A disposition to be rich how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States

Available from OverDrive (1)

Something

Summary

Documents the story of Gilded Age con artist Ferdinand Ward, recounting how his large-scale pyramid operation and other sensational schemes triggered one of the greatest financial scandals in American history.

Contents

Pt. 1. The Puritan
The Higher Calling
Labouring in Hope
Chastened and Sanctified
pt. 2. One of the Worst Boys
A Contest for Principle & Truth
The Triumph of the Monster, "War"
Suspected of Evil
pt. 3. The Young Napoleon of Finance
The Avaricious Spirit
The Bonanza Man
The Imaginary Business
Tears of Grateful Joy
The End Has Come
pt. 4. The Best Hated Man in the United States
A Magnificent and Audacious Swindle
A Verdict at Last
The Model Prisoner
All That Loved Me Are in Heaven
pt. 5. The Loving Father
Driven to Desperation
The Kidnapping
Epilogue: The Loving Father.

Published Reviews

Publisher's Weekly Review: "Like a great 19th-century novel, this is a mordantly entertaining account of the author's great-grandfather Ferdinand Ward, whose stock brokerage collapsed spectacularly in 1885 after swindling Ulysses S. Grant and other luminaries out of millions. Ward, a historian and Ken Burns collaborator, weaves character defects and family conflicts into a social panorama, probing Ferdinand's loathsome, beguiling personality: the youthful charm that mesmerized Wall Street graybeards; the feelings of self-righteousness, entitlement, and whiny victimhood inherited from his missionary parents (but without their restraining moralism); the omnivorous greed that turned his post-Sing Sing Prison life into an endless scheme to wheedle, con, and sue money out of everyone he knew. (He even kidnapped his own son to get his wife's inheritance.) Ward, winner of an NBCC award and the Francis Parkman Prize for A First-Class Temperament, narrates a rollicking financial picaresque, but infuses it with psychological depth; Ferdinand's frauds are a tangle of personal betrayals that implicate his family as they agonize over how much of his untrustworthiness they should reveal to outsiders. The result is a fascinating study of the Victorian moral economy veering toward bankruptcy. Photos. Agent: Carl Brandt, Brandt and Hochman. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Additional Information

Subjects	Ward, Ferdinand De Wilton, 1851-1925 Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Friends and associates Ward, F. De W. (Ferdinand De Wilton), 1812-1891 Capitalists and financiers United States Biography Swindlers and swindling United States Biography Financial crises United States History 19th century Ponzi schemes New York (State) New York History 19th century Children of clergy New York (State) Biography Biography & Autobiography Nonfiction History Business Rochester (N.Y.) Biography. New York (N.Y.) Biography. Electronic books. 1851-1925. 1822-1885 1812-1891. 19th century.
Publisher	New York :Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group,2012 Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group2012
Edition	1st ed.
Contributors	OverDrive, Inc.
Language	English
System Details	Mode of access: World Wide Web. Format: Adobe EPUB eBook Format: Kindle Book Format: OverDrive READ Requires Adobe Digital Editions or Amazon Kindle
Description	1 online resource
Bibliography Notes	Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN	9780307959447 9780307959447
Other	Classic View