Anderson Cooper has been honest about being a descendant of the fabled Vanderbilt family. After all, we know that his mother was Gloria Vanderbilt. Their great surname lives on in our history and in our culture. These folks were once society movers and shakers. They once made and had a fortune: more money than God, it seemed. And now, about 150 years after the fact, it's all gone. How did any of this come about? We learn the details in Vanderbilt: The Rise & Fall of an American Dynasty, written by Cooper and Katherine Howe.

A Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt in the Netherlands emigrated to North America in the early days of the colonies. His descendants farmed acreage on Staten Island for more than a century. Along the way, being known as "van der Bilt" became their one-word surname. The real business acumen arose in the line with Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), known as "The Commodore," or "Cornele." At a young age, Cornele began running ferry boats between Staten Island and Manhattan. His penchant for transportation led him into acquiring more boats, then developing transatlantic shipping lines, and finally, venturing into building and buying up railroads. He was in the right places at the right industrial times to make the most of these opportunities. As a result, he gained great wealth: an astounding $105 million, by the time of his death. We learn just enough about the Commodore's life and work to understand how he got to be this rich. The real story about Anderson's third great-grandfather comes after his death. What happens to all of his money?

This, of course, is where the story gets ever more intricate. The next three generations of Vanderbilts are full of interesting characters of all sorts. Naturally, there are three more men named Cornelius in the mix. They come to be known as "Cornie," "Corneil" and "Neily," in order to keep them distinct from "Cornele." And there's Billy, Willie, Alfred, Consuelo, Alice, Gladys and eventually Gloria, among many others. Yes, this is the history of an extended family, and a famous one at that.

But really, it's the history of America. We learn first-hand what life was like for the socialites of New York during The Gilded Age, at the turn of the last century. Appearances are everything; and so is architecture. Thus do they construct their required mansions: in New York as well as in trendy Newport, Rhode Island. There is much opulence and entitlement, lavish costume balls and what I think of as "the vagaries of excess," without really knowing what "vagaries" are. My dictionary defines a vagary as "an odd, eccentric, or unexpected action or bit of conduct." Well, this is an apt description of many of the Vanderbilts that we hear about here. Sometimes, you just have to shake your head in disbelief. People lived like this and did such things? Amazing. Eventually, the spendthrifts amongst the bunch go too far with their extravagances. As we may expect, when a lot of dollars are hanging around.

Actually, someone could make a case that this kind of rise and fall can be seen in a smaller, contemporary New York family that recently even made it to the White House. But I digress.

Cooper's co-author, Katherine Howe, evidently did the bulk of the historic research. Hers was a herculean (but probably rewarding) task, due to complications arising during the beginning of the virus crisis. Libraries and archives either weren't open, or they were operating under stringent circumstances. As a former librarian myself, I applaud her masterful uncovering of the juicy tidbits found hiding in personal letters, diaries, newspaper accounts and more. This must have been a fun but labor-intensive project.

I listened to Anderson's recitation of his family's story (for 9 hours on 8 CDs), because I wanted to hear it directly from him, in his voice. Most of the time, he reads the text as commandingly and in as rapid a manner as he recites the scripts in his newscasts. Maybe he takes on this more matter-of-fact reporter mode for those portions of the book that his co-author assembled, which are probably the more historic parts. There are some moments, though, when he softens and slows down, and his personality comes through. This subtle change happens especially when he shares details about his own immediate family: that is, when this history becomes a personal memoir. He also seems amused in those moments when the behavior of the characters, his ancestors, is at its most outrageous.

As a nice add-on for audiobook listeners, Anderson gives us a publisher's web site address at the beginning, so that we can access a PDF of "extras." These materials include a partial family tree and an extensive bibliography of consulted sources. The genealogical chart is great for keeping track of all of the players in this game. No family photos are included in the PDF, however. We still have to go back to the actual printed book to see those.

Vanderbilt is a fascinating story that happens to be true. And in the end, the reader may not know whether to respect, to dislike, to envy, or to pity the various members of this historic family ... including Anderson Cooper and his mother Gloria. I have a feeling that he wouldn't want any of these reactions from us. I think he would say, "This is what happened. Let's move on."