A Most Wicked Conspiracy, Paul Starobin
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A Most Wicked Conspiracy
The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age

Author: Paul Starobin

Narrator: Neil Hellegers

Unabridged: 7 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 06/30/2020

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

A tale of Gilded Age corruption and greed from the frontier of Alaska to America'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.

Author Bio

Paul Starobin is a staff correspondent for the National Journal and a contributing editor to the Atlantic Monthly. He was Moscow bureau chief for Business Week from 1999 to 2003, and he has also written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and National Geographic. Paul lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

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