Palm Beach Babylon

Only 12 miles long, Palm Beach has become America's Riviera, with grand Arabian Nights mansions and lavish champagne and caviar parties. The island has turned into the playground of influential industrialists, politicians, aristocrats and diplomats. This book looks at the shenanigans of over a hundred years of the mores and customs of America's wealthy and elite, beginning with the industrialist Henry Flagler, who bribed officials and destroyed the homes of the poor Blacks who had helped him build his dream island. It includes accounts of the sexual appetites of the Kennedys, John Lennon's attempts to patch up his family life, and the transformation of a famous Palm Beach house into a palace of porn.