In The Vanderbilts, the family’s astounding story is told in full: from the farmstead beginnings of the Commodore on Staten Island to the pinnacle of wealth, fame, and social standing achieved by the legendary Vanderbilt ladies—Consuelo, Alva, Grace, Gertrude, and Gloria. The text traces the commercial machinations that established their fortune and the Vanderbilt mania for house building that engaged some of America’s finest designers and architects.