Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield: A Tragedy of the Gilded Age

3.2/5 ( ratings)

Even before he was shot dead on the stairway of the tony Grand Central Hotel in 1872, financier James “Jubilee Jim” Fisk, Jr., was a notorious New York City figure. From his audacious attempt to corner the gold market in 1869 to his battle for control of the geographically crucial Erie Railroad, Fisk was a flamboyant exemplar of a new financial era marked by volatile fortunes and unprecedented greed and corruption. But it was his scandalously open affair with a showgirl named Josie Mansfield that ultimately led to his demise.

In this riveting short history—the first in his American Portraits series—H. W. Brands traces Fisk’s extraordinary downfall, bringing to life New York’s Gilded Age and some of its legendary players, including Boss William Tweed, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the railroad tycoon Jay Gould.

Language: English

Pages: 206

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Anchor

Release: May 31, 2011

ISBN: 030774325X

ISBN 13: 9780307743251

The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield: A Tragedy of the Gilded Age

3.2/5 ( ratings)

Even before he was shot dead on the stairway of the tony Grand Central Hotel in 1872, financier James “Jubilee Jim” Fisk, Jr., was a notorious New York City figure. From his audacious attempt to corner the gold market in 1869 to his battle for control of the geographically crucial Erie Railroad, Fisk was a flamboyant exemplar of a new financial era marked by volatile fortunes and unprecedented greed and corruption. But it was his scandalously open affair with a showgirl named Josie Mansfield that ultimately led to his demise.

In this riveting short history—the first in his American Portraits series—H. W. Brands traces Fisk’s extraordinary downfall, bringing to life New York’s Gilded Age and some of its legendary players, including Boss William Tweed, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the railroad tycoon Jay Gould.

Language: English

Pages: 206

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Anchor

Release: May 31, 2011

ISBN: 030774325X

ISBN 13: 9780307743251

More books from H.W. Brands

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

3.9/5 ( ratings)

The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace

4.1/5 ( ratings)

T.R.: The Last Romantic

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Reagan: The Life

4.1/5 ( ratings)

The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War

American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants

Lone Star Nation: How a Ragged Army of Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence - And Changed America

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution

3.7/5 ( ratings)

American Dreams: The United States Since 1945

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Benjamin Franklin's Wise Words: How to Work Smart, Play Well, and Make Real Friends

American Stories: A History of the United States

American Stories: A History of the United States, Volume 1

3.2/5 ( ratings)

The American Story: Volume 1 (Penguin Academics Series) (4th Edition)

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Ambitious Visions, Embattled Dreams

3.1/5 ( ratings)

Voices of America Past and Present, Volume 2

3.5/5 ( ratings)

The American Story: Volume 2 (Penguin Academics Series) (4th Edition)

2.6/5 ( ratings)

Rate this book!

Write a review?