When 11-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father's small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the 19th century, no one could have imagined that one day he would build shipping and railroad empires that would make him the richest man in America. Here the Commodore's great-great-great-grandson, CNN's Anderson Cooper, joins with Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family, a distinctly American tale of rise, excess, and fall.

"Marked by meticulous research and deep emotional insight, this is a memorable chronicle of American royalty."—Publishers Weekly