Questions and Their Retinue Book

This entertaining social history looks at the years 1880 through 1920 and is set largely in or near New York. The author’s primary subjects, beginning with Cornelius Vanderbilt, are four generations of a family who at one time controlled $200 million, “the largest fortune in America if not the world.” While Auchincloss’ research is obviously extensive, he conveys his erudition with a light touch and in a concise style.
In general, as in his novels the author’s subject is how money is made and spent. Especially striking here, however, are the portraits Auchincloss paints. Cornelius Vanderbilt “was puffed up with divine greed,” as a contemporary wrote. Gertrude Vanderbilt was an arts patron who instigated a scandalous battle for custody of her niece, Gloria Vanderbilt. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt was a champion yachtsman and “the father of contract bridge.”
In some cases, more interesting than the Vanderbilts are other individuals Auchincloss describes. These include the historian Henry Adams and his brothers, infamous speculator Jay Gould, the artists Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Singer Sargent and Louis C. Tiffany, the diplomat Henry White, the architect Stanford White and the author Edith Wharton. Auchincloss is notably good at relating her major novels to the era.