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Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age Free Ebook WHEN THE ASTORS OWNED NEW YORK: BLUE BLOODS AND GRAND HOTELS IN A GILDED AGE DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK Justin Kaplan | 196 pages | 01 Jul 2007 | Plume Books | 9780452288584 | English | New York, NY, United States When the Astors Owned New York Hardcoverpages. Most surprising! This book gives you a really nice pi Lots of interesting information. John Jacob Astor was born in the When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age village of Waldorf. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Reviewed by:. It's all there--and it includes a little good gossip, too, about the socialite wives and mistresses, the untimely death of John Jacob Astor on the Titanic, the lavish Manhattan parties, and of course the personal eccentricities that tend to accompany great wealth. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. View Product. Driven by what Kaplan describes as "feelings of oedipal succession, long-standing clan antagonism … and undisguised vindictiveness," Willy built the Waldorf in on the site of his parents' brownstone, dwarfing the neighboring home of Jack's mother p. When Astor arrived in Manhattan the population was Additional Information. Willy and Jack had spent much of their lives locked in a bitter competition to outdo one another as hotel builders. You know the saying: There's no time like the present The celebrity-packed lobbies, public rooms, lavish suites, and exclusive restaurants of the grand hotels became distinctive theaters of modern life. They never spoke again, nor did he speak to his daughter Pauline who also disapproved. Jun 28, Glaucon rated it liked it Shelves: historynycby-ohs-and-mem-wahs. A well- written account of an interesting time in history. Quotes from When the Astors O No one since [Henry] James has written with such ease and grace about the era of excess as Kaplan. Grandma said that women didn't travel as frequently as men did though, and rarely stayed in hotels on their trips. Much to my family's annoyance, I read this on vacation and intermittently shared what I was learning about the Astors. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. I slowed my pace through the middle and end of the book because much of the information began to repeat. Solace abounds-in Jun 05, Marie rated it did not like it. Related Articles. They were barely mentioned! Riders on the Storm. In When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age collection of poems, Amy Nawrocki intuits fireflies and sapphires, observes gardens rooted in glasses of water, and tests the bindings of old books. Blanche Wiesen Cook. Mar 24, Kristin rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites. Justin Kaplan. I was beyond bored and began to be irritated as this author used fifty words and letters where five would have worked. Mary V. Waldorf married American spitfire, Nancy Langhorne, the first woman to win in a seat in Parliament. Brothers in Arms. Download Hi Res. Please try again later. Well worth a read, and passing on to a friend who I hope will enjoy this too. Madison Smartt Bell. This newest book by Pulitzer Prize winner Justin Kaplan is a sparkling combination of biography, social history, architectural appreciation, and pure pleasure Endowed with the largest private fortunes of their day, two heirs of arch-capitalist John Jacob Astor battled with each other for social primacy. Regis, etc. Inventor and Novelist. Nine Lives. When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods & Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age Although this book is relatively short, it seems that the author was often searching for things to talk about. Friend Reviews. When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age William were to accept the title, when he died, Waldorf would have to move to the ineffective House of Lords. The engaging, colorful stories in Blue Songs in an Open Key explore the hopes, longings I enjoy looking back and seeing the way that people used to live in all walks of life. Grandma said that women didn't travel as frequently as men did though, and rarely stayed in hotels on their trips. Ann Powers and Tori Amos. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. John Jacob Astor was born in the German village of Waldorf. He became a Viscount. The Mirage Factory. The owners had done virtually nothing in the meantime to alleviate the misery and increase the value of their extensive tenement holdings beyond holding them. At the end of this long-winded tome, I realized that I really learned more about the Astor family in Arthur Vanderbilt's wonderful book on the Vanderbilt family. Escape the Present with These 24 Historical Romances. When he died in it was Oct 06, 4cats rated it liked it Shelves: own. This newest book by Pulitzer Prize winner Justin Kaplan is a sparkling combination of biography, social history, architectural appreciation, and pure pleasure Endowed with the largest private fortunes of their day, two heirs of arch-capitalist John Jacob Astor battled with each other for social primacy. This book gives you a really nice pi Lots of interesting information. Whatever happened to all that dough? Crazy to think that families can squander that money away so quickly. During her reign, Caroline Astor imposed principles of decorum on a self-appointed American aristocracy that was founded on descent, inherited money, and a code of exclusion but on no discernible intrinsic merit such as intellect, learning, or originality. Endowed with the largest private fortunes of their day, cousins John Jacob Astor IV and William Waldorf Astor vied for primacy in New York society, producing the grandest hotels ever seen in a marriage of ostentation and efficiency that transformed American social behavior. William Waldorf Astor born and his cousin John Jacob Astor IV born led incomparably privileged lives in the blaze of public attention. Book club book A very wandering book. When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age Whyte. Baron Astor of Hever Castle. But an enjoyable read and it certainly gives you a feel for the place and time. Kaplan exposes it all in exquisite detail, taking readers from the s to the Roaring Twenties in a combination of biography, history, architectural appreciation, and pure reading pleasure. No one since [Henry] James has written with such ease and grace about the era of excess as Kaplan. My grandma has told me stories of happy times spent visiting her grandparents there, and entertaining herself while her grandparents did the hard work of innkeeping. Brothers in Arms. Also, the chronology is bit off because it keeps going back to the same years in each different chapter to discuss the time in different ways so you keep hoping to move forward but don't. George Marshall. Hardcoverpages. When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age Mine All Mine. Mar 22, Katrina rated it it was ok. King of the World. There you have it, a few names, a few fun facts, and extra pages of drivel. Download Hi Res. Jul When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age, Melissa rated it it was ok. Not even the Caroline Schermerhorn, who was albeit given more face-time than most other women in the book, gets much breathing room. It was difficult to stay engaged when the book jumped wildly from topic to topic without any perceptible thread tying one topic to the next. There's something to be said about not inheriting money, I must say. The Mirage Factory. Search By Title Search. Feel free to browse around and explore our inventory". He's got a huge vocabulary. She was a suffragette and staunchly liberal while William was more conservative than Rush Limbaugh. When he went bust, he had enough to buy up a large percentage of land on Manhattan Island. Admittedly its only pages so by necessity the author can't wax as lyrical as he would obviously like to. If you are looking for a good book about the Astor family, this is not it. Mountains of the Mind. The most interesting bits are about how the Astors are descendants of a German beer swilling butcher and how later on, they try so extremely hard to prove that they were from royal ancestry to reason their wealth and their lackluster to them, anyway familial history. Skimmed the last 50 pages. Both tried to outdo the other in providing the rich and super-rich with upscale accommodations in New York City. It was the setting for the most notorious society event of the era—a costume extravaganza put on by its hosts during a time of widespread need and unemployment. When he died in it was He was hardly to the manor born, yet when the War of destroyed his Northwest fur outpost, he made one of the smartest moves in business history and invested all his money in New York real estate he later said that "Could I begin life again, knowing what I now know, and had money to invest, I would buy up every foot of land on the island of Manhattan". NOOK Book. Paperback —. She favoured the old colonial and Knickerbocker families, Schermerhorns and Armstrongs, from whom she was descended, and she looked down on relative newcomers such as the Vanderbilts. Refresh and try again. Raymond G. Timothy Dwyer and Marc Peyser. I enjoy looking back and seeing the way that people used to live in all walks of life.
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