The Battle for Mrs. Astor

British writer and art historian John Richardson mingled with New York's wealthy as head of Christie's U.S. operations in the 1960s and as vice president of the Knoedler gallery in the 1970s. That background allows him to enliven a detailed retelling of the Brooke Astor saga in Vanity Fair.

It's not a pretty story – but, given the circumstances, perhaps an almost inevitable one.