PHILISTINES AT THE HEDGEROW: Passion and Property in the Hamptons

Steven Gaines skillfully weaves together stories of the Hamptons' mansions and millionaires, as told through the extraordinary lives of the people who have lived there, into a rich, gossipy tapestry. Both a contemporary portrait of the Hamptons and a historical narrative, Philistines at the Hedgerow is filled with tales of pirate treasure, a witch hunt, and the many beguiling eccentricities of the Hamptons today. It is also a story of real estate. Gaines reveals how thirty miles of once inaccessible oceanfront farmland became the playground to the superrich, the nexus of Nouvelle Society, and the obsession of the most creative and powerful personalities in the corporate, entertainment, and media worlds. Gaines shows how land in the Hamptons has become the showcase of self worth, be it castles, indoor lagoons, or mere acreage - the greater the ego, the more fantastic the manor.