Banquet at Delmonico's: The Gilded Age and the Triumph of Evolution in America

In Banquet at Delmonicos, Barry Werth draws readers inside the circle of intellectuals, scientists, politicians, businessmen, and clergymen who brought Charles Darwins controversial ideas to post-Civil-War America. Each chapter is dedicated to a crucial intellectual encounter, culminating with an exclusive farewell dinner held in English philosopher Herbert Spencers honor at the venerable New York restaurant Delmonicos in 1882. In this thought-provoking and nuanced account, Werth firmly situates social Darwinism in the context of the Gilded Age. Banquet at Delmonicos is social history at its finest.