Families of Fortune

The author, who writes on travel and the arts for Vanity Fair, Art and Auction, CondT Nast Traveler, and Town and Country , admits in his acknowledgments that he regrets not having lived during the Gilded Age (presumably as one of the gilded), and his narrative does not dwell on injustices or pass judgment on those who prospered. Aided by illustrations on every page (and many that are full-or two-page spreads), his chronicle tells how fortunes were made in the age which began in the 1870s and ended in the US in 1929 and how those fortunes were spent, conveying the extravagant, indulgent, competitive spirit of the time. Lavishly produced. 10x12.5" Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Alexis Gregory writes for Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveler, Art and Auction and Town and Country. His last book, published by Rizzoli, was Paris de luxe. The Place Vendome.