A Most Wicked Conspiracy: The Last Great Swindle of the Gilded Age

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

So not a bad historical nonfiction, just ultimately not gripping enough. Sometimes Starobin goes a bit paint by numbers with things. Only a few times does the subject matters in question come fully alive. We jump from the 1900s to the Alaska statehood and he tries to drive parallels between Alaska then and now that I really didn't see the linkages.

"A Most Wicked Conspiracy" follows Alexander John McKenzie, a lawman and politician that settled in (now) North Dakota. The book jumps around a bit, but focuses on McKenzie after he goes to what is now Alaska (Nome) in the 1900s. He sets up his own little fiefdom in Nome which allowed him to steal show more gold mines from the owners and have himself appointed as the owner and operators of said mine. McKenzie and his cohorts were definitely sleazy and even involves President McKinley (yeah when I was reading I found myself going wait is this Alexander or the President?) involved with this scheme. Starobin tries to set the stage a bit with going into the claim jumping that seemed the way to go in the area. You can get why people were upset though with what McKenzie did.

The setting of Alaska during the 1900s was interesting and Starobin definitely has done his research. You feel at times you are at one of the gold mines. That said, the political intrigues and the back and forths and even McKenzie's history and marriages started to go a bit stale for me after a while.

The ending leaves you a bit in the wind since there's no great reckoning (in my eyes) for some of the major players in this one. show less