distinctly intimate, insightful, and engrossing chronicle of an archetypal, self-consuming American dynasty. . . . Irresistible. Booklist (starred review) on Vanderbilt Marked by meticulous research and deep emotional insight, this is a memorable chronicle of American royalty. Publishers Weekly on Vanderbilt

Author Bio

Anderson Cooper joined CNN in 2001 and has anchored his own program, Anderson Cooper 360, since March 2003. That show will now become the prime evening news program, replacing News Night with Aaron Brown. He had previously served as a correspondent for ABC News and was a foreign correspondent for Channel One News. Cooper has won several awards for his work, including a National Headliners Award for his tsunami coverage and an Emmy Award for his contribution to ABCs coverage of Princess Dianas funeral.