From the front flap of this 373-page book: "In their first century and a half in America the Pennsylvanian Shippens achieved eminence and power. The founder of the American Line, Edward Shippen, was a provincial councillor. His grandson Edward was the dominant figure in Lancaster County. Peggy Shippen had notoriety thrust upon her as the wife of Benedict Arnold. After the Revolution one of the Shippens became chief justice of Pennsylvania, and Cousin William Shippen, Jr. served as physician to President Washington. Through the innovative historiography of Randolph Klein, the kinship network that nurtured success re-emerges from the old records - sources of wealth, career decisions, political connections, symbolic estate, stability and change from generation to generation. This study looks at over seventy-five people who bore the Shippen name and many more within their sphere of influence. To know what made colonial society tick, you must know the great mercantile and professional families. This study is an expert portrait of a strong kinship network operating for the benefit, advancement, and protection of its members."