| Edition |
First edition. |
|
First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition. |
| Description |
x, 470 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Faith, 1609-1750, William Bradford -- Enlightened self-interest, 1750-1789, Gouverneur Morris -- Oppression, 1773-1833, John Randolph of Roanoke -- Acquisition, 1790-1866, Lewis Cass and Nicholas Biddle -- Opportunism, 1846-1872, Henry Shelton Sanford -- Exclusion, 1869-1900, The Peabodys and The 400 -- Entitlement, 1873-1900, The Rutherfords and the Whitneys -- Malevolence, 1900-1937, Henry Fairfield Osborn -- Decadence, 1936-1995, Michael Butler -- Adaptation, Today. |
| Summary |
"Fifteen families. Four hundred years. The complex saga of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant elite in America's history. For decades, writers from Cleveland Amory to Joseph Alsop to the editors of Politico have proclaimed the diminishment of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, who for generations were the dominant socio-cultural-political force in America. While the WASP elite has, in the last half century, indeed drifted from American centrality to the periphery, its relevance and impact remain, as Michael Gross reveals in his compelling chronicle of the WASPs in our history. From Colonial America's founding settlements through the Gilded Age to the present day, Gross traces the complicated legacy of American WASPs-their profound accomplishments and egregious failures-through the lives of fifteen influential individuals and their very privileged, sometimes intermarried families. As the Bradford, Randolph, Morris, Biddle, Sanford, Peabody, and Whitney clans, among others, progress, prosper, and stumble, defining aspects in the four-century sweep of American history emerge: our wide, oft-contentious religious diversity; the deep scars of slavery, genocide, and intolerance; the creation and sometime misuse of astonishing economic, political, and social power; an enduring belief in the future; an instinct to offset inequity with philanthropy; an equal capacity for irresponsible, sometimes wanton, behavior. "American society was supposed to be different," writes Gross, "but for most of our history we have had a patriciate, an aristocracy, a hereditary oligarchic upper class, who initiated the American national experiment." In previous acclaimed books such as 740 Park and Rogues' Gallery, Gross has explored elite culture in microcosm; expanding the canvas, Flight of the WASP chronicles it across four centuries and fifteen generations in an ambitious and consequential contribution to American history"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
WASPs (Persons) -- United States -- Social conditions.
|
|
White people -- Race identity -- United States.
|
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Capitalism -- Religious aspects -- Protestant churches.
|
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United States -- Race relations -- Political aspects.
|
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HISTORY / Social History.
|
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Capitalism -- Religious aspects -- Protestant churches
(OCoLC)fst00846449
|
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Race relations -- Political aspects
(OCoLC)fst01086519
|
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White people -- Race identity
(OCoLC)fst01174825
|
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United States (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
| Added Title |
Flight of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant |
|
Rise, fall, and future of America's original ruling class |
| Other Form: |
Online version: Gross, Michael, 1952- Flight of the WASP First edition. First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition. New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023 9780802161888 (DLC) 2023023632 |
| ISBN |
9780802161864 (hardcover) |
|
0802161863 (hardcover) |
|
9780802161888 (ebook) |
|
