{"product_id":"astor-the-rise-and-fall-of-an-american-fortune","title":"Astor : The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebestselling and NPR Best Book of the Year history of a legendary American family from the #1\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebestselling authors of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eVanderbilt.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A must-read. . . . Cooper and Howe dig into one of the United States’ most influential families and a parable of capitalism, commerce, and greed that established an American way of life.” —\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of the Astors is an extraordinary but true tale of ambition, invention, destruction, and reinvention—and of cunning, determination, hard work, hubris, infighting, and greed. One of the wealthiest men to have ever lived, John Jacob Astor arrived in New York in 1783 and built a fortune through a ruthless expansion of his beaver-trapping business, which he grew into an empire through real estate that enriched him at the expense of Manhattan’s poorest residents. In later generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society—Caroline  Schermerhorn Astor essentially invented it—and got into the hospitality business with the legendary Waldorf-Astoria hotel, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet for all their unimaginable success, the Astors also endured crushing tragedy and reversals of fortune. John Jacob IV perished in the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eTitanic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edisaster, its most famous victim. His cousin William Waldorf Astor renounced the United States. Rifts would split siblings and pit cousins against one another, legal battles would create irreparable divides, and mansions would be built and razed, or fall into disrepair. By 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother—who had herself married into the family for money—the Astor dynasty was effectively over.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this unconventional, page-turning historical biography, featuring black-and-white and color photographs, Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe chronicle the lives of the Astors and offer a window onto the making of America itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cleary's Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409180500248,"sku":"9780062964663","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/2852\/6872\/files\/9780062964663_711ff_5c5653a2-1be6-4956-98c2-f8c58b0a17a8.jpg?v=1732994671","url":"https:\/\/www.clearysbookstore.com\/products\/astor-the-rise-and-fall-of-an-american-fortune","provider":"Cleary's Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}