Tycoon's War

The author of Legions of Rome and Cyrus the Great recounts how Cornelius Vanderbilt fought a war in Central America to protect his business.

When he died in 1877, Cornelius Vanderbilt, founder of the Vanderbilt dynasty, was wealthier than the U.S. Treasury. But he had nearly lost his fortune in 1856, when William Walker, a young rogue from Nashville, set out to conquer Central America and, in the process, take away Vanderbilt's most profitable shipping business. To win back his empire, Vanderbilt had to win a bloody war involving seven countries.

Tycoon's War tells the story of an epic imperialist duel—a violent battle of capitalist versus idealist, money versus ambition—and a monumental clash of egos that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans.


Written by a master storyteller, this incredible true story, impeccably researched and never before told in full, is packed with greed, intrigue, and some of the most hair-raising battle scenes ever written.

"A fascinating window into an era when the rules of industrial capitalism were in their infancy and gunboat diplomacy was standard operating procedure. . . . Reads . . . [like a] screenplay treatment for a hell of a movie." —Wall Street Journal
"One incredible story of adventurism gone wild . . . blind ambition, the clash of wills, money, and conquest—all the elements of good story." —Charleston Post and Courier
"The sheer drama of the story, ably conveyed by Dando-Collins's efficient prose, sweeps the reader along through the misadventure." —Providence Journal