In The Gold Ring, Capitol Hill veteran Kenneth D. Ackerman tells the story of two dazzling con men who rose to the top of the Erie Railway Company before fixing their ambitions on a scam so great it would make them two of the richest men in America—and cement their reputation as two of the most corrupt. They were Jay Gould, the ruthless self-promoter who came to be recognized as the most hated, if brilliant, man of his generation, and his partner, the extravagant showman Jim Fisk, whose insatiable indulgences finally led to his demise. Featuring a cast of supporting characters that includes Boss Tweed, Albert Cardozo, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Ulysses S. Grant, The Gold Ring evokes an age of scandal and depravity in the world of high finance that makes today's climate of corporate excess and deception seem positively tame by comparison. Featuring numerous historic photographs, this is a compelling and fiercely entertaining insight into Wall Street's early years.
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More About the Author
I'm Ken Ackerman and writing history has been a passion of mine for over twenty years,and politics an obsession since the 1960s. To me, history has to have a purpose, to expose truth, to point direction, to provoke thought. It has to tell a story.
I'm especially drawn to neglected topics like the Gilded Age, the post-World War I Red Scare, or old ocean divers -- blind spots in our collective memory that often point to raw nerves.
When not writing, I practice law in Washington, D.C. at OFW Law. Before that, I held a long line of political spots on Capitol Hill (staff counsel to two US Senate Committees, Governmental Affairs and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry) and in two Administrations (under Bill Clinton at the US Department of Agriculture and under Ronald Reagan at a regulatory commission called the CFTC).
But enough about me. Hope you enjoy the books. Humor me on the attitude. -KenA
Check out my web site at www.KennethAckerman.com
Check out my blog at www.viralhistory.com
Contact me at kackerman@viralhistory.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good financial adventure tale,
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This review is from: The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday, 1869 (Paperback)
Ackerman manages to make the financial part of this scandal easily comprehensible. He also does a great job of sketching in the principals as living, breathing characters.
At the center of this tale sit Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, an unlikely team-- one a stiff, and tightly self-controlled, the other a flamboyant high-roller who lived openly with his mistress. How they hatched a plot which nearly trashed the entire US economy is more adventure than detective story. Ackerman has put his tale together with a good assortment of sources (once the gold scheme blew up, lots of people had lots to say, some of it in court), and he manages to give us just enough background for understanding without wandering off down some side street. And he shows how the fallout included the beginnings of federal regulations to protect the US economy. Originally written in 1988, this is a great piece of work and a welcome reissue (though filled with an extraordinarily large number of typos). Highly recommended.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Publisher of "The Gold Ring" deserves a Lump of Coal,
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This review is from: The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday, 1869 (Paperback)
The book was excellent - just what I was looking for to expand my understanding of this fascinating period of American history. But Kenneth Ackerman needs to hire a proofreader or find a new publisher. The copy of the book (paperback) that I received and read had hundreds of typographical errors - on some pages, there were more than a dozen errors - reversed letters, missing letters, missing punctuation, extra punctuation, duplicate lines. This was not what I expected for a serious historical study, nor for a book purchased from Amazon.com.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book---terrible proofreading,
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This review is from: The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday, 1869 (Paperback)
This is my third book by Ackerman. The book is excellent. He simplies the details and maintains the readers attention. With the current mortgage meltdown, it's good to know that these things have happened before and the country survived and moved on. BUT . . . (you knew this was coming) I have never seen a book with so many typos. That is inexcusable. Grate arther, good stori, ect., but thos tyops---
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
On Monday morning, March 2, 1868, The New York Times carried a dispatch from Galveston, Texas, on the western frontier. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
gold clearinghouse, bull clique, crop theory, gold comer, gold gamblers, rising gold prices, gold panic, gold room, gold corner, gold policy, scarce gold, gold conspiracy, gold account, gold plan, gold operation, gold sales, gold trading, gold traders, bear raid, gold market, government gold, loyal league Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Jim Fisk, Erie Railway, Ulysses Grant, Abel Corbin, Black Friday, Henry Smith, Daniel Butterfield, James Brown, George Boutwell, President Grant, Gold Exchange Bank, United States, Gold Ring, Jay Cooke, White House, Albert Speyers, Henry Clews, New Jersey, Boss Tweed, Daniel Drew, Harris Fahnestock, Henry Benedict, Julia Grant, William Heath New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
On Monday morning, March 2, 1868, The New York Times carried a dispatch from Galveston, Texas, on the western frontier. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
gold clearinghouse, bull clique, crop theory, gold comer, gold gamblers, rising gold prices, gold panic, gold room, gold corner, gold policy, scarce gold, gold conspiracy, gold account, gold plan, gold operation, gold sales, gold trading, gold traders, bear raid, gold market, government gold, loyal league Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Jim Fisk, Erie Railway, Ulysses Grant, Abel Corbin, Black Friday, Henry Smith, Daniel Butterfield, James Brown, George Boutwell, President Grant, Gold Exchange Bank, United States, Gold Ring, Jay Cooke, White House, Albert Speyers, Henry Clews, New Jersey, Boss Tweed, Daniel Drew, Harris Fahnestock, Henry Benedict, Julia Grant, William Heath New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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