Manyebook

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

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.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 206
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 978-0-307-74325-1
  • EAN
  • 9780307743251
  • Genres
  • history, crime, biography, audiobook, business
  • Release date
  • 2011