A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age

Today’s post is on A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age by Paul Starobin. It is 320 pages long and is published by Public Affairs. The cover is a picture of the Nome beaches with gold panners and two pictures in the top corners who are Willaim McKinley and Alexander McKenzie. There is mild foul language, no sex, and mild violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who is interested in American history, Alakan gold rush, and true crime. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- A tale of Gilded Age corruption and greed from the frontier of Alaska to the nation's capital.

In the feverish, money-making age of railroad barons, political machines, and gold rushes, corruption was the rule, not the exception. Yet the Republican mogul "Big Alex" McKenzie defied even the era's standard for avarice. Charismatic and shameless, he arrived in the new Alaskan territory intent on controlling gold mines and draining them of their ore. Miners who had rushed to the frozen tundra to strike gold were appalled at his unabashed deviousness.

A Most Wicked Conspiracy recounts McKenzie's plot to rob the gold fields. It's a story of how America's political and economic life was in the grip of domineering, self-dealing, seemingly-untouchable party bosses in cahoots with robber barons, Senators and even Presidents. Yet it is also the tale of a righteous resistance of working-class miners, muckraking journalists, and courageous judges who fought to expose a conspiracy and reassert the rule of law.

Through a bold set of characters and a captivating narrative, Paul Starobin examines power and rampant corruption during a pivotal time in America, drawing undoubted parallels with present-day politics and society.

Review- An interesting account of true crime and gold. Starobin brings the story of an almost forgotten swindle to modern readers. Alexander McKenzie was a self-made man who thought that money would get him out of everything he did, no matter what it was. Starobin did a great job of telling this story, with good notes and he explains the legal aspects of the case so that the reader can follow what exactly McKenzie was doing. He was brazen in his crimes, just believing that nothing could touch him or stop him. So when everything falls apart because of that belief is it very satisfying to read even if I wanted him to get more jail time than he did. If you like historical true crime then you should read this. 

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.