The Land That Never Was: Sir Gregor Macgregor and the Most Audacious Fraud in History

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Con Man Of All Time
Review: P.T. Barnum may never have heard of Sir Gregor MacGregor, but he no doubt had his type of personality in mind when he coined the immortal phrase, "There's a sucker born every minute." David Sinclair's new book, "The Land That Never Was," presents the story of MacGregor and the greatest confidence scheme that ever was...the mythical Central American land of Poyais. In the early 1820s, MacGregor persuaded hundreds of his fellow Scotsmen to abandon their lives, homes and property to sail across the Atlantic and begin new lives in Poyais, which he ruled over as "Cazique."

They had been attracted by promises of a land mild in climate rich in natural resources, of a capital city and government on the European model when they would feel at home, and easy wealth with only moderate effort. The harsh reality, of course, was that Poyais only existed in MacGregor's mind.

In the opening section of the book, Sinclair introduces us to some of MacGregor's victims as they set sail with high hopes only to find a jungle nightmare on their arrival at their new "home." When things seem to be at their worst for the group, Sinclair leaves them to tell MacGregor's tale. We follow him through his exploits as a soldier of fortune in South America, where he fought alongside the likes of Simon Bolivar. But his military record was never as glittering as MacGregor would present it in later years. Ironically, when he was forced to engage in battle, he displayed both intelligence and bravery, but he only took this step when all other alternatives (including letting others do the fighting for him) had been exhausted.

Sinclair follows MacGregor back to London, where he launches the Poyais scheme, playing on the explosion of interest in South America as a untapped market and resource. When we rejoin the settlers, or at least the ones who managed to make it home with their lives, what I found the most amazing portion of the book begins. Apparently MacGregor's personal charisma was so persuasive that he managed to persuade many of his followers, and others as well, that he was not the perpetrator but the victim in this scheme. He had simply placed his trust in the wrong subordinates, and given the opportunity, everything could be straightened out.

MacGregor always seemed to stay one step ahead of the truth, and the law, until the latter caught up with him at his next stop, Paris, where he tried to stir fresh interest in Poyais. He was imprisoned and brought to trial, but leading the charmed life that he was, he was soon back in London, still working to entice people to put money into the land that didn't exist.

Sinclair's narrative is fairly straightforward, and given to nice ironic touches at times, such as a description of MacGregor as not the sort of man to "let a good idea wither away because of a few technical difficulties." This is a entertaining and enlightening read.--William

Rating:
Summary: A Lively History of a Swindle
Review: You will not find the land of Poyais on any map. A guidebook in 1822 described the South American country in glowing terms. It had good soil, timber, gold, a healthful atmosphere, and a work force eager to bring the country into modernity. Descriptions of Poyais made it especially attractive for the times; there was speculation that a canal would be dug to unite the Atlantic and Pacific, and the region was going to be a new world economic center. The Cazique (Prince) of Poyais himself was in London and Paris in the 1820's, and he and his wife were was greeted by the rich and powerful, and bankers and investors were eager to befriend him by making money from his country. Ships carrying immigrants to the new land were chartered and sailed off. The problem was that Poyais never existed. In _The Land that Never Was: Sir Gregor MacGregor and the Most Audacious Fraud in History_ (Da Capo Press), David Sinclair has told an extraordinary tale about an amusing, and deadly, hoax; it is a rattling good book of history and human folly.

MacGregor was the Scottish son of a merchant family, who had an undistinguished spell in the British Army. The most distinguishing thing he did was to become obsessed with uniforms, niceness of rank, and honorary badges. He served in the Venezuelan army, and had some success, and some claims to heroism, but also took every chance to puff those claims. He also repeatedly ran away from action. He was good at devising uniforms, honors, and military protocol. He returned to London in 1821 and he explained that he had been created Cazique by the grateful and anglophile King George Frederick of the Mosquito Shore and Nation. The title brought with it thousands of square miles in the Territory of Poyais, and as Cazique, he was required by the King to govern the territory in the interests of its native inhabitants. As Cazique, he had instituted a rudimentary civil service, a beginning army, and a democratic government. He had come to London for the coronation of George IV, because his Poyasian people had long been attached to the British monarchy, and he hoped to develop interest in Poyais during his visit. He succeeded. Investors bought his bonds, and immigrants sailed to the new land. They found nothing like he had described, and most of them died. Those who returned, astonishingly, blamed administrators and ship captains for their plight; some even officially signed a document that freed the Cazique from all blame. He got no legal punishment, and retired to Venezuela on a military pension.

Sinclair's entertaining history raises the slightest of possibilities that MacGregor was merely a fantasist who began to believe in his own pretensions. He might have thought he could really become a Cazique if he could settle the territory. He had drive and a skill for self-promotion that could, in other circumstances, have made him a leader of settlers to the territory. He proved to be more interested in the superficial trappings of power, and in the prospect of gaining quick riches, but it is not at all impossible that he could have become just as rich if he had told the truth. There have been other hoaxes, bubbles and vaporous dotcoms, but this is the only one that traded on fantasies of an entire simulated country. MacGregor's story, told here with verve and good humor, is a rousing cautionary tale.

Rating:
Summary: A Lively History of a Swindle
Review: You will not find the land of Poyais on any map. A guidebook in 1822 described the South American country in glowing terms. It had good soil, timber, gold, a healthful atmosphere, and a work force eager to bring the country into modernity. Descriptions of Poyais made it especially attractive for the times; there was speculation that a canal would be dug to unite the Atlantic and Pacific, and the region was going to be a new world economic center. The Cazique (Prince) of Poyais himself was in London and Paris in the 1820's, and he and his wife were was greeted by the rich and powerful, and bankers and investors were eager to befriend him by making money from his country. Ships carrying immigrants to the new land were chartered and sailed off. The problem was that Poyais never existed. In _The Land that Never Was: Sir Gregor MacGregor and the Most Audacious Fraud in History_ (Da Capo Press), David Sinclair has told an extraordinary tale about an amusing, and deadly, hoax; it is a rattling good book of history and human folly.

MacGregor was the Scottish son of a merchant family, who had an undistinguished spell in the British Army. The most distinguishing thing he did was to become obsessed with uniforms, niceness of rank, and honorary badges. He served in the Venezuelan army, and had some success, and some claims to heroism, but also took every chance to puff those claims. He also repeatedly ran away from action. He was good at devising uniforms, honors, and military protocol. He returned to London in 1821 and he explained that he had been created Cazique by the grateful and anglophile King George Frederick of the Mosquito Shore and Nation. The title brought with it thousands of square miles in the Territory of Poyais, and as Cazique, he was required by the King to govern the territory in the interests of its native inhabitants. As Cazique, he had instituted a rudimentary civil service, a beginning army, and a democratic government. He had come to London for the coronation of George IV, because his Poyasian people had long been attached to the British monarchy, and he hoped to develop interest in Poyais during his visit. He succeeded. Investors bought his bonds, and immigrants sailed to the new land. They found nothing like he had described, and most of them died. Those who returned, astonishingly, blamed administrators and ship captains for their plight; some even officially signed a document that freed the Cazique from all blame. He got no legal punishment, and retired to Venezuela on a military pension.

Sinclair's entertaining history raises the slightest of possibilities that MacGregor was merely a fantasist who began to believe in his own pretensions. He might have thought he could really become a Cazique if he could settle the territory. He had drive and a skill for self-promotion that could, in other circumstances, have made him a leader of settlers to the territory. He proved to be more interested in the superficial trappings of power, and in the prospect of gaining quick riches, but it is not at all impossible that he could have become just as rich if he had told the truth. There have been other hoaxes, bubbles and vaporous dotcoms, but this is the only one that traded on fantasies of an entire simulated country. MacGregor's story, told here with verve and good humor, is a rousing cautionary tale.