The years of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, aptly described by Mark Twain as the ‘Gilded Age’ witnessed an unprecedented level of technological change, material excess, untrammled pursuit of profit and imperial expansion. Within this dynamic and often ruthless environment many colorful characters strode across the world stage, among them the great mining tycoons, who with the thousands of prospectors, diggers, shift bosses, timbermen, ‘blastmen’ and ‘muckers’ in mining enterprise constituted one of the major spearheads of global capitalistic expansion and colonial exploitation. This volume, which carries the epic story to the mid-twentieth century provides a truly international perspective on the role of mining entrepreneurs, investors and engineers in shaping the economic and political map of the globe, in testing management techniques and in setting a vogue for extravagant displays of wealth among the world’s rich. Each chapter is loosely focussed on a biographical account of a particular mining tycoon that allows for broad and comparative accounts to be made about the individuals, their business interests, the technologies they employed and the national and international political considerations under which they operated. Furthermore, this structure also allows for consideration of the effect that these tycoons had on the countries and territories in which they worked, particularly the often long-lasting impact on indigenous populations, the environment, transport links and economic development. By approaching the subject matter through this stimulating mix of cultural, social, economic, business and colonial history, many intriguing and thought provoking conclusions are reached that will reward any scholars with an interest late nineteenth and early twentieth century history.
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