I have had the good fortune to work in many of my city's premier cultural institutions. These institutions make my city what it is: The cultural capitol of the world. Many of these cultural palaces were founded by members of America's Secret Aristocracy. Author Steven Birmingham presents a VIVID portrait of this group and it's history.

It is an elite group, whose roots go way back to the founding of this nation. It's members have married each other, fought in wars, endowed universities and cultural institutions, made policy decisions, held elected office, and in some of their less guarded moments, gotten themselves involved in scandals.

We learn, and start to understand how American aristocrats think and what their values are. What we learn is that these people live by a code: Noblesse oblige. They are all about serving their country, community families and friends. They are about making a contribution to this nation.

The Author spent several months conducting interviews with members of this elite group, from the east coast to the west coast, with stops in between. What he discovers and what we finally see, is the insiders view of the organizations & secret societies that serve and support this group, as well as the strong and determined personalites that keep things rolling. We also get a rare behind the scenes history lesson. We learn more about John Jay, the Astors, the Randolphs of Virginia, the Browns of Newport and who the Boston Brahmins really are. Each story is truly fascinating.

America's Secret Aristocracy is a real eye opener, and not just about a group of elites who have played mega roles for hundreds of years in this nation. It is a fuller history of this nation. It is a book that fills in many historical gaps, and that makes it well worth having!

This is an excellent book -- no doubt about it. Mr. Birmingham is in command of his facts. But there are just too many asides in here about shocks, struts and motor oil. Car lovers can read many other books -- this one should have stuck to the subject of Jews in America. But overall, it's a good book

A very interesting history of the great Jewish families of New York. Birmingham flings the door open on some of the most reclusive and secretive oligopolies in business history. Not only is it an eye opening history of the German jews in New York but it is engaging and interesting to read. It does not read like a textbook. Birmingham has really done his homework. If you want to learn about some real eccentric/succesful personalities and about the German jewish families ofNew York, this is the best book on the subject.

I thought this book did a wonderful job of describing the people behind the names, money, and power of these families. It provided a detailed, colorful history of how the founding family members came to this country; the trials and tribulations they encountered along the way; and how they overcame all of these things on their way to achieving thier ultimate financial and social status. The story of these families personifies the American dream - That a strong will, intelligence, and hard work are the keys to success. In addition, the book sheds light on the social, class, and religous biases that were perpetuated by the success of these families, biases that remain in place today within the Jewish community.

Reading the history of early California's powerful families was fascinating, hence so many street and institution names now fall into place. And the cultural differences existing within the state have true historical meaning.

Burglar Story - I loaned the book to a friend whose home was robbed. He had left the book on top of his computer for return to me. Alas, his home was burglarized and THE BOOK was stolen, but not his computer!

Certain People is a classic study of the black upper class in America. Researched by one of the most impressive social historians of the day. Mr. Birmingham has produced works documenting the social history of almost every cultrue in this country and he has not fallen short with this study. I first read the book in 1978 and it opened up a whole world of information that I was unaware of even though I grew up in a black upper middle class environment. I have felt like most of the contributors to this book that blacks in the ghetto have been overexposed in the media, in print, and in the movies. Thank goodness for this book and others like Gerri Major's Black Society; Adelaide Cromwell's The Other Brahmins: Boston's Black Upper Class; Williard Gatewood's Aristocrats of Color; St.Clair Drake's Black Metropolis;and E. Franklin Frazier's two works The Black Bourgeoisie and The Negro Family in the United States to mention a few. It is a rich territory for research and because of this book I have established a lifelong interest in the social history of the black upper class in the United States. This book has introduced me to a vast world of research that dates back to the middle of the 19th century. In his introduction Mr. Birmingham explains how the book came about and the numerous persons that contributed to the success of his work. He then examines the family histories of some of the most prominent families in Chicago, New York, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Memphis, and Cincinnati. He does an excellent job of tracing the origins of such affluent organiztions as the Links, Boule, Jack & Jill, and other prominent fraternal and social oranizations that the black upper class hold membership. Among the most intriguing was the section on "Embattled Washington". This section establishes with other social historians the status of Washington, DC as being the first black" social capital", largely due to the fact that from the turn of the century up until the after the Great Migrati! on the city had more professional blacks than any other city in the country. In his section on "Good Addresses" it is pointed out that just as white society has its summer social capital at Newport, the comings and goings at the summer social captials of the black upper class at such enclaves as Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, Sag Harbor on Long Island, Idlewild in Michigan and Highland Beach in Maryland is just as entertaining.. Even though it is observed in the book that the white upper class is determined by vast amounts of wealth, the black upper places a great importance on education and family background. Black teachers, ministers, doctors, druggists, and even undertakers would be held in high esteem by virtue of their higher education and special training. Certain People is one of the finest examples of black social history, the kind of work that makes a difference in the study of Black America.

This is a heart-rending tale of the saddest love story of the twentieth century. Drawn together by emotion they were torn apart by the circumstances of their lives and ended their time together in great communion with each other but estranged from the rest of the world.

The Rest of Us isn't really about the 'rest of us', it's mostly about the American Jewish experience through the lives of those Russian immigrants who became famous in America. This emphasis can be forgiven, because the famous are the people that most of us want to read about and identify with. You get a peek at the turn of the century Lower East Side community, and gain an understanding of how very reformed Jewish traditions and entrepreneurial opportunity for Jewish immigrants got a jump start in a free country. I would have liked to have heard the author debunk the myth that all Jewish immigrant families wind up rich in this country, however. Enjoyed the insights regarding the clash bewtween German and Russian Jewish comminities and influences.

In the closed world of NYC society, snobbery and bigotry, Stephen Birmingham has written that all that glitters is not gold. He has provided an insightfull look at the real fact that all people are participants in the comedy and tragedy that is life. With characters that become real people and situations that do not exceed the real world, this book is honestly written and truly enjoyable. Birmingham tosses in morality and immorality with equal penache and, just for spice, lessons in the true world of business that seem to be just thoughts of passing. This is a book to read for sheer pleasure; but beware, you may come to care about Hannah and her happy/unhappy band of misfits before it's all over.

In 1971 when this book was written, the Foundation For The Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture in New York City put out four formal reviews on Stephen Birmingham's book. The reviews were by people from the academic community WITHIN the very community he wrote about.

One of the reviews was the Rabbi of the very congregation the book is based on "Marc Angel". He wrote: "Birmingham is so eager to show that the "Grandees" are aloof and snobby, that he ignores reality. He interprets things as he wants them to be, not as they are." Rabbi Angel also wrote: "His book is plagued with factual inaccuracies and poor historical perspectives. Unfortunately, many Jews and non-Jews are reading the book and are having their opinions molded by it because they know little or nothing about Sephardim."

The well-respected Sephardic scholar David N. Barocas wrote of the Grandees: "To rely on hearsay information, or to select at random passages from books and then try to weave them into the fabric of one's text or report constitutes in the final analysis a combination of misstatements, incomplete truths and factual omissions tending to present a perverted opinion of an innocent people."

There are many good books out there which are acurate, unfortunatly this is not one of them. It was written by an outsider of the community. It is biased, and does give a good example of the Sephardic community.

Since my father died when I was ten years old, I tried to find out from where his ancestors, my ancestors come from. He never talked about it because in our home country Cuba religion is not allowed at all. My mother always told me my father was a "judio ateo" that in Cuba means a person who does not believe in any religion or a Jew and never let her baptize me when it was still allowed. My father's brother, a man who fought with Castro for the revolution and mysteriously one day for disagreement with the government came home mentally crazy used to tell me that their ancestors come from the Jews of Spain, but I never believed him for his mental condition. When I came to the United State of America I started to read to find out exactly what would be my father's background. A friend of mine called Leonard; a Jewish man from New York City gave me a book title "The Grandees" by Stephen Birmingham as a present to learn more about my heritage. I found this book the best one I have ever read, it explains clearly how the Sephardim Jews lived and suffered the discrimination in Spain, how they helped the Moors to conquer the country hoping a better life and how they had to suffer the barbarian inquisition and the demoralized conversion to Christianity. This book tells how the first Sephardim Jews came to North America escaping from the inquisition created by the Catholic Church and demanded by queen Elizabeth and her husband Ferdinand. Also how they gained a good reputation in the American society in this country contributing to the independence of the United States of America lending money to George Washington to support his soldiers and later on to the country economy. After reading this fascinate book, I could contact my father's brother in Cuba the only one remaining and tell him I am sorry for not believing him and now I know part our background thanks to a book read recently.

Rodolfo Carbonell

In 1971 when Birmingham (who is not Jewish himself) released this book, the Foundation For The Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture in New York City put out four formal reviews on Stephen Birmingham's book. The reviews were by people from the academic community WITHIN the very community he wrote about.

The Foundation For The Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture wrote: "...Mr. Birmingham addressed a gathering on October 10th, 1968 at Shearith Israel [the very congregation he writes about in his book], Mr. Louis N. Levy, the president of the Foundation, asked Mr. Birmingham whether he proposed to write on the Balkan Sephardim. For some reason the audience burst into laughter and the answer was not heard."

One of the reviews was the Rabbi of the very congregation the book is based on "Marc Angel". He wrote: "Birmingham is so eager to show that the "Grandees" are aloof and snobby, that he ignores reality. He interprets things as he wants them to be, not as they are." Rabbi Angel also wrote: "His book is plagued with factual inaccuracies and poor historical perspectives. Unfortunately, many Jews and non-Jews are reading the book and are having their opinions molded by it because they know little or nothing about Sephardim."

The well-respected Sephardic scholar David N. Barocas wrote of the Grandees: "To rely on hearsay information, or to select at random passages from books and then try to weave them into the fabric of one's text or report constitutes in the final analysis a combination of misstatements, incomplete truths and factual omissions tending to present a perverted opinion of an innocent people."

There are many good books out there which are acurate, unfortunatly this is not one of them. It was written by an outsider of the community. It is biased, and does give a good example of the Sephardic community.

This book does what good histories should do, open up doors to inaccessible places. Well written and incisive, it tracks a part of our history not well known. Especially fascinating were the accounts of how the first 44 came to America, and the story of the Civil War admiral. I'll read more of his books.