Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America's great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York's old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built 9 mansions, hosted grand balls, and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a...

CNN anchor and New York Times bestselling author Anderson Cooper chronicles the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty: his mother's family, the Vanderbilts.