Overview

The riveting story of the most infamous American con man you've never heard of: James Strang, self-proclaimed divine king of earth, heaven, and an island in Lake Michigan, until his assassination in 1856. In the summer of 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, vanished from a rural town in New York. Months later he reappeared on the Midwestern frontier and converted to a burgeoning religious movement known as Mormonism. In the wake of the murder of the sect's leader, Joseph Smith, Strang unveiled a letter purportedly from the prophet naming him successor, and persuaded hundreds of fellow converts to follow him to an island in Lake Michigan, where he declared himself a divine king. From this stronghold he controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, establishing a pirate colony where he practiced plural marriage and perpetrated thefts, corruption, and frauds of all kinds. Eventually, having run afoul of powerful enemies, including the American president, Strang was assassinated, an event that was frontpage news across the country.The King of Confidence tells this fascinating but largely forgotten story. Centering his narrative on this charlatan's turbulent twelve years in power, Miles Harvey gets to the root of a timeless American original: the Confidence Man. Full of adventure, bad behavior, and insight into a crucial period of antebellum history, The King of Confidence brings us a compulsively readable account of one of the country's boldest con men and the boisterous era that allowed him to thrive.

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9781549132254

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"""This book has talons that sink into you and won't let go."" -- ""Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times bestselling author """

This book has talons that sink into you and won't let go. -- Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times bestselling author

Author Information

Miles Harvey is the author of the national and international bestseller The Island of Lost Maps (2000), and the recipient of a 2007-2008 Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan. His book Painter in a Savage Land (2008) was named a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year and a Booklist Editors' Choice. He teaches creative writing at DePaul University. Rengin Altay is an actress who has had performed in television, films, and many theater roles. Her television and film roles include Stranger Than Fiction, Light It Up, Crush, A Piece of Eden, E.R., Cupid, The Human Factor, and she was the voice of Yeesha in the Myst computer-game series. Her stage credits include The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Vagina Monologues at Apollo Theater, and many other roles in regional theater productions.

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