Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune

!I read this for book club. I really enjoyed it. I had little knowledge about the Astor's. I ended up doing even more research about different periods of time in America. I am going to go to The Tenement Museum in the lower east side to understand the conditions,of the poor in New York City. This was a good read

As they did in their earlier book on the Vanderbilts, Cooper and Howe have selected key family members and key events in their lives to tell the story of the Astors. The result is an entertaining and well researched (they even have footnotes this time) overview of the family that, quite literally, once owned much of New York City. The stories of the various family members are fascinating, and the authors add in quite a bit of sociological context that makes the book deeper and more relevant than a simple catalog of wealthy people and their foibles (though there is a lot of that as well). If you’re interested in the Astors, the Gilded Age, America’s class system or just like to read about rich people, you’ll enjoy this book.

Excellent book covering great history on the era of the gilded age and well written.

I am a fan of Anderson Cooper and his writing, and I have enjoyed everything else he has written. I have read many books on The Astor Family, and various members of it, and was really looking forward to this book. Maybe I just had too high expectations from Cooper's previous books. First I feel that Cooper is holding a personal vendetta against the Astor family. He makes it quite clear when discussing Brooke Astor's (apparent) snubbing of him when he was not with his mother at Mortimer's. As a seasoned journalist I would think Cooper wouldn't be so biased, but its all over the book. Clearly in Cooper's eyes the Vanderbilts were better than the Astors. I am sure (and I hope) that IRL Cooper doesn't still hold this apparent grudge against a family, but by reading the book you would think we were back in The Gilded Age and Anderson was not invited to Mrs. Astor's balls. My larger issue is that a book that for me should have been like reading my favorite type of candy this book was very dull at points. There are countless pages about things that I feel could have been explained in one or two pages (such as the massacre at the Astor House). I was shocked to find some parts of this book tedious for me to get through. If you don't know much about the Astor Family this does give you a full picture of the family origins and how they got where they got to, but I'd probably recommend something a little less biased. I am not sorry I got this book. It's a great package, and the authors are quite talented. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Still will buy future books by Cooper in the hopes they keep me as interested as his prior works.

Good book had alot of info and an easy read, just wish it was more info on the first John I was more into the beaver trade and back then. But that’s me the rest of the store was good too

Readers of Anderson Cooper’s Vanderbilt book will enjoy this history of the Astor family. It’s well researched and written. There were a couple of chapters that seemed out of place - one on another man outside the family named Jack Jacob Astor, and another about the bar in the Astor Hotel. They were interesting but seemed too much of a deep dive on topics that had little to do with actual family members. Regardless, I enjoyed learning more about the family tree and how the Astors left their mark on New York City.

Enjoyed reading this

I first read Vanderbilt and was excellent. I the little pithy remarks made by the authors. Unfortunately, I can't imagine a New York. I have never been there. At 64 I doubt I ever will but I appreciate the love that is New York woven between words and sentences. Thank you for sharing that love.

Very informative book

A very enjoyable read. Fascinating history, from Astors’ beginnings in the North American fur trade, through the Guilded Age, ending with Brooke Astors’ sad story. I will be ordering the author’s book on the Vanderbilt family for sure!

Eu comecei a assistir a série The Gilded Age, traduzida como A Idade dourada na Max, e como gosto do autor achei bastante interessante estender as informações . A série enfeita a realidade e ele esclarece a verdade. Gosto de História, em qualquer época, e dos costumes.

Great writing and interesting topic

I already know all about the Astors so this book held nothing new for me apart from a few quotes from valuable primary sources like Town Topics. That said however it is still an engaging, if haphazard, read. My greatest issue with it however is the glaring historical inaccuracies. The greatest example is that of John Jacob Astor IV, the most famous Astor of them all, the great man who lost his life on the Titanic. Due to this association, much as been written about him and his death, all which can be found through a simple glance at Encyclopaedia Titanica. Thus I was shocked at the inaccuracies in this book regarding his final days. The Astors did NOT board Titanic at Southampton. They boarded in Cherbourg, France. But most irritating of all is the blind repetition of the ‘falling funnel’ myth that was debunked years ago. JOHN JACOB ASTOR IV WAS NOT KILLED BY A FALLING FUNNEL. There was no ‘blunt force trauma.’ His body was not crushed and sooty beyond recognition. In fact his body was almost perfectly preserved – ‘The features were unharmed, the face being only slightly discolored by water.’ (Buffalo Morning Express, 1 May 1912) I probably sound pedantic but I’m sorry blatant inaccuracies like this are unacceptable, especially when the subject has been written on extensively. (Disappointed in the front cover too. Ava Willing is not deserving of it.) Overall, worth a look at but know that there are far better biographies of the Astor family out there – Derek Wilson’s The Astors and John D. Gates’ The Astor Family are two that come to mind.