High Society: The History of America's Upper Class

"High Society" by Nick Foulkes is a captivating book on the colorful exploits of the upper class men and women. The following is a preview sampling of what is in this book:Page 93: Effects of the Social Register publication, and the origins of Vogue magazinePages 111-112: Truman Capote's inner circle of friends and the U.S. Marshall PlanPages 137-140: Truman Capote's party details and photosPages 142-144: Information and photos on Nan Kempner (admired by Vogue editor in chief Diana Vreeland)Pages 152-160: Details are compared between the the classes of "Old Money" and "New Money". There are also additional high society photos (including one featured of Tinsley Mortimer)."High Society" by Nick Foulkes is great for anyone who is curious to find out about what goes on in those who live in affluence.

Actually, I purchased this item for a friends birthday. She happens to be a fashionista. I did not read it so I cannot comment on it's importance or value.

...and a load of info about these people/families in general. The cover is stunning, and what is on the inside is almost like unlocking the doors of these secluded lives that are being lived behind the closed gilded doors. If you are interested in these great and uniquely 'American' lives, then you must see what is in this book.It is worth the attention.

delicious look into another world. love the cover shot of the miller sisters

It's not the sellers fault, but I was expecting a lot more pictures of everything. Very boring book~ I don't recommend it.

Wonderful love it.

I'll be the first to admit that Foulke's book is an interesting one to leaf through. It's profusely illustrated and contains many photos that I've not seen anywhere else. The production values are good (as is everything from Editions Assouline, and Foulkes has an undeniably good eye and interesting taste. For those, I'll give the book two solid stars.However, where the book goes astray begins on the cover, where the subtitle claims "the History of America's Upper Class". What Foulkes depicts and describes are mostly _not_ "America's Upper Class", but America's rich (usually newly-so) and conspicuous. The book focuses almost exclusively on New Yorkers, which is nonsensical, given the actual distribution of America's "upper class".America most certainly *has* an "upper class", if one is going to use the term correctly, but this, Foulkes refuses to do. What he *really* means is the rich and conspicuous. If that were what constituted "upper class", then surely Roman Abramovich, P. Diddy and Larry Ellison would qualify. Anyone who thinks they actually *do* is clueless. In reality, "upper class" has far less to do with money and face or name recognition than Foulkes seems to grasp.Take a look at the name-checking in the publisher's blurb: Vanderbilt, Frick, Morgan and Astor. Were or are they "upper class"? The first Vanderbilt of note (Cornelius Sr.) didn't appear on the scene until the 1820s; fairly late in the game. The Frick family's rise is even more recent, with the first rich and conspicuous member (Henry Clay Frick, the grandson of a whiskey distiller) not appearing until 1875 or so. The Morgan family's fortunes were likewise built in the 1860s. The Astor Family's fortune is based upon fur trading and opium smuggling. In fact, nearly all of the names that most Americans would consider "upper class", including the Rockefellers and Carnegies, are 19th century new money who became rich through dubious (often illegal) practices. The Kennedys -- widely thought of as "American royalty" were poor Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century, who made their money predominantly through owning saloons and bootlegging during Prohibition! "Upper class"? Hardly! None of the founders of the aforementioned fortunes were accepted by society; they were considered utterly vulgar. They were "merchant barons" or "tycoons"; they were NOT "upper class", and few of their descendents have become so.America does indeed have an "upper class" but they are, of course, absent from this book and it is very unlikely that those who look through it have ever heard of their names or would recognize their faces. America's "upper class" conforms almost entirely to one group: the descendants of the sons of the English landed gentry and aristocracy who came over to North America during the Great Migration, accumulated land and set themselves up as America's landed gentry in the original 13 Colonies. You see their same surnames down through the centuries as alumni at Deerfield and Phillips Exeter, Harvard and Yale. You see their names in the registers of private clubs and on the roster of the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington DC. You see them at classic sailboat regattas and on fox hunts, but you do NOT see them in the pages of glossy magazines or on television. Consequently, you will not find them in this book because what this book is really about is simply the rich and famous of New York. I'm sure that Sebastian Foulkes knows that these aren't "America's upper class", and it's silly for him to try to pass them off as such.Take one genuine American upper class family -- the Gardners of Massachusetts. Never heard of 'em? I'm not surprised. They've never been interested in media attention. They are the descendants of Thomas Gardner (1565-1635), who arrived in Massachusetts in 1623 (and who happens to be my 11th great-grandfather). Thomas' grandfather was Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, as well as being Bishop of Winchester. His great-great grandfather was Baron Grey de Wilton, and Thomas Gardner could trace many of his direct ancestors back to the Norman kings. His son Thomas, Junior was the first Governor of what would become the Massachusetts Colony. The Gardner family has remained quietly powerful and wealthy in Massachusetts ever since, and is related by blood or marriage to just about every prominent WASP family in New England; most of the "Boston Brahmins" descend directly from him. The only Gardner that some Americans might know by name is Isabella Stewart Gardner, who bequeathed her fabulous art collection to the city of Boston; otherwise, Gardners have preferred to avoid the spotlight.One older Gardner I know (a distant cousin of mine) is in his 60s, lives very modestly in a cottage on Cape Cod. His car is a 20 year-old Volvo, and he earns less than $30,000 a year as a picture framer. Rich and famous, he is not. But you could drop him into the highest society anywhere in the US or Europe, and he would fit right in because he's the product of countless generations of the upper class. He also happens to have inherited an incredible collection of maritime paintings from the 17th-19th centuries (including Winslow Homer seascapes) that is worth many millions. Of course, he'll never sell them.

On the whole, this is an enjoyable read when you are curious about "Society" and it's alleged "history". No wonder it's written by a historian, and a Brit as well (well, to my knowledge Brits' is one of the most class conscious culture ever).What you will find is an attempt to string a storyline of what is considered "society", namely the rich and the famous, and their social habits/expectaions (for instance, there is a chapter on "A woman's place") through out, from the colonial times to the turn of the century.The reason I give it a 3 stars instead of higher is because that was it, the story is somewhat unclear and incomplete when it deals with the present day "society": "Expresso Society" is sketchy at best although I do appreciate the commentary about how Women's place has been expanded from the mere "interior decoration" and "charities foundation boards" to the men's arena are now considered as "actively desirable". How times has changed for women!Truman Capote's "ascent" to "social greatness" can be elaborated on more as that was one of the jewels of the book's colorful collection of societal anecdotes. ;)

It was for my wife, and she loves it. Good pictures and interesting text.Very good book.RegardsO Norway