Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook8 hours
Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
Written by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe
Narrated by Anderson Cooper
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
Family Dynamics
Gilded Age
Wealth & Power
Family
New York City History
Rags to Riches
Self-Made Man
Fish Out of Water
Class Conflict
American Dream
Frontier Life
Coming of Age
Friends to Lovers
Self-Discovery
Found Family
Family Dynasties
Architecture
Love
Relationships
Marriage & Relationships
About this audiobook
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.
Author
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper is an anchor at CNN and a correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes. He has won twenty Emmys and numerous other major journalism awards. Cooper is the author of the New York Times bestseller Astor (with Katherine Howe) and three number one New York Times bestsellers: The Rainbow Comes and Goes, Dispatches from the Edge, and Vanderbilt (with Katherine Howe). He lives in New York with his two sons.
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Reviews for Astor
Rating: 4.28169014084507 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
71 ratings6 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title well researched and compelling. The author provides excellent insight into the history of New York City and the Astor family. The book is engaging and hooks the reader with its romance and storytelling. Many readers finished it quickly and were left wanting more. Overall, this title is highly recommended for those interested in historical fiction.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not sure what I expected but this was not it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this as much as I loved Vanderbilt. Great book!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Narrator, subject matter, attention to detail, sensitivity, and historical perspectives for society
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well researched. Many topics pertinent to the decades described were included to add an interesting historical perspective. I feel like I know a bit more of the history of New York City and want to know more.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Like most people, I have heard of the Astors, also like most people I really didn’t know anything about them. This book was very compelling. I finished it quickly, finding myself searching for snippets of time to continue with it, because the story had me hooked. Anderson definitely knows how to weave romance for the period and for the city of New York into the mix. I’m hoping that he finds another family to tackle, because I loved Vanderbilt and Astor!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I just love AC!! I love how he is so normal- it’s like he’s an observer of his extraordinary upbringing rather than a full participant in it- and I feel like this gives him perspective most of us wouldn’t have. I love how much he shares about himself and his own family, and his research into the Astors is excellent. I will be looking for the beavers next time I’m in the Astor Place subway station!!
1 person found this helpful