Families of Fortune

Families of Fortune is very good at depicting the rise to wealth and power that accompanied the businessmen of the Industrial Era in America. The Gilded Age homes and lifetyles are lavishly depcited, using hundreds of photos and basic, supporting text that will adequately portray the subject intended in the book. Overall, it is useful, but would not be helpful for a person trying to specialize solely on the well-known names of Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and others.

The American Gilded Age (1870-1929) and the wealthy few businessmen who profited exorbitantly from it is royally portrayed in Families Of Fortune: Life In The Gilded Age, a beauteous book lavishly illustrated on virtually every page with artwork, photographs, and images of how the nouveau rich of that era made and spent their fortunes. The straightforward text contains an immense wealth of economic and historical information, concerning how a few famous "robber barron" families (a questionable term, since they technically weren't breaking laws against theft and certainly were not blood aristocracy) amassed such incredible fortunes, as well as how they ultimately spent those fortunes. Families Of Fortune is truly a combination of art, economics, and historical storytelling; highly recommended for anyone with a keen interest in the lifestyles of the rich and famous of the Gilded Age.