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Title: Very Disappointing & Frustrating
Review: I've been reading about the Gilded Age and turned to this book with great expectations that have been dashed. How could the editor have let the book go through as it is? Yes, it's a beautiful package and well-enough written (though hardly an Edith Wharton novel as one reviewer said, as quoted on the back cover). The book's title is completely deceptive. A good third of the book is not about the Gilded Age at all, but goes back to the 1800-1850 period and sometimes in tedious detail. It does not help me at all to know the customs involved in women making calls upon other women in 1800 when those customs had changed by the late 19th century. While one can make a case that the roots of the Gilded Age need to be exposed, you don't have to go that far back and into that much detail. The First Four Hundred, which this author sneers at in a footnote, is far more focused and helpful, and a much better source of information, though this book's opening chapter was fascinating.
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