Empire of the Elite

'Michael Grynbaum chronicles the rise and fall of a media juggernaut, owner of glossy magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and GQ, weaving tight reporting and outrageous gossip with a thoughtful cultural history.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Glamour! Taste! Prestige! Monsters! I loved this gorgeous romp through a lost world' MARINA HYDE For decades, one company in New York told the world what to buy, value, wear, eat, and even what to think. From its glitzy heyday in the 1980s through to the 2000s, American publishing empire Condé Nast and its magazines - including Vogue , Vanity Fair , the New Yorker and GQ - defined how to live the good life, with its editors and writers creating a vision of luxury and sophistication that shaped cultural and consumer trends and political beliefs the world over. The ultimate influencers, Condé Nast amassed great power but failed to foresee and keep up with the digital revolution that would reduce it to a shadow of its former self. Full of fresh insider reporting and venerated names like Anna Wintour, Tina Brown and Graydon Carter, Empire of the Elite is a groundbreaking exploration of how Condé Nast established itself as a global authority. But it is also a cautionary tale, exposing how class, hubris and technological change shook the dominance of the old media gatekeepers, even as Condé Nast's aesthetic and prestige remain undeniably influential to this day.

'Michael Grynbaum chronicles the rise and fall of a media juggernaut, owner of glossy magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and GQ, weaving tight reporting and outrageous gossip with a thoughtful cultural history.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Glamour! Taste! Prestige! Monsters! I loved this gorgeous romp through a lost world' MARINA HYDE For decades, one company in New York told the world what to buy, value, wear, eat, and even what to think. From its glitzy heyday in the 1980s through to the 2000s, American publishing empire Condé Nast and its magazines - including Vogue , Vanity Fair , the New Yorker and GQ - defined how to live the good life, with its editors and writers creating a vision of luxury and sophistication that shaped cultural and consumer trends and political beliefs the world over. The ultimate influencers, Condé Nast amassed great power but failed to foresee and keep up with the digital revolution that would reduce it to a shadow of its former self. Full of fresh insider reporting and venerated names like Anna Wintour, Tina Brown and Graydon Carter, Empire of the Elite is a groundbreaking exploration of how Condé Nast established itself as a global authority. But it is also a cautionary tale, exposing how class, hubris and technological change shook the dominance of the old media gatekeepers, even as Condé Nast's aesthetic and prestige remain undeniably influential to this day.

From a New York Times media correspondent, a dishy history of the Cond? Nast magazine empire, home of Vogue , Vanity Fair , The New Yorker , and more, focusing on its glitzy heyday from the 1980s through the 2000s. For decades, Cond? Nast and its glittering magazines defined how to live the good life in America. The brilliant, complicated, striving characters behind Vogue , Vanity Fair , The New Yorker , GQ , Architectural Digest , and many other titles manufactured a vision of luxury and sophistication that shaped consumer habits, cultural trends, intellectual attitudes, and political beliefs the world over. Cond?'s billionaire owner Si Newhouse and his stable of star editors, photographers, and writers were the gatekeepers who decided what and who mattered, and they offered those opinions to tens of millions of readers every month. They were the ultimate influencers--before social media changed everything. The magazines crowned celebrities by the dozens, patronized creative talent much as the Medicis had underwritten Renaissance artists, and supercharged opulent events like the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and the Met Gala, which came to rival any fete that Louis XIV ever hosted at Versailles. The book is full of fresh behind-the-scenes reporting about a plethora of boldface names and sets out to explain how Cond? Nast established itself as a de facto American aristocracy, anointing an elite and dictating the culture they presided over. The colorful story of Cond? Nast at its zenith and the profound way it influenced how Americans aspired to look, eat, decorate, date, marry, and even think, has never been examined deeply. Empire of the Elite is the first book-length history of an empire whose publications refashioned American notions of prestige, whose editors became celebrities themselves, and whose diminution offers a cautionary tale of class, hubris, and technological change, even as its aesthetic and ethos remain influential to this day.

From a New York Times media correspondent, a dishy history of the Cond? Nast magazine empire, home of Vogue , Vanity Fair , The New Yorker , and more, focusing on its glitzy heyday from the 1980s through the 2000s. For decades, Cond? Nast and its glittering magazines defined how to live the good life in America. The brilliant, complicated, striving characters behind Vogue , Vanity Fair , The New Yorker , GQ , Architectural Digest , and many other titles manufactured a vision of luxury and sophistication that shaped consumer habits, cultural trends, intellectual attitudes, and political beliefs the world over. Cond?'s billionaire owner Si Newhouse and his stable of star editors, photographers, and writers were the gatekeepers who decided what and who mattered, and they offered those opinions to tens of millions of readers every month. They were the ultimate influencers--before social media changed everything. The magazines crowned celebrities by the dozens, patronized creative talent much as the Medicis had underwritten Renaissance artists, and supercharged opulent events like the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and the Met Gala, which came to rival any fete that Louis XIV ever hosted at Versailles. The book is full of fresh behind-the-scenes reporting about a plethora of boldface names and sets out to explain how Cond? Nast established itself as a de facto American aristocracy, anointing an elite and dictating the culture they presided over. The colorful story of Cond? Nast at its zenith and the profound way it influenced how Americans aspired to look, eat, decorate, date, marry, and even think, has never been examined deeply. Empire of the Elite is the first book-length history of an empire whose publications refashioned American notions of prestige, whose editors became celebrities themselves, and whose diminution offers a cautionary tale of class, hubris, and technological change, even as its aesthetic and ethos remain influential to this day.