Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

For fans of Downton Abbey, a real-life American version of the Crawley family—Fortune's Children is an enthralling true story that recreates the drama, splendor, and wealth of the legendary Vanderbilts.

Vanderbilt: The very name is synonymous with the Gilded Age. The family patriarch, "the Commodore,” built a fortune that made him the world's richest man by 1877. Yet, less than fifty years after his death, no Vanderbilt was counted among the world's richest people. Written by descendant Arthur T. Vanderbilt II, Fortune's Children traces the dramatic and amazingly colorful history of this great American family, from the rise of industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt to the fall of his progeny—wild spendthrifts whose profligacy bankrupted a vast inheritance.

• The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home
• When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age
• Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon
• Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune
• The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
• The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home
• The Vanderbilts
• Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age
• Gilded: How Newport Became America's Richest Resort
• Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor