Customer Reviews

Sir Gregor Macgregor and the Land That Never Was

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Story of a 19th century Scots fraudster, Gregor MacGregor and his scheme to make a fortune selling land in a non existent country in central America. The tale is an interesting one covering the MacGregors exploits in the Americas (where he fought alongside Miranda and Bolivar) and Europe as well as in Britain. Ultimately MacGregor is presented as being a deluded fantasist rather than an outright conman but more judicious editing (especially of the independence campaigns MacGregor actually fought in) with a greater use of footnotes might make it both more useful to historians and efficient to read. Such editing would make it ***

The land of Poyais was one of those eighteenth/nineteenth century land bubbles which burst with massive loss to a number of people. In this case the poor settlers who were drawn to the salubrious conditions promised by the purported Cazique of this country, Gregor MacGregor.

David Sinclair's book is an immensely readable acocunt of how so many were drawn into the lure of this lush new land where property was cheap and fertile, labour was easily available, and all but flowing milk and honey seemed to be promised. Despite earlier lessons of the South Sea bubble and the similar Mississippi bubble, people of the 1820's were willing to believe the promises and made the trip to the land on the Caribbean side Central America. With often disastorous consequesnces.

What I loved best about this book is that Sinclair takes time to really put the issue into context of the time. How Macgregor managed to convince the rich and noble in London of his claims, how he managed to get so many settlers to make the trip there. Even the launching of the boat delayed during extraodinary storms, is put in context.

Sinclairs book is well written and well researched. I am surprised that this book has not acheived the popularity of others. It is a great subject, well written and clearly well researched. It is a good easy page turning read with enough excitement and comic touches to keep amused - usually the snobbery of the Cazique - and the ability of society in London to be fooled by anyone in fancy clothes and a title.

It would be of great interest to those who enjoy Regency and georgian historical period, it is whole new aspect of this period I don't think many will have read about before.

If you enjoy reading books by Giles Milton, Deborah Cadbury or small histories you should give this a try.