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    Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu
    Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu
    Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu
    Audiobook8 hours

    Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu

    Written by Les Standiford

    Narrated by John McLain

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    About this audiobook

    Looking at the island of Palm Beach today, with its unmatched mansions, tony shops, and pristine beaches, one is hard pressed to visualize the dense tangle of Palmetto brush and mangroves that it was when visionary entrepreneur and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler first arrived there in April 1893. Trusting his remarkable instincts, within less than a year he had built the Royal Poinciana Hotel, and two years later what was to become the legendary Breakers-instantly establishing the island as the preferred destination for those who could afford it. Over the next 125 years, Palm Beach has become synonymous with exclusivity-especially its most famous residence, "Mar-a-Lago." As Les Standiford relates, "the high walls of Mar-a-Lago and other manses like it were seemingly designed to contain scandal within as much as keep intruders out."

    With the authority and narrative prose style that has gained Standiford's work widespread acclaim, Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu tells the history of this fabled landscape intertwined with the colorful lives of its famous protagonists.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 5, 2019
    ISBN9781515942009
    Author

    Les Standiford

    Les Standiford is the bestselling author of twenty books and novels, including the John Deal mystery series, and the works of narrative history The Man Who Invented Christmas (a New York Times Editors’ Choice) and Last Train to Paradise. He is the director of the creative writing program at Florida International University in Miami, where he lives with his wife, Kimberly, a psychotherapist and artist. Visit his website at www.les-standiford.com.

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    Reviews for Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu

    4/5

    21 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      An interesting and informative history of the famous estate, Mar-A-Lago and the surrounding Palm Beach community. Living quite near this magnificent structure I found it exciting to read about something I could at least drive by. At least when the president is not there.The story behind Flagler and his development of Palm Beach along with Marjorie Post and her excesses of the lavish lifestyle is quite a story. The plight of the wealthy when what they build becomes so expensive to maintain the no one wants to deal with it.Trump despite all his criticism did seem to have the perfect solution to keep the property intact with the memberships. Had he not stepped it quite likely would have been demolished and the land subdivided, a real shame.
    • 3/5
      A historical story of the wealthy in America that have a common thread connecting to Palm Beach. Wealth, ambition, and the creation of Palm Beach are the connecting themes. Extensively researched details. .
    • 5/5
      I received an audio book version of 'Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu as a Library Thing Early Reviewer. This was an outstanding experience enjoying the writing of Les Standiford narrated skillfully by John McLain. I have a special interest as I live a few miles directly west of Mar-A-Lago and have always been fascinated with the property. I've been by it countless times over the years, but, of course, never rich or important enough to have been inside. Being an avid supporter of the current owner, our great President, Donald Trump, I was interested in learning the history of Palm Beach and Mar-A-Lago, specifically. Recently, out-of-state relatives visited and we had occasion to show them the many mansions along Ocean Bv. in Palm Beach, starting appropriately with Mar-A-Lago, and I was able to share tidbits of information on the Southern White House that I learned from Standiford's wonderful book. The story of Marjorie Merriweather Post and Henry Flagler was especially intriguing and I really enjoyed learning so much about Flagler that I had never heard of before, especially his amazing business acumen, and surprisingly all the drama and tribulations in his personal life. Standiford has brought these historic characters to life, blood, sweat and tears with the help of McLain's smooth narration. If you have any interest in the early days of Palm Beach and/or the tremendous impact Henry Flagler had on Florida generally, and Palm Beach and/or Mar-A-Lago specifically, you will consider your time well spent listening to this captivating audio book.
    • 4/5
      If you pick up this book to read about Donald Trump, you will be disappointed because as Trump occupies perhaps, 10% at most in this book. But that is only fair since the history of Florida has been written by con men, skallywags, and other dubious characters ever since Ponce de Leon landed on the peninsula.Standiford starts this story with Henry Flagler, the Standard Oil baron who, upon retirement, decided to spend his twilight years developing Florida. Flagler built the railroad that opened south Florida to development and took special interest in developing Palm Beach, building both the Royal Poinciana and the Breakers Hotels. Later, after World War I Flagler was joined by Paris Singer in developing properties for the rich. One of the richest was Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heiress to the Post cereal fortune and married to EH Hutton, owner of the famous brokerage firm who built Mar-A-Lago and reigned as the queen of Palm Beach society into the 1960's.Mrs. Post wanted to leave Mar-A-Lago to the US government for use as a national park or a winter residence for US Presidents or foreign dignitaries.. However, the cost of maintaining the large estate, plus the conditions imposed by the Palm Beach civic government, made this impossible. Enter Donald Trump who purchased the property via a complex multi-bank transaction that seems to be the way he operated in all his business dealings. During his financial troubles in the 1990's Trump turned Mar-A-Lago into a private club in order to finance its annual multi-million dollar maintenance expense, and here it remains to this day.This is an eminently readable history of South Florida.
    • 5/5
      a good read the author does a nice job on the early days of palm beach and tells the story of henry flagler well. i knew him
    • 5/5
      Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu is an amazing story that I enjoyed listening to with my husband. He even loved hearing about the Indians, and how things have changed so much in the area. The different business deals . My favorite characters were Henry Flagler, and Marjorie Merriweather Post. Enjoyable history about the location, and I didn't know President Trump purchased this until I listening to the audio CD of the book. Highly Recommend.
    • 4/5
      While traveling the Mediterranean I was honored to read about a beloved former lived-in-state and one of many iconic buildings that I have been wanting to see since living in Florida in 1994. Palm Beach is where you know you want to visit, want to shop on its famous boulevard, to experience the hubbub that spirits the area, however to me I have always wanted to just wander the beach to see the great homes that reside there. It’s always been a dream to step into the rich and fabulous world of the socialites, especially after watching Robin Leach’s Lives of the Rich and Famous television show when I was a teen. Having stayed in The Breakers Hotel numerous times it was fun to read about its history, it many lives and the future it holds. Postum Heiress Majorie Post’s building of Mar-a-Lago and President Trump owning decades later has been an educational reading of this intriguing property, Les Standiford created a read that was easy, informative, fascinating and factual with a little bit of scandal to boot! I recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered about who was brave enough to see that the hot, humid, East Coast of Florida was anything but just swamp water and muddy land. Henry Flagler was a genius in the vein of Ford, Edison and many others of the Gilded Age. East Coast Florida owes him the beautiful area they all get to live in, This book is worth a read,