| Description |
1 online resource (1 audio file (14hr., 30 min.)) : digital. |
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digital digital recording rda |
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data file rda |
| Access |
Digital content provided by hoopla. |
| Cast |
Read by Robertson Dean. |
| Summary |
Ferdinand Ward was the Bernie Madoff of his generation-a supposed genius at making big money fast on Wall Street, who turned out to have been running a giant pyramid scheme that ultimately collapsed in one of the greatest financial scandals in American history. The son of a Protestant missionary and small-town pastor with secrets of his own to keep, Ward came to New York at twenty-one and in less than a decade, armed only with charm, energy, and a total lack of conscience, made himself the business partner of a former president of the United States and was widely hailed as the "Young Napoleon of Finance." In truth, he turned out to be a complete fraud, his entire life marked by dishonesty, cowardice, and contempt for anything but his own interests.Drawing from thousands of never-before-examined family documents, Geoffrey C. Ward traces his great-grandfather's rapid rise to riches and fame, and his even more dizzying fall from grace. There are mistresses and mansions along the way; fast horses, crooked bankers, and corrupt New York officials; courtroom confrontations and six years in Sing Sing; and Ferdinand's desperate scheme to kidnap his own son to get his hands on the estate his late wife had left the boy. A Disposition to Be Rich is a great story about a classic American con artist, told with boundless charm and dry wit by one of our finest historians. |
| System Details |
Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
| Subject |
Ward, Ferdinand De Wilton, 1851-1925.
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Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 -- Friends and associates.
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Ward, F. De W. (Ferdinand De Wilton), 1812-1891.
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Capitalists and financiers -- United States -- Biography.
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Swindlers and swindling -- United States -- Biography.
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Financial crises -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
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Ponzi schemes -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 19th century.
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Children of clergy -- New York (State) -- Biography.
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Rochester (N.Y.) -- Biography.
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New York (N.Y.) -- Biography.
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| Added Author |
Dean, Robertson.
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hoopla digital.
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| ISBN |
9781452625393 (sound recording : hoopla Audio Book) |
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1452625395 (sound recording : hoopla Audio Book) |
| Music No. |
MWT10755648 |
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