Thank you to Harper and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed Vanderbilt by these authors so I thought this might be a good read as well. I am a big Anderson Cooper fan so I was really exicted to get this book.

I really enjoyed this one. It was a really well written book and kept me interested the entire time. It is almost written as Historical Fiction so you don't get so lost in all of the details. The only Astor I knew about prior to this was John Jacob Astor IV who was on the Titanic so it was interesting to see how his family made their fortune.

This was a great book to start the new year off with!

This was one of my favorite nonfiction books of the year! The Gilded Age is one of my favorite time periods to read about and this did not disappoint.

The book follows the rise and fall of the Astor family from their founder John Jacob Astor to Brooke Astor who was an Astor by marriage. There are so many twist and turns, it’s like watching The Real Housewives play out through history.

I liked how the book was organized thematically. It was in chronological order but it followed specific aspects of the Astors such as their country house, the titanic, etc. It was a very interesting read and makes me very excited to go back and read their book Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty.

As is at least somewhat predictable for someone whose primary job has been as an on-air personality, Cooper is a good storyteller. And that makes this book very readable in a narrative sense, even if it’s a bit thin on original information.

I think this would work well for readers with little to know background knowledge on the Astors. It’s approachable, well-researched, and entertaining. If you’ve done previous reading on the Astors or the other 400 families though, you can probably skip this one. I enjoyed the reader experience, but aside from a brief personal anecdote of Cooper’s at the beginning, there was nothing in this book that I haven’t heard before.

That said, for a more commercially friendly family biography, this is refreshingly entertaining and narratively well-structured while not sacrificing accuracy.

Although entertaining as well as interesting, this is not an in-depth as I thought it would be. I was like oh a gilded age son of Gloria telling a gilded age story. Some amusing story’s but not sure I will buy this for my library. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

An Intriguing And Sad Family Saga

SUMMARY
John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant, made the Astor fortune by purchasing beaver pelts from trappers and selling them for a hefty profit. He arrived in America in 1783, and by 1798, the fur trade had made him worth $250,000, equivalent to six million today. He further increased the Astor's wealth by investing in Manhattan real estate, particularly waterfront parcels and low-income rental housing for immigrants. He became the wealthiest man in America at his death in 1848 with over twenty million dollars.

He and his wife Sarah had eight children, three of whom died at birth or shortly thereafter. Upon his death, most of Astor’s fortune was inherited by his second son, William Astor, who worked in the fur export and real estate family business.

Astors: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune chronicles the generations of the Astor family as they both defined and dominated American society. While some family members inherited, others did not. Some took part in the family business and increased their fortune, while others spent it on yachts and horses. Ultimately, the Astor fortune diminished through the generations. Jack Astor went down on the Titanic in 1912, leaving his entire fortune to his son Vincent. Vincent Astor died in 1959, leaving his entire fortune to his wife, Brooke. Brooke then spent the next 48 years giving away most of the fortune, only to be swindled by her own son later in life.


REVIEW
Journalist Anderson Cooper and historical novelist Katherine Howe teamed up once again to write Astors: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune. They previously authored a book about the Vanderbilts together. Their writing is good and profiles many of the dominant members of the Astor family. The saga of this family is intriguing and somewhat sad.

While much has been written about the Astor's dominance in society during the Guided Age, this book seems different. It is perhaps more rounded in that it tells both the good and the not-so-good things the Astor’s did.

I liked the book and even appreciated some of the repetition across chapters. A couple of chapters had me questioning the book's focus by bringing in Astors who were not descendants of John Jacob Astor, while another chapter highlights the gay scene at the Astor Bar in the Astor Hotel in the early twentieth century. Nice to know, but how is it relevant to the rice and fall of the Astor fortune?

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Published September 19, 2023
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

It was a very harsh portrayal of the Astor family. I was looking for more of a family history than a splashy, gossip-laden rag that felt as dishy as this book was.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and was able to complete it within 3 days. Anderson Cooper is a great storyteller (who knew?) and weaves together the history of the Astors with occasional mentions of his own family going back to the original patriarchs. I found it interesting that he also ties the Astor real-estate fortune to locations that are recognizable today...the points of reference add to the understanding of how much real estate the Astors controlled. He also aligns different time periods in the Astor family life to significant historical events as well. This book will be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the Gilded Age, the history of NYC or social etiquette in the 1800s.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Astor by Anderson Cooper!

Astor is a delicious story about the Aster family from their humble beginnings to their bold ruling of the wealthiest class.

Anderson Cooper has done exhaustive research which make this book so much better. With the narrative being so smooth the book just took off in my mind - transporting me back to the many eras of this family.

A terrific biography of fascinating family - and the time periods in which they ruled.