Vanderbilt

The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe

Narrated by: Anderson Cooper

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.

When 11-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the 19th century, no one could have imagined that one day he would, through ruthlessness, cunning, and a pathological desire for money, build two empires - one in shipping and another in railroads - that would make him the richest man in America. His staggering fortune was fought over by his heirs after his death in 1877, sowing familial discord that would never fully heal. Though his son Billy doubled the money left by “the Commodore”, subsequent generations competed to find new and ever more extraordinary ways of spending it. By 2018, when the last Vanderbilt was forced out of The Breakers - the 70-room summer estate in Newport, Rhode Island, that Cornelius’ grandson and namesake had built - the family would have been unrecognizable to the tycoon who started it all.

Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson, Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Cooper and Howe breathe life into the ancestors who built the family’s empire, basked in the Commodore’s wealth, hosted lavish galas, and became synonymous with unfettered American capitalism and high society. Moving from the hardscrabble wharves of old Manhattan to the lavish drawing rooms of Gilded Age Fifth Avenue, from the ornate summer palaces of Newport to the courts of Europe, and all the way to modern-day New York, Cooper and Howe wryly recount the triumphs and tragedies of an American dynasty unlike any other.

Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Sadly captivating.

Listened to the complete book in one afternoon. Of course the narration by Anderson Cooper was excellent and fascinating telling the story of the Vanderbilt family....his Mother's family....his family.

Fantastic

Couldn’t stop listening. Fascinating story! Anderson Cooper is a great narrator. Soothing and relaxing listen with a touch of laughter and a touch of tears.

Interesting and Informative

Anderson is so easy to listen to. The story peels back layers of family, history, culture and class. Great read.

Fascinating Read!

I watch Anderson Cooper every night and enjoyed listening to him narrate the life of his family.

A Great American History Story

I was rapt in the story from start to finish. I did not know the Vanderbilt fortune is no longer, only the family name remains. It goes to show when you use your wealth for self-indulgence, it doesn't last. I wish Ken Burns would do a docuseries film on this family.

Crazy interesting family

Cooper presents a look at family unlike any I’ve ever seen. It seems almost sad, with everything theirs for the taking, that so many of them were miserably unhappy. Their life of conspicuous consumption is the ultimate privilege, but they always needed more.
This book is very interesting, not like a biography at all. Instead, it is a collection of stories that must be true, because no one could make that stuff up!

TO TELL THE TRUTH

I loved this book. The stories made the ancestors live. Anderson, you have a wonderful, timing, read.

Good, but I hoped for great

The Vanderbilt's are brought to life and held up as poster children for excess. Cooper did a good job of describing the rise and the excess, but not the fall of the Vanderbilt dynasty. Certainly excess was behind it, but there had to be bad business decisions, terrible legal and tax advice, and obstinance to change that were, sadly, not part of the story. Or is he going to publish a second volume that detauls the downfall?

Loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed Anderson Cooper's reading of his book. about the Vanderbilt family. Entertaining and educational.

Amazing story so thankful

So thankful that Anderson Cooper knew he needed to do this. Such a complicated story so beautifully told by him. I so loved The Rainbow Comes and Goes. It was a Mother’s Day present to me from my son. Thank you