In the feverish, money-making age of railroad barons, political machines, and gold rushes, corruption was the rule, not the exception. Yet the Republican mogul 'Big Alex' McKenzie's audacity was remarkable. Charismatic and shameless, he arrived in the recently purchased Alaskan territory with a federal district judge in his pocket, intent on claiming stewardship over any ambiguously claimed gold mines and promptly draining them of all of their ore. Working-class miners who had rushed to the frozen tundra to strike gold were appalled at his open greed and disregard for maintaining even the pretense of good faith. A Most Wicked Conspiracy tells the story of McKenzie's misdeeds, the resistance of the wronged miners, and the way the scandal captured the national spotlight -- with the press eager to show how America's political and economic life was in the grip of domineering, self-dealing, seemingly-untouchable party bosses in cahoots with robber barons, Senators and even Presidents. These events resonate well into the 21st century. At the core is an eternal question: should the law be a tool of the rich and the powerful for the accomplishment of their nefarious schemes, or an impartial force for justice from which no person can escape?

In the mid-1800s, Charleston, South Carolina, embodied the combustible spirit of the slave South. No city was more fervently attached to slavery, and no city was seen by the North as a greater threat of rebellion. And so, in 1860, with Abraham Lincoln's election looming, Charleston's leaders faced a climactic decision: they could submit to abolition-or they could drive South Carolina out of the Union and hope that the rest of the South would follow.Madness Rules the Hour tells the story of how Charleston succumbed to war fever as its leaders demanded secession and its white masses joined in the uprising with a wild excitement. Through in-depth research and vibrant storytelling, Paul Starobin brings to life the city's propagandists, politicians, populists, and pro-slavery pastor to chart the relentless progress of the contagion. The result is a portrait of a culture in crisis and an insightful investigation into the folly that fractured the Union and started the Civil War-with echoes in our raucous politics today.

In the mid-1800s, Charleston, South Carolina, embodied the combustible spirit of the slave South. No city was more fervently attached to slavery, and no city was seen by the North as a greater threat of rebellion. And so, in 1860, with Abraham Lincoln's election looming, Charleston's leaders faced a climactic decision: they could submit to abolition-or they could drive South Carolina out of the Union and hope that the rest of the South would follow. Madness Rules the Hour tells the story of how Charleston succumbed to war fever as its leaders demanded secession and its white masses joined in the uprising with a wild excitement. Through in-depth research and vibrant storytelling, Paul Starobin brings to life the city's propagandists, politicians, populists, and pro-slavery pastor to chart the relentless progress of the contagion. The result is a portrait of a culture in crisis and an insightful investigation into the folly that fractured the Union and started the Civil War-with echoes in our raucous politics today.