I loved this book. If you are looking for a book that shows you sites deep inside the long lost mansions of 5th avenue, then this is your book. Read it from cover to cover or just skim through the pages over and over again. These photos tell a million stories, from the caen stone interiors to the triple mansions' immense proportions and details to the lives of the architects themselves. This is a great book!

This book is a great look at the stories of all the houses the Vanderbilts purchased or created with their spetacular wealth- and also some of the fascinating stories of the eccentric family members behind the houses. The book is filled with rare photographs and stories of all the Vanderbilt castles.

I found the book to be very entertaining- a must have if you're interested in the Vanderbilt family or the Gilded Age in general.

If that Library Journal reviewer read more than just the Introduction, which contains a couple of typos, he'd have realized this book tells more about the Vanderbilts and their world than any other book on the subject. Obviously, he didn't. It's a great read.