Discover Baron Alexis de Redé, Leader of the Jet Set

Published posthumously in 2005, this hard to find autobiography of the Baron de Redé (edited by Hugo Vickers) provides a unique perspective on many of the most exclusive social events of the 20th century. Baron Alexis de Redé’s recollections of the Who’s Who of Café Society include his relationship with Arturo Lopez-Willshaw, and friendships with Marie Laure de Noailles and Marie Hélène de Rothschild. He had hoped to be remembered for his restoration of the Hôtel Lambert on Île Saint-Louis, and he details his approach to the renovation work, and the subsequent acquisition of the property by his friends Marie Hélène and Guy de Rothschild. But the most interesting contribution to social history could very well be his recollections of many of the grand balls of the 20th century, including first hand accounts of the Bestegui Ball in 1951, his own Bal de Têtes in 1956 and Oriental Ball in 1969, and Marie Hélène de Rothschild’s Proust Ball of 1971 and Surrealist Ball of 1972. As an insider’s perspective to some of the most deified society events of the 20th century, Baron de Redé’s autobiography is a necessary addition to the library of anyone interested in the the history of Cafe Society.