Ultimate Folly
The Rises and Falls of Whitaker Wright, The World's Most Shameless Swindler

Excellent book on the ultimate swindler Whitaker Wright. Compelling and unputdownable. Wright was a fascinating character, and Henry MacRory has done a great job in writing this biography. Highly recommended.......more

I was delighted at the publication of the first full-length biography of my great-great uncle. Henry Macrory has an impeccable track record as a journalist (deputy editor of the Sunday Express) and spins a tale that will keep you reading. There is no doubt as to the author's ability as a biographer. H......more

A rollercoaster of a book. An immense amount of research sifted and sorted into an extremely comprehensive form, especially when detailing the financial shenanigans which might otherwise turn off some readers. Written in a manner that keeps the reader very engaged, Henry Macrory has done his utmost......more

3.5 star rating. Historically I found the book interesting but thought it a bit of a stretch to call Whitaker Wright a shameless swindler (title). He was a businessman who made a lot of money through investors...albeit some quite gullible in his get-rich schemes. I was a bit lost in the aspects of t......more

This book boils down to: Man buys mines Man tells others they’re more successful than they are Others buy stocks in company that owns mines Man makes lots of money Man gets found out There really isn’t much more to it. All that said, as someone keen on history I did enjoy the context of the story set agai......more