The Flight of the Barbarous Relic [Kindle Edition]

George Ford Smith (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

George Smith's style is to present one corner or smidgen of his story at a time, rather like a painter who sketches a small part of his canvas in rough, then visits it later to fill in some more . . . --Jim Davies, Strike-the-Root.com

Product Description

We're told by experts that the Fed is our number one inflation fighter, our protector against economic meltdown. Certainly, any person who cares about our country would accord it only the highest respect. But Preston Mathews wants to destroy the Fed. And he's apparently surrendered everything -- including the woman he loves -- to do so. Who is this renegade who wishes to bring back the dark days of despair, as his critics charge? He's the Fed's top gun, the lord of interest rates . . . the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Combining a high-energy plot with scholarly research, The Flight of the Barbarous Relic pits the entrenched forces of inflation against a growing underground movement that builds to a showdown between the world's two most powerful men . . . with the fate of the country hanging on the outcome.
The fast-paced story pits the entrenched forces of inflation against a growing underground movement for sound money. Combining a high-energy plot with scholarly research, The Flight of the Barbarous Relic, with unrelenting suspense, shows the supreme necessity of taking money back from the government if we are to have a civilized and prosperous future.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 301 KB
• Print Length: 288 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1438202547
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0013FNOOK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,801 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

George Ford Smith was born in Buffalo, NY in 1943 and has worked with computers for much of his adult life. As a computer programmer from the late '60s to the mid-'80s, he wrote Fortran programs for transonic wind tunnel tests, authored a program simulator in mainframe assembler for the prototype phase of the Safeguard ABM Project, and developed a popular shareware library for the IBM PC called "Boosters for Turbo Pascal Programmers." Snippets of his Boosters 8088 assembler code were published in Dr. Dobb's Journal and other trade publications.

Smith began experimenting with scriptwriting in the mid-'70s, mostly for the amusement of colleagues, then undertook it seriously when he began his writing career fulltime in 1999. In addition to movie scripts and a short story based on a turtle he rescued from his pool's skimmer, he has written articles on economics, history, and politics for libertarian websites such as Strike-the-Root.com and Mises.org. His formal education, which went as far as graduate work in psychology at the University of Buffalo, is largely irrelevant to anything that matters.

In pursuit of less-frigid experiences, Smith left Buffalo in 1979, having accepted a position in computer security with Atlanta-based Southern Company. Within three years he got divorced, remarried, and had twin baby girls. In the afterword of his novel, "The Flight of the Barbarous Relic," he tells the following story:

"When I moved from Buffalo to Atlanta in 1979 and began work for an electric utility, I knew someday I would leave and attempt a writing career. A few weeks into my job I came across a newspaper headline that consisted of the song title, "Gonna Fly Now!" I have long since forgotten the accompanying story, if I even bothered to read it. I cut the headline out and taped it to the inside top of my office trash basket as a reminder. People sometimes lose sight of their goals. I didn't want that to happen to me.

"As the years passed, I took the waste basket with me whenever I switched departments or moved to a different building. A thing of beauty it isn't. It's a black clunker, not the least stylish, but it was the most important part of my office baggage.

"On a July morning in 1999, as I was leaving downtown headquarters for the last time and about to begin my new career, I had the basket in my arms as I was passing the guard's station in the lobby. It was filled with personal items - pictures of my kids, mostly - as if I were moving to a new office within the company. But the guard knew I was on my way out for keeps and asked me if I was stealing company property. I said, yes, I was. We both laughed, and I continued on out the door.

"As I type these words now the trash basket sits on the floor of my home office, the Rocky theme song title untouched after 29 years.

"Yes, the writer is a thief. But maybe he can be forgiven."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Should Scare You Straight!!!, July 5, 2008

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Flight Of The Barbarous Relic (Paperback)

Forget what party you may be supporting. Forget a lot of things you have been told about how our economy works. Read this book and you will begin to understand things that we have been kept in the dark and lied to for decades by both parties.

First of all this is a pretty good story. Secondly, in delivering the story, the author is trying to shake us awake as to what is happening to us and the result is far from pleasant.

In fact, the protagonists in the story have a sense of futility as to awakening enough of us to what has been done to our economy that seems difficult to oversome.

I was asked to review this novel by the author. I did and I am not sure I was not happier living in ignorance. However, it is better to understand one's life and situation and if you agree with that premise, then please, pick up this book and be prepared to be very, very worried about our econoomy and our future.

The "barbarous relic" referred to in the title is the gold standard which at one time in our history tied the value of our currency to that precious metal. If that sounds arcane or old fashioned, I challenge you to read this book and ever feel sanguine again about your economic status in this country, especially if you feel really, really comfortable.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ripped from the headlines, July 17, 2008

By 

Jean F. Risley (Lincoln, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Flight Of The Barbarous Relic (Paperback)

The Flight of the Barbarous Relic is a completely unexpected book. George Smith makes a fascinating and suspenseful story out of a question some of us have asked ourselves: "Who stole the value of the money in our wallets?" Inflation is a faceless evil, but the author has managed to put faces and motives on the folks behind the phenomenon.

I have been puzzled by the news on the financial networks. One newscast recently said that the price of food had risen in the last month by the highest amount in years, and then went on to say that since there was no increase in the cost of living, some change in interest rates was expected. No change in the cost of living? I used to think you needed to buy food to live, but it turns out that food and energy, two of our biggest living expenses aren't included in the cost because they change too much. You can understand why this whole area can be very confusing.

As the pastor of a small church, I have seen the effects that our economic situation is having on "ordinary" people. One lady who works in a bank dreads going in to work in the morning, because the first thing she has to do is call an increasing number of her customers who have written checks--for rent, for utilities, for food, etc.--and ask them if they can provide funds for the checks so the bank won't bounce them. I have seen families cut back on everything they can think of to make payments on mortgage they should never have been offered in the first place. I have seen food pantry workers trying to fill needs for food for folks who have spent their food budget at the gas pumps in order to be able to get to work.

Those who are hurting most are the very ones who are trying to do the right thing--to work for their living, to support their families, to pay their debts, and to live a decent life. Most are too basically honest to believe that they have been robbed on such a scale. Most have trusted and supported the leaders who manage the economic environment in which they live. Business as usual has been going on for a long time.

This book, with its different perspective, shows this part of our economic system from the inside. It's a book of mystery, intrigue, and glimpses behind the scenes, which of course makes it fun. But it does also raise some relevant ideas and interesting questions to take away and consider. It is worth a look.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining way to learn about the Fed!, July 30, 2008

By 

Mary L. Van Houten (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Flight Of The Barbarous Relic (Paperback)

I don't usually read novels very often, because I think that I should be learning something when I read. _The Flight of the Barbarous Relic_, however, is the best of both worlds; it is an entertaining way to learn the truth of how the Federal Reserve operates without having to read a dry text! I really enjoyed this book; I recommend it to everyone. It's a great way to educate people on the Fed. You can recommend it to your book club or hand it to everyone who is wondering why our gas prices are so high.