Review by Booklist Review
This history of the Astor family, one of America's richest and most influential dynasties, serves as a worthy companion to superstar journalist Cooper and novelist Howe's best-selling account of Cooper's own family, Vanderbilt (2021). Once again, the authors offer an engaging, multigenerational story that is factual and nuanced. One theme is the Astors' omnipresence in American culture as the standard when it comes to measuring wealth, opulence, and power; another is the impact the family exerted on New York City's elite 400 "first families" and how these influences rippled across all of America. Beginning with first-generation fur baron John Jacob Astor and his 1810 attempt to create his own country, Astoria, to John Jacob the Fourth going down with the Titanic, to firsthand accounts of the LGBTQ-friendly Astor Hotel Bar in the mid-twentieth century, the narrative encompasses both historic events and myriad marriages, liaisons, scandals, disownments, lawsuits, and incidents of fierce familial competition. There are jewels, mansions, yachts, and other ostentatious displays of wealth aplenty (fans of the HBO series The Gilded Age will be delighted to recognize plot elements taken from real life) juxtaposed against descriptions of squalid tenements and class-fueled riots. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Cooper and Howe have enormous, enthusiastic fan bases, and this is another nonfiction winner from the duo.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
CNN journalist Cooper and novelist Howe follow up Vanderbilt with an exhaustive history of the Astor family. After a failed attempt in the 1810s to open a new trading outpost in the Pacific Northwest, by the 1830s John Jacob Astor had grown the American Fur Company into one of the country's largest business concerns, mainly by profiting off trade to Indigenous people in the American territories along the Mississippi and Canadian border, undercutting government trading posts and pushing alcohol sales. He later turned to real estate development in New York City. Subsequent generations had a long downward spiral, starting with John Jacob Astor IV's death on the Titanic in 1912. The book ends by detailing the elder abuse case surrounding Brooke Astor, widow of Vincent Astor, a scandal that played out in the tabloids in the mid-2000s after her son by a previous marriage was accused of mistreating and exploiting her. This meticulously detailed family saga is also rich with insight into U.S. history, including revealing chapters on topics ranging from mid-19th-century populist sentiments concerning Shakespeare (the Astor Opera House staged a performance of Macbeth that was widely reviled for its high ticket price) and the early 20th-century gay scene (when the Astor Hotel became a queer rendezvous spot). History buffs and readers fascinated by the rich and famous should take note. (Sept.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Lives of the rich and infamous. Broadcast journalist Cooper and historical novelist Howe, co-authors of the family biography Vanderbilt, team up again to create a brisk, entertaining history of the Astors, a storied dynasty that left an indelible mark on New York's streets, parks, museums, libraries, hotels, and a famous gay bar. The story begins with John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant who arrived in America in 1783, selling cakes and cookies in the streets of Manhattan while he kept his eye out for anyone trading in furs, a lucrative commodity. By 1798, the authors write, the fur trade had paid off handsomely; at the age of 35, John Jacob was "worth $250,000. By way of comparison, a family in Manhattan could live comfortably for a year on about $750." With his newly amassed wealth, he shifted from fur to real estate, buying up cheap parcels near New York's waterfront. Soon, he owned a large portion of the city. Besides properties on which he and his heirs built mansions, the Astors became ruthless landlords. The authors profile colorful family members, some of whom devoted themselves to the Astor business, others who preferred horse racing and yachts. Some were philanthropists; one, the disgruntled William Waldorf Astor, moved to England and renounced his citizenship. John Astor IV, known as Jack, perished on the Titanic. For a time, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel--created when rival family members erected independent hotels joined by corridors--stood as the pinnacle of elegance, and the Astor Hotel became a favorite hangout for the theater crowd in Times Square. If men dominated the Astor business, their wives focused on status, from the inflexible Caroline Astor, wife of playboy William Backhouse Astor, "who defined and dominated New York society during the Gilded Age," to major donor Brooke Astor, widow of the vastly wealthy Vincent, whose son Anthony was convicted of defrauding her. A spirited saga of glitz and greed. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
