About this item

The first biography in over thirty years of Cond Nast, the pioneering publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair and main rival to media magnate William Randolph Hearst. Cond Nast's life and career was as high profile and glamourous as his magazines. Moving to New York in the early twentieth century with just the shirt on his back, he soon became the highest paid executive in the United States, acquiring Vogue in 1909 and Vanity Fair in 1913. Alongside his editors, Edna Woolman Chase at Vogue and Frank Crowninshield at Vanity Fair, he built the first-ever international magazine empire, introducing European modern art, style, and fashions to an American audience. Credited with creating the "caf society," Nast became a permanent fixture on the international fashion scene and a major figure in New York society. His superbly appointed apartment at 1040 Park Avenue, decorated by the legendary Elsie de Wolfe, became a gathering place for the major artistic figures of the time. Nast launched the careers of icons like Cecil Beaton, Clare Boothe Luce, Lee Miller, Dorothy Parker and Noel Coward. He left behind a legacy that endures today in media powerhouses such as Anna Wintour, Tina Brown, and Graydon Carter.Written with the cooperation of his family on both sides of the Atlantic and a dedicated team at Cond Nast Publications, critically acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald reveals the life of an extraordinary American success story.



About the Author

Susan Ronald

Born and raised in the United States, Susan Ronald is a British-American author and biographer. Now living in England for over twenty-five years, she is the author of nine history books ranging across the ages. Her latest book to be published (August 3, 2020 ) is entitled THE AMBASSADOR: JOSEPH P. KENNEDY AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES'S 1938-1940. She is also the author of CONDÉ NAST, A DANGEROUS WOMAN, HITLER'S ART THIEF, HERETIC QUEEN, SHAKESPEARE'S DAUGHTER (a novel) , THE PIRATE QUEEN, THE SANCY BLOOD DIAMOND, AND FRANCE: THE CROSSROADS OF EUROPE. She has also appeared as herself in documentaries and has produced films and has written screenplays.Susan is working on her tenth book (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan) entitled HITLER'S ARISTOCRATS about the powerful Nazis who charmed the elite in Britain and the United States.



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