Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty

The House of Rothschild, Vol 1: Money's Prophets, 1798-1848

Niall Ferguson · 596 pages

This second volume of Niall Ferguson's acclaimed, landmark history of the legendary Rothschild banking dynasty concludes his myth-breaking portrait of one of the most powerful and fascinating families of modern times. With all the depth, clarity and drama with which he traced the Rothschild's ascent, Ferguson shows how their power waned as conflicts from Crimea to the Second World War repeatedly t

The Arms of Krupp: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Dynasty that Armed Germany at War

William Manchester · 1,022 pages

The Rothschilds

Virginia Cowles · 304 pages

A comprehensive history of three generations of the Rothschilds, and their influence across two generations of European history.

King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father

Brooke Barbier · 320 pages

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

Mary S. Lovell · 611 pages

"This is the story of a close, loving family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy, the eldest, was one of the best-selling novelists of her day; the ethereally beautiful Diana, married to the Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and imprisoned without trial through most of World War II, was the most hate

The Mistresses of Cliveden: Three Centuries of Scandal, Power and Intrigue in an English Stately Home

Natalie Livingstone · 551 pages

"For fans of Downton Abbey comes an immersive historical epic about a lavish English manor and a dynasty of rich and powerful women who ruled the estate over three centuries of misbehavior, scandal, intrigue, and passion. Five miles from Windsor Castle, home of the royal family, sits the Cliveden estate. Overlooking the Thames, the mansion is flanked by two wings and surrounded by lavish gardens.

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle

Fiona Carnarvon · 298 pages

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration for the hit PBS show Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon and the basis of the fictional character Lady Cora Crawley. Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters

The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Ron Chernow · 812 pages

Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire

Amanda Foreman · 463 pages

Sex, intrigue and adultery in the world of high politics and huge wealth in late eighteenth-century England. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was one of the most flamboyant and influential women of the eighteenth century. The great-great-great-great aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, she was variously a compulsive gambler, a political savante and operator of the highest order, a drug addict, an adu

The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters

Anne de Courcy · 464 pages

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

Kate Clifford Larson · 319 pages

The revelatory, poignant story of Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest and eventually secreted-away Kennedy daughter, and how her life transformed her family, its women especially, and an entire nation.

The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance

Paul Strathern · 430 pages

To Marry an English Lord

Gail MacColl, Carol Wallace · 403 pages

In 1895, nine American girls married peers of the British realm. It was the peak year of a social phenomenon that began when the entrenched members of old New York snubbed these "new money" families after the Civil War, sending them off to England in quest of class. MacColl presents a rich tapestry of essays, sidebars, fact-filled boxes, and lively anecdotes to chronicle the era respresnted by Dow

The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy

David Nasaw · 882 pages

"Celebrated historian David Nasaw brings to life the story of Joseph Patrick Kennedy, in this, the first and only biography based on unrestricted and exclusive access to the Joseph P. Kennedy papers."--

Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters

Laura Thompson · 480 pages

Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family

Amber Hunt, David Batcher · 349 pages

THE KENNEDY WIVES takes an unflinching look at the women who married into the Kennedy family and their distinct roles. Rose, the matriarch; Ethel, the athlete; Jackie, the icon; Joan, the fragile beauty; and Vicki, the redeemer. In reality, each woman was complex and multifaceted. As Kennedy wives, they were bonded through characteristics and experiences unique to the Camelot family. The Kennedy W

Colossus: The Turbulent, Thrilling Saga of the Building of Hoover Dam

Michael A. Hiltzik · 496 pages

The definitive account of the epic construction of the Hoover Dam, one of the the 20th century's most consequential public works. "As breathtaking today as when it was completed, Hoover Dam ranks among America’s most awe-inspiring, if dubious, achievements. This epic story of the dam—from conception to design to construction—by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and Los Angeles Times columnist Mic

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune

Bill Dedman, Paul Clark Newell Jr. · 456 pages

The rich mystery of a reclusive, eccentric heiress Huguette Clark: a true story of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty-first-century battle over a $300 million inheritance.

The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici

Christopher Hibbert · 366 pages

Wedlock

Wendy Moore · 386 pages

With the death of her fabulously wealthy coal magnate father when she was just eleven, Mary Eleanor Bowes became the richest heiress in Britain. An ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II, Mary grew to be a highly educated young woman, winning acclaim as a playwright and botanist. Courted by a bevy of eager suitors, at eighteen she married the handsome but aloof ninth Earl of Strathmore in a celebrated, if

The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family

Laurence Leamer · 946 pages

Monumental in scope and extraordinary in sensitivity, The Kennedy Women chronicles five matrilineal generations in our nation's premier political dynasty. Not merely distinguished cultural history, it is a story of epic sweep, brimming with triumph and tragedy, courage and compliance, self-sacrifice and self-delusion. Moving from steerage on an immigrant vessel to the slums of Boston, from the Co

Archie and Amelie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age

Donna M. Lucey · 345 pages

Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression

Studs Terkel · 462 pages

Des centaines d'entretiens font revivre les souvenirs de ceux qui ont traversé la grande dépression de 1929 aux États-Unis, du krach aux luttes syndicales, de la difficulté de la vie paysanne aux conséquences du New Deal.

The Kennedys: An American Drama

Peter Collier, David Horowitz · 300 pages