Book description
Three hundred years ago, a charismatic young gambler and
man-about-town with a natural gift for mathematics fled London for the
Contintent. His name was John Law and he had a good reason to go,
having killed a man in a duel.
Living off his lucrative winnings at the gaming tables of Europe,
Law became increasingly fascinated by the nature of finance and
journeyed to the impoverished , famine-stricken France of Louis XIV
with an extraordinary idea. At the time when wealth was stored and
exchanged as gold and silver coin - and there was rarely enough to
fund the extravagance of kings, let alone trade - Law realised that
the overriding problem was lack of available money. He reasoned that
if this could be lent in the form of paper, properly backed by assets,
then it could be lend repeatedly and credit used to multiply the
opportunities for the making of money.
Such a radical notion meant Law faced opposition from powerful
vested interests. His persistence paid off in 1716 when, with royal
backing, he established the first French bank to issue paper money. He
also created a trading company which made its shareholders rich beyond
their wildest dreams: so much so that the new term 'millionaire' was
coined to describe them.
What follows is the stuff of epic drama: a tale of fortunes won and
lost, of paupers made rich and lords losing all. And in telling this
enthralling tragi-comic story, Janet Gleeson brings to life two
fascinating characters who together would change the way the world
worked: the inscrutable John Law, and mercurial money itself.
'Excellent ... Gleeson is exemplary in her lucidity. If you can
imagine Keynes' General Theory rewritten by the Marx Brothers you will
have some idea of this remarkable book.' The Sunday Times Janet
Gleeson was born in Sri Lanka, where her father was a tea planter. After
taking a degree in History of Art and English she joined Sotheby's, and
later worked for Bonhams Auctioneers. In 1991 she joined Reed Books,
where she was responsible for devising and writing Miller's Antiques and
Collectibles. She is the author of the Sunday Times non-fiction
bestsellers The Arcanum and The Moneymaker. She is also the author of
three novels, The Grenadillo Box, The Serpent in the Garden and The
Thief-Taker.
