Vanderbilt

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
$37.50
Mr. Stiles short sighted and narrow minded opinion of his work has kept me from ordering this for my Kindle.

Fortune's Children
$19.99
If every member of every other wealthy family of the past, present, and future were kind, happy, well-adjusted human beings this family alone would provide ample reason for average people to distrust, dislike, and shake their heads in disgust at the filthy rich.
One man who loved making money made a whole lot of it--more than any other American ever had. He left most of his fortune to one son who managed to increase it beyond his father's wildest dreams. The children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren then burned through the world's largest fortune with amazing skill and speed.
The scale of the homes and lifestyles of these people is simply unimaginable. With few exceptions, their personalities seemed to be without virtue. They entertained lavishly--not because they cared about their friends and wanted to share their hospitality--but to flaunt their wealth and power.
The commodore did donate money to start Vanderbilt University. But he didn't really do it out of concern for the education of future generations. His wife talked him into donating the money to start a university as a monument to himself. She thought a university would be more tasteful and less embarrassing than the massive statue of himself her husband had in mind. His one and only gift to the university was only one million dollars.
One of the most intesting things about this book is seeing how the monumental mansions they built for themselves became useless monstrosities. A home Alva Vanderbilt spent millions to construct was sold for $100,000. Most of the mansions were razed.
The book is a fascinating peek at an amazing time period of American history.

The Vanderbilts
$55.00
As anyone knows who has read my reviews, this is a period of history I know very well. Patterson's history gets high marks from me because it covers the seldom reported 4th and even 5th generation of the family. There are plenty of books covering through the 3rd generation ( this one does also of course) but details and pictures of the later generations is rare. That is a shame because theirs was a story of high living as well, and illustrates the magnitude of the Vanderbilt fortune that it could withstand endless extravagance. So here they are complete with pictures of their homes, jewels, yachts, race horses, and ending with a series of recent pictures of the latest generations ( no longer millionaires) taken just for this book and standing amidst the splendors of the family mansions. A nice touch.
This is a MUST book for fans of this subject.

Gloria Vanderbilt Women's Gwen, St. Topaz, 12
$40.00