{"product_id":"a-disposition-to-be-rich-ferdinand-ward-the-greatest-swindler-of-the-gilded-age-9780345804693","title":"A Disposition to Be Rich: Ferdinand Ward, the Greatest Swindler of the Gilded Age","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe compelling behind-the-scenes story of the greatest swindler of the Gilded Age, whose villainy bankrupted Ulysses S. Grant and stunned the world of finance--told by his great-grandson, award-winning historian Geoffrey C. Ward. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFerdinand Ward, the son of a Protestant missionary and small-town pastor, moved to New York at twenty-one and, in less than a decade, made himself the business partner of a former president and established himself as the \"Young Napoleon of Finance.\" In truth, he was running a massive pyramid scheme. Drawing from thousands of family documents never before examined, Geoffrey C. Ward traces his great-grandfather's rapid rise to riches and fame, and his even more dizzying fall from grace, in a narrative populated with mistresses, crooked bankers, corrupt New York officials, and a desperate kidnapping scheme. Here is a great story about a classic American con artist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeoffrey C. Ward\u003c\/b\u003e is the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Civil War\u003c\/i\u003e (with Ken Burns and Ric Burns), and the author of \u003ci\u003eA First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography and the 1990 Francis Parkman Prize.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Knopf Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50323593036050,"sku":"9780345804693","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9a9b8a6a-df75-4c25-9986-5db3c4bbb929.jpg?v=1727659770","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-disposition-to-be-rich-ferdinand-ward-the-greatest-swindler-of-the-gilded-age-9780345804693","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}