Anansi's Gold
The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World
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- 12,99 €
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- 12,99 €
Publisher Description
"Catch Me if You Can meets Coming to America in this epic tale of one of the greatest scammers of all time."-NPR
Shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize * A New York Times Notable Book of the Year * A New Yorker, NPR, Newsweek, The Economist, TIME, Slate, and WIRED Best Book of the Year
The astounding, never-before-told story of how an audacious Ghanaian con artist pulled off one of the 20th century's longest-running and most spectacular frauds.
After winning independence in 1957, Ghana instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that British colonialism hadn't already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country's gold overseas.
Into this big lie stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty in Ghana and trained in the United States, John Ackah Blay-Miezah declared himself custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece--if only you would "invest" in Blay-Miezah's fictitious efforts to release the equally fictitious fund. Over the 1970s and '80s, he and his accomplices-including Ghanaian state officials and Nixon's former attorney general--scammed hundreds of millions of dollars out of thousands of believers around the world. American prosecutors called his scam "one of the most fascinating--and lucrative--in modern history."
In Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases Blay-Miezah's wild trail and discovers, at long last, what really happened to Ghana's missing wealth. She unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements, international finance, and postcolonial betrayal, revealing how what we call "history" writes itself into being, one lie at a time.
Winner of the Jhalak Prize * Winner of the Plutarch Award for Biography * Finalist for the 2024 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award in Historical Nonfiction
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One charismatic man conned the world with tales of secret Ghanaian gold, as revealed in this mind-blowing biography. Rumours circled that former president Kwame Nkrumah had stashed massive gold reserves outside of the country. So audacious “businessman” John Ackah Blay-Miezah seized upon the rumours, convincing government officials, regional dictators, and even a member of Richard Nixon’s administration to invest in his gold venture—to the tune of millions. Journalist and debut author Yepoka Yeebo’s rigorously researched account digs through letters, interviews, and recordings to understand this brazen man and his place in Ghana’s history of exploitation by British colonialists and international corporations with an eye on the country’s natural resources. Her rapid, nail-biting pace and witty, flowing prose pull us into the con and build a well-rounded picture of Blay-Miezah, his epic web of deceit, and the true history of Ghana’s missing resources. If you love a good caper, don’t pass up Anansi's Gold.
