The story of Celso Cesare Moreno, one of the most famous of the emigrant Italian elites or ’prominenti.’ Moreno traveled the world lying, scheming, and building an extensive patron/client network to to establish his reputation as a middleman and person of significance. Through his machinations, Moreno became a critical player in the expansion of western trade and imperialism in Asia, the trafficking of migrant workers and children in the Atlantic, and the conflicts of Americans and natives over the fate of Hawaii, and imperial competitions of French, British, Italian and American governments during a critically important era of imperial expansion.

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