ust who was the man whose name is synonymous with the classic “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” scam where money from new investors goes to reward earlier ones? (It's the kind of scheme that Bernard Madoff recently used to rake in $50 billion from gullible folks all over the world.) In December 1919, Charles Ponzi was an unknown 38-year-old, self-educated Italian immigrant with just $200 in his pocket. Six months later, he was the ten-million-dollar man, Boston’s famed “wizard of finance,” lionized by the public and politicians alike.
Based on exclusive interviews with people who knew Charles
Ponzi, lent him their money, and exposed him, Donald Dunn’s Ponzi
: The Incredible True Story of the King of Financial Cons re-creates
both one of America’s most notorious and colorful financial con artists
and the mad money-hungry era in which he thrived.
“Donald H. Dunn's 'Ponzi' is a fictionalized account of the affair that catches some of the feeling of 'irresponsible' finance that is all too often practiced in more respectable surroundings." -- STABILIZING AN UNSTABLE ECONOMY by Hyman Minsky --
“Packed with details and color and yielding a narrative that flows as easily as that of a good pulp novel.” -- CHICAGO DAILY NEWS --
“ Ponzi was superb at his game, and following his financial twists and turns is a lot of fun.” -- SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER --
"No swindler in history has operated with more style than the legendary figure colorfully chronicled in this book." -- WASHINGTON POST --
Donald Dunn was an editor at BusinessWeek for over twenty-five years and is the only journalist to have interviewed Charles Ponzi’s widow. more...
Reach the author directly!
Tel: 845 626-7834 /Cell: 646 321-1282
E-mail: donhdunn@yahoo.com