“Splendid. . . . haunting and beautifully written.” — Washington Post The #1 New York Times
bestselling Gilded Age chronicle of the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty from CNN
anchor and journalist Anderson Cooper and historian and novelist Katherine Howe. One of the
Washington Post 's Notable Works of Nonfiction When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began
to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the
nineteenth 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 seventy-room summer estate in Newport Rhode Island that
Cornelius’s 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 riveting family saga 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 compelling biography is a rollicking quintessentially
American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures. This riveting look at an
American dynasty reveals: An American Dynasty's Rise and Fall: Follow Cornelius "Commodore"
Vanderbilt's ruthless journey from a small boat operator to the richest man in America and
witness how his heirs spent the staggering fortune into oblivion. Old Money vs. New Money: From
the hardscrabble wharves of Manhattan to lavish Fifth Avenue drawing rooms and Newport summer
palaces explore the world of America's original new-money arrivistes. A Unique Insider's
Viewpoint: Co-authored by Anderson Cooper the Commodore's great-great-great-grandson who
brings a personal perspective to the triumphs and tragedies of his legendary family. Iconic New
York History: Discover the story behind legendary landmarks like The Breakers and Grand Central
Terminal and the outsized influence the Vanderbilts had on New York City and the nation.
