Author | Ken Follett |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Historical fiction |
Published | 1993 (Macmillan (UK) Delacorte Press (US) |
ISBN | 0-333-58031-1 |
OCLC | 28374472 |
A Dangerous Fortune is a novel written by British author Ken Follett in 1993. The story is set against the backdrop of collapse of a bank in 1866. The book also features Follett's first female villain, the domineering and unscrupulous Augusta.
The prologue, set in 1866 at high society Windfield School, depicts the day of the accident. It introduces young college students, the main characters that we find throughout the novel. It also positions the place of each character in society. We also learn of two deaths, that of Peter Middleton and Tobias Pilaster, Hugh's father.
Sense and Sensibility is the first novel by the English author Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne as they come of age. They have an older half-brother, John, and a younger sister, Margaret.
Kenneth Martin Follett, is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
Hetty Green was an American businesswoman and financier known as "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age. Those who knew her well referred to her admiringly as the "Queen of Wall Street" due to her willingness to lend freely and at reasonable interest rates to financiers and city governments during financial panics. Her extraordinary discipline during such times enabled her to amass a fortune as a financier at a time when nearly all major financiers were men. Two days after her death on July 3, 1916, The New York Times paid tribute to Green:
It was that Mrs. Green was a woman that made her career the subject of endless curiosity, comment, and astonishment...Her habits were the legacy of New England ancestors who had the best of reasons for knowing "the value of money," for never wasting it, and for risking it only when their shrewd minds saw an approach to certainty of profit. Though something of hardness was ascribed to her, that she harmed any is not recorded, and victims of ruthlessness are usually audible...That there are few like her is not a cause of regret; that there are many less commendable, is one.
Edward Middleton Barry RA was an English architect of the 19th century.
Earl of Jersey, is a title in the Peerage of England. It is held by a branch of the Villiers family, which since 1819 has been the Child Villiers family.
Earl of Gainsborough is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation ended in extinction when the sixth Earl died without heirs. However, the title was revived in 1841 for a female-line relative.
Richard Anthony Salisbury was a British botanist. While he carried out valuable work in horticultural and botanical sciences, several bitter disputes caused him to be ostracised by his contemporaries.
Oliver Heywood was an English banker and philanthropist.
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The Pease family is an English and mostly Quaker family associated with Darlington, County Durham, and North Yorkshire, descended from Edward Pease of Darlington (1711–1785). They were 'one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the nineteenth century, who played a leading role in philanthropic and humanitarian interests'. They were heavily involved in woollen manufacturing, banking, railways, locomotives, mining, and politics.
Stancliffe Hall is a grade II Listed building on Whitworth Road in the settlement of Darley Dale, near Matlock, Derbyshire.
Kenneth D. Lewis is the former CEO, president, and chairman of Bank of America, the second largest bank in the United States and twelfth largest by total assets in the world. While CEO of Bank of America, Lewis was noted for purchasing the failing companies Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch, resulting in large losses for the bank and necessitating financial assistance from the federal government. On September 30, 2009, Bank of America confirmed that Lewis would be retiring by the end of the year. Lewis was replaced by Brian Moynihan as president and CEO and Walter Massey as chairman of the board.
Sir Adam Bittleston was a British-born Indian judge.
Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare, 5th baronet DL was an English banker and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1866 and 1874.
Fisk & Robinson was one of the best-known bond houses in Wall Street in the early 20th century, dealing in United States Treasury security and bonds, New York City and other municipal bonds. It was prominently connected with the financing of railroads.
The Gurneys were an influential family of English Quakers, who had a major part in the development of Norwich, England. They established Gurney's Bank in 1770, which merged into Barclays Bank in 1896. They established successful breweries. A number of family members were abolitionists. Members of the family still live in the United Kingdom.
The John Archibald Campbell United States Courthouse, also known as the United States Court House and Custom House, is a historic courthouse and former custom house in Mobile, Alabama. It was completed in 1935. An addition to the west was completed in 1940. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 8, 2008.
William Bowman was an Australian pioneer farmer, grazier, flour miller and merchant on the Finniss River near Middleton, South Australia.
Michael Francis Middleton is a British businessman. He is the father of Catherine, Princess of Wales, Philippa Matthews and James Middleton.