Stories of the Rich and Famous: Aiken's Winter Colony in the Gilded Age Paperback – September 23, 2012

My favorite thing about this book was the rare pictures of lost Aiken homes, such as "Dinsmore House," where Evalyn Walsh McLean, owner of the Hope Diamond hid her 100 million dollar jewel in her underwear drawer, and "Mon Repos," the Thomas Hitchcock home, "Elm Court," the Vanderbilt home, and "Tall Pines, the Colonel Anthony R. Kuser home.. The story of Evalyn Walsh's attempt to rescue the Lindbergh baby was heroic, but sad, and the chapter about William Collins Whitney was touching, when it related the tale of his second wife's terrible death from a horseback accident in Hitchcock Woods. This is a little book filled with seven well-written chapters about some of Aiken's wealthy residents from the past.

The author brings life to the milestone events in the lives of the horse-loving wealthy who made Aiken So. Carolina an enchanting resort where they could winter and play. He adds imagination to vignettes of the significant families by painting first-person stories, followed by a postlude historical recap of the subjects' destinies. The names of the winter-visitors include Vanderbilt, Whitney, Harriman, Casals, Stokowski and many more familiar to American history. I found the small book a big treat. The reaearch led to photos of the family members and the mansions they called 'cottages'.

An amazing book on history of Aiken. The book was very well written, with stories that even made me cry. Excellent source of history for this lovely town. I have lived here seven years and did not even know half of history Aiken holds .

As I live in Aiken, SC, I have quite a bit of historical knowledge. I found that a lot of the street locations were incorrect. I didn't finish the book but will later.

GREAT READ AS I LIVE IN AIKEN SC. THIS IS A MUST READ. THERE IS SO MUCH HISTORY HERE IN AIKEN

I returned it. I wanted to use it fir research but its basically a Wikipedia clip job. Aiken needs a really in depth book.

This book is a fascinating chronicle about the glory days of a very quiet and comfortable old southern town. It has been well researched and documented and provides numerous stories about the people who 'wintered' there and laid the basis for the wonderful town that they occupied.

Good book. It would be better if I were from the Aiken area. I love the GildedAge and the Author tells a good story about the people and places!