Surprisingly entertaining! I enjoyed the bits about pre- and post- Civil War NYC society, and the differences between Boston, Philly, and NY in social standing. Glad to be living now, but the author clearly has fondness for her subject.

I'm more than halfway through, but this book is losing me. Too many insets, sidebars, interruptions, and not enough of each person's story. An heiress is introduced, summarized, and gone. Too bad.

Interesting a quirky.

A little slow but interesting

MacColl offers American readers a field guide to the backstory of Downton Abbey--the decade or so when British aristocrats, reeling from the agricultural depression of 1870 and saddled with decaying country houses, started to see the advantages of piles of American nouveau riche money. With context in the rigid and exclusionary New York Knickerbocker social register, the court morals of Edward VII and the sheer weight of keeping up appearances, this is an easily digestible account of how US financing supported an extinction burst of lordly privilege before the meteor of WWI.

A great example of a good history book. Filled with interesting stories, trivia and illustrations.

Interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed it a lot although it was sometimes difficult keeping all the different people straight.

The subject matter was interesting but the constant interruptions in writing style and formatting of the book made for a book that was hard to read.

This is one of my favorite reference books because of the wealth of images that are included.

As a prelude to this season's Downton Abbey, I decided to read one of the books that Julian Fellowes apparently used as an inspiration for his Edwardian stories. Lacking the social status of established wealthy families in American society, the Buccaneers looked to England to find their nouveau-riche daughters husbands truly worthy of fresh American wealth. The English aristocracy, likewise, appreciated the American infusion of dollars and genetics into their established order, egged on by no less than the Prince of Wales himself (who was the ultimate party guy of late 19th century society). While there were lots of juicy details about affairs both romantic and business-oriented, there was a lot of repetition of dull factoids that really did nothing to enhance the narrative (yes, we GET that Worth was the great couturier to the rich and famous, DO something with the anecdotes). If you're wild for Edwardian minutae, this covers the upper class quite nicely. Compliment this on your bookcase with a copy of Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir so that you can see what life was like for the servants that made this sort of lifestyle possible.