This is a fascinating and very information-dense look into The Met's storied history - we get to learn about all of the people through all of the decades of the Met's existence that shaped it into the institution it is today.  For the Met's inception, the sheer number of rich people who decided to get together for art was incredible, but equally intriguing was the amount of pettiness that went along with it. I appreciated the author contrasting the idea of these oligarchs with the idea of them being generous benefactors. Keeping that balance is interesting and there were several Met contributors (most of them) who came by their money or their family’s money in despicable ways. 

I learned so much through this book, but it is best served as a reference text rather than trying to read it all in one fell swoop. The information is broken up into different eras of the museum that often overlap, and the recent history is just as detailed as the past. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the advanced copy.