Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune

Thank you, Anderson Cooper, for this wonderfully worded piece of eye-opening history of the Astor family. It was a pleasure to read.

Not the best book I’ve read about the Astors but certainly the quickest. Good for a reading group pick as there’s plenty to dissect.

Enjoyed learning more history about the Astors and how they lived. John Jacob Astor is portrayed differently - more cutthroat which he probably was. Recommend this book

Anderson Cooper’s book on the Astors was carefully researched and written. I enjoy reading, especially when I learn. I learned from his book that the famous Astor family were horrible people. Although I will say that William Astor redeemed them by establishing so many charities.I like to be able to recommend books to friends. What I will say about this book is the first half gives a lot of interesting information, much of it historical. That is probably why I continued to read it.Ages ago I learned that the mark of good fiction was that the reader felt the redemption of good over evil. Also, a sense of hope about future.At the close of this book, I can only recommend that if you have reached a point where your thirst for knowledge has been quenched, stop there. It will only depress you to see it through to the end.Anderson, thank you for the time and care you took to write this. You seem to be what these “great?” men are not. You are indeed a worthy soul.

interesting and engaging and perfect for the drive home from vacation in Acadia to home in the Berkshire Hills. We are old enough to remember when some of this story was still making news, but even that faded from consciousness without having an end. Authoritatively told by Anderson Cooper, himself an Astor.

Very interesting, and learned a lot about the family.

I loved that this book is available!! Am looking forward to a winter's worth of great reading - thanks Amazon!!

Excellent product. Thank you very much

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Was factual with personal experiences intertwined throughout. It provides the reader with a window to see inside one of the wealthiest times of America history and the impact on society.

Enjoyable read but focuses on singular events/people/places so leads to patchy overall enjoyment.

The Astor history is fascinating and an inspiring account of what early American fortunes were based on. Also how times gave changed and the opportunities of old are no longer present. But from nothing but with great vision comes wealth!!

I haven't started to read this book yet but i read the covers and i know i well like it as i love books that are about real people and events. I have read Anderson Cooper's other books and loved them.

I already know all about the Astors so this book held nothing new for me apart from a few quotes from valuable primary sources like Town Topics. That said however it is still an engaging, if haphazard, read.My greatest issue with it however is the glaring historical inaccuracies. The greatest example is that of John Jacob Astor IV, the most famous Astor of them all, the great man who lost his life on the Titanic. Due to this association, much as been written about him and his death, all which can be found through a simple glance at Encyclopaedia Titanica. Thus I was shocked at the inaccuracies in this book regarding his final days.The Astors did NOT board Titanic at Southampton. They boarded in Cherbourg, France.But most irritating of all is the blind repetition of the ‘falling funnel’ myth that was debunked years ago.JOHN JACOB ASTOR IV WAS NOT KILLED BY A FALLING FUNNEL.There was no ‘blunt force trauma.’ His body was not crushed and sooty beyond recognition. In fact his body was almost perfectly preserved – ‘The features were unharmed, the face being only slightly discolored by water.’ (Buffalo Morning Express, 1 May 1912)I probably sound pedantic but I’m sorry blatant inaccuracies like this are unacceptable, especially when the subject has been written on extensively.(Disappointed in the front cover too. Ava Willing is not deserving of it.)Overall, worth a look at but know that there are far better biographies of the Astor family out there – Derek Wilson’s The Astors and John D. Gates’ The Astor Family are two that come to mind.