The Mississippi Bubble

It would be impossible to fully classify this book as anything but adventure; yet many elements are not adventure. With a little research, I found that many of the main events, as well as most of the primary characters, are based on real life. John Law comes from Scotland when his education in finance is finished, intending to pursue a financial career in London. He is embroiled in a duel and sentenced to death for the his opponent's death.

After he escapes Newgate, he travels abroad and explores the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence and to the Mississippi. (An interesting portrayal here is given, of all the Indians being friendly and well treated except for the “bloodthirsty wolves” of the Iriquois.) Here, chance has thrown him together with a woman who he takes as mistress; nothing much is detailed, but younger readers may wish to be aware of that.

My favorite part was the final section, of his time in Paris setting up the General Bank under Phillippe's Regency. As with all financial bubbles, it is bound to burst, and the rest of the novel is taken up with instances leading up to that 1720 burst. But his understanding of the laws of economics was truly interesting, and it is funny to hear people today saying the same thing: To save a crashing economy, lower the taxes and back the money with real, reliable value. If only the Regent could have quit printing money...

Worth a read, especially if you like adventure and finance.