America's Secret Aristocracy: The Families that Built the United States

By Stephen Birmingham

Book Overview

America has always been a constitutionally classless society, yet an American aristocracy emerged anyway--a private club whose members run in the same circles and observe the same unwritten rules. Renowned social historian Stephen Birmingham reveals the inner workings of this aristocracy and identifies which families in which cities have always mattered and how they've defined America.

America's Secret Aristocracy offers an inside look at the estates, marriages and financial empires of America's most selective club and a gallery of vivid portrait of its members: the William Randolphs, the first of the first families of Virginia; the Carillos and Ortegas, the premier ranchero families of California; Presidents Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt; the Boston Brahmins, including the Lowells, "who speak only to Cabots, and the Cabots, who speak only to God". With countless anecdotes about our nation's elite, including interviews with their modern-day descendants, this is a social history both insightful and entertaining.

Scores of social chroniclers have tried to define America's aristocracy with various Social Registers and Who's Whos. Stephen Birmingham outdoes these lists as his colorful portraits go far beyond simply naming names; they capture the true definition, essence and customs of America's aristocratic families.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1493024760
• ISBN13: 9781493024766
• Release Date: August 2016
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An Eye Opener!

I have had the good fortune to work in many of my city's premier cultural institutions. These institutions make my city what it is: The cultural capitol of the world. Many of these cultural palaces were founded by members of America's Secret Aristocracy. Author Steven Birmingham presents a VIVID portrait of this group and it's history. It is an elite group, whose roots go way back to the founding of this nation. It's members have married each other, fought in wars, endowed universities and cultural institutions, made policy decisions, held elected office, and in some of their less guarded moments, gotten themselves involved in scandals. We learn, and start to understand how American aristocrats think and what their values are. What we learn is that these people live by a code: Noblesse oblige. They are all about serving their country, community families and friends. They are about making a contribution to this nation. The Author spent several months conducting interviews with members of this elite group, from the east coast to the west coast, with stops in between. What he discovers and what we finally see, is the insiders view of the organizations & secret societies that serve and support this group, as well as the strong and determined personalites that keep things rolling. We also get a rare behind the scenes history lesson. We learn more about John Jay, the Astors, the Randolphs of Virginia, the Browns of Newport and who the Boston Brahmins really are. Each story is truly fascinating. America's Secret Aristocracy is a real eye opener, and not just about a group of elites who have played mega roles for hundreds of years in this nation. It is a fuller history of this nation. It is a book that fills in many historical gaps, and that makes it well worth having!