輝煌之季：紐約鍍金時代的
"Every aspect of life in the Gilded Age took on deeper, transcendent meaning intended to prove the greatness of America: residences beautified their surroundings; works of art uplifted and were sha...
"Every aspect of life in the Gilded Age took on deeper, transcendent meaning intended to prove the greatness of America: residences beautified their surroundings; works of art uplifted and were shared with the public; clothing exhibited evidence of breeding; jewelry testified to cultured taste and wealth; dinners demonstrated sophisticated palates; and balls rivaled those of European courts in their refinement. The message was unmistakable: the United States had arrived culturally, and Caroline Astor and her circle were intent on leading the nation to unimagined heights of glory."
Take a dazzling journey through the Gilded Age, the period from roughly the 1870s to 1914, when bluebloods from older, established families met the nouveau riche headlong—railway barons, steel magnates, and Wall Street speculators—and forged an uneasy and glittering new society in New York City. The best of the best were Caroline Astor's 400 families, and she shaped and ruled this high society with steel.
A Season of Splendor is a panoramic sweep across this sumptuous landscape, presenting the families, the wealth, the balls, the clothing, and the mansions in vivid detail—as well as the shocking end of the era with the sinking of the Titanic.
Greg King is the author of the British bestseller The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis Simpson as well as The Court of the Last Tsar, The Fate of the Romanovs, and Twilight of Splendor. He has appeared as an onscreen commentator for the BBC
Acknowledgments.
A Note on Currency.
Introduction.
Prologue:New York City,1903
1. Mrs. Astor Holds Court.
2. The Vainglorious Vanderbilts.
3. Enter the Challenger.
4. The Society Lady.
5. The Society Gentleman.
6. The Court Jester.
7. The Arrivistes.
8. The Edifice Complex.
9. Palaces on Fifth Avenue.
10. Mrs. Astor Joins the Race.
11. Building for Eternity.
12. The Unseen Armies.
13. Clothing.
14. Jewelry.
15. Transportation.
16. Masters of the Hudson.
17. "The Inland Newport".
18. Monarch of the Smoky Mountains.
19. The Kingdom by the Sea.
20. Swells in Newport.
21. The Social Season.
22. The Society Dinner Party.
23. Society Balls.
24. The Dollar Princesses.
25. A Breath of Scandal.
26. Sailing to Oblivion.
Epilogue.
Notes
Bibliography.
Index
