A bread and butter treatment of the upper crust--a perfectly respectable collective portrait which goes back to 1692 when a British Governor Fletcher established a formal society of sorts which would be more firmly structured into a Knickerbocracy by 1800. The first thirty per cent of the book is roughly an acknowledgement of names, mansions, affairs, etc. leading up to the social suzerainty of Caroline Astor, who wore diamonds even on her back, and her social arbiter Ward McAllister. Her only competition--that of Alva Smith who married and divorced (heavens) a Vanderbilt and became Mrs. Belmont. These chapters, both livelier and fuller, elevate the book above a quickly-passing-in-review chronology of who was who, and all leading into the 20th century with the adulteration of High Society by figures of the sporting set and show business. Mr. Churchill's no Cleveland Amory (""a glob of learning""--""hearts went. . . pitty pat"") but there are 200 photographs to justify the price of admission.