The Nitrate King A Biography of Colonel John Thomas North [Hardcover]

William Edmundson examines?the spectacular life story of 'Colonel' John Thomas North, also known as?'The Nitrate King,'?a mechanic in?Leeds who became?one of the best-known and richest men of his time. Forgotten in Britain and vilified in Chile and Peru, this is the first biography of a controversial but compelling figure.Prologue: He would be called quiet We had adventures of all sorts I was better acquainted than any other foreigner Don Juan Tom?s North The Nitrate King The Grand Promotion Army Colonel North The sensation of the hour A visit to the Nitrate Kingdom A millionaire stripped bare Epilogue: I have enjoyed myself thoroughly? Appendix: The North family tree

'This is a splendid story of a man with great charm, who was an adventurer, buccaneer and speculator and who, in a short and eventful life, rose from a very modest beginning to acquire both fame and fortune This book will make good reading for those interested in a comprehensive story of the nitrate industry'. Viscount Montgomery. Chilean News

'This welcome, well-researched and very readable biography gives a full account of his life and provides a reappraisal of his activities, both in Chile where he made his fortune, and back in Britain where his gifts for self-promotion and his lavish life-style made him a byword This is an enjoyable and full account of Colonel North's life and dealings, academic in detail and soundly researched and referenced, but written in an easy, lively style.' Eveleigh Bradford. The Thoresby Society, Leeds

Well-written . . . and contributes new information about North's life and the relation of that life to the economic development of Chile. - Michael Monte?n, Professor of History, University of California, San Diego

A revealing, entertaining, and long-needed biography of one of the nineteenth-century's most flamboyant and controversial international capitalists - 'Colonel' John Thomas North. Edmundson adeptly exlÓ+