1600 Whitney Father, Whitney Heiress, by W. A. Swanberg (read 4 Dec 1980) I was so exhilarated by Swanberg's book on Daniel Sickles that when I saw this book I had to read it. It is a biography of William C. Whitney (born in Conway, Mass., July 5, 1841, died Feb 1, 1904) who was Secretary of the Navy in Cleveland's first administration and who became very wealthy because of his wife's money and his rather deplorable maneuvers in New York City traction matters, and a biography of his youngest child, Dorothy Whitney Straight Elmhirst (christened April 11, 1887, died in 1968) up to the time of the death of her first husband Willard Straight on Dec 1, 1918. It is an engrossing book, and so expertly done. It opens at a high point --the elaborate christening of Dorothy, then tells the whole fantastic story of William Whitney and his two wives, then moves to Dorothy after her father's death in 1904, traces in detail her courtship by and marriage to Willard Straight up to his tragic death in France on Dec 1, 1918, and then adds a sketchy chapter on her life after 1920. The book is very admiring of Dorothy, and rightly so, and a little hard on Willard Straight. I just feel it is a wonderfully well put together book, and I know reading it was a sheer joy. ( )