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The Vanderbilts  By  cover art

The Vanderbilts

By: Jerry E. Patterson
Narrated by: Ray Childs
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Publisher's summary

Cornelius Vanderbilt parlayed a $100.00 investment into the largest private transportation company in the world while creating an American Dynasty in New York, Newport, Vermont, and Asheville, North Carolina. This history of his family and their lush, opulent lifestyle is filled with juicy stories and fun tidbits about their lives in the Gilded Era.

©2010 Jerry E. Patterson (P)2012 Audio Bookshelf

What listeners say about The Vanderbilts

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  • Overall
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Good read.

Interesting. Fun. Good read if you want to visit any of the Vanderbilt houses. Even better the second time. End

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Great details about one of America's gilded age families

Liked the detailed historical accuracy throughout the book. I have always been curious about the family and this book was informative and interesting.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Sufficient

Very informative and thorough but also kept me interested and wasn’t a bore to listen to.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Historically interesting

Tons of facts and tidbits but it's kinda hard to follow the family branches. Parts of it are dry and lifeless. I love the personal story parts rather than the statistics and lists portions. But it makes me want to research this family more.

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  • Overall
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Very Interesting

Believe it or not, Rich families and money are very interesting. All the different people made it a little confusing, however, it was very interesting.

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  • Overall
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Very thorough

I liked it. It was thoroughly interesting without going into trivia. Especially when it discussed Biltmore and all that went into it's creation.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good, but could have been better!

The story of this family is fascinating and the content provided in this book does a fairly good job relating the story. However, at times the continuity of family history was confusing. The voice of the narrator became irritating and rather monotonous as it droned on. Additionally, the narrator mispronounced the names of a few of the vital characters in this book indicative of his reading the book without knowledge of the people in the story.

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Enjoyed the story

Very interesting and informative with excellent narration! I really was unsure of what to expect as I didn't know much about this family other than the Commodore, little Gloria, and a few of the names of contemporary Vanderbilt's. So I enjoyed the story of this family and how they were a part of our history.

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wonderful

this was a wonderful and educational book just wish there was an updated version or one about the biltmore

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Wonderful!

If you’re interested in the Vanderbilts or the Gilded Age, you’ll enjoy this book. The narrator has a wonderful voice to listen to.

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