{"product_id":"palm-beach-mar-a-lago-and-the-rise-of-americas-xanadu-paperback","title":"Palm Beach, Mar-A-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLes Standiford\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLooking 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.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the authority and narrative prose style that has gained Standiford's work widespread acclaim, \u003ci\u003ePalm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America's Xanadu\u003c\/i\u003e tells the history of this fabled landscape intertwined with the colorful lives of its famous protagonists. Flagler's own marriages to Ida Alice Shourds and Mary Lily Kenan perhaps initiated the dramas to come. While sewing machine heir Paris Singer and architect Addison Mizner created the \"Mediterranean look\" of Palm Beach in the 1910s, inspiring the building of such modern day palaces as Eva and Ed Stotesbury's \"El Mirasol,\" the centerpiece of Palm Beach became the fever dream of Marjorie Merriweather Post and her equally wealthy husband E. F. Hutton, for whom Ziegfeld Follies designer Joseph Urban built \"Mar-a-Lago\" in 1927. Marjorie \"ruled\" social Palm Beach through two other marriages and for years on her own until her death in 1973. The fate of her mansion threatened to tear apart the very fabric of the town until Donald Trump acquired it in 1985.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLes Standiford brings alive a fabled place and the characters--the rich, famous and infamous alike--who have been drawn inexorably to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLes Standiford\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the bestselling \u003ci\u003eLast Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWater to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMeet you in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America\u003c\/i\u003e, among many other works of fiction and nonfiction. He lives with his wife, Kimberly, in Florida.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.2 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 17, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49180256370840,"sku":"9780802157386","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/8830\/4024\/files\/UUxUdUV1MGpYV0RKb3M1SWpyZ2hFdz09.webp?v=1780145686","url":"https:\/\/thepinkflamingobooks.myshopify.com\/products\/palm-beach-mar-a-lago-and-the-rise-of-americas-xanadu-paperback","provider":"The Pink Flamingo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}