Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer
, subject: Cornelius Vanderbilt's conflict with William Walker over Nicaragua and the Accessory Transit route
A stolen transit route pushes Vanderbilt beyond lawsuits and into a privately financed campaign against William Walker in Nicaragua.
About the book
David uses the book as the primary source for Episode 55 and later returns to its account of Vanderbilt's willingness to use money, mercenaries, and private force against anyone who seized his business.
Why read it
Best if you want a history of Vanderbilt, William Walker, Nicaragua, and the extreme force a business titan used to recover a seized route
Key themes
- Business retaliation
- Private power
- Know the adversary
Evidence and original sources
The host introduces this as today's featured book and opens the episode by reading from its epilogue before covering Vanderbilt's conflict with Walker.
- Sam Zemurray (Banana King) — David ties this book to his earlier Founders episode 55 coverage.
- Jay Gould (How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune) — David identifies this as covered on episode 55.
- Cornelius Vanderbilt (Tycoon's War) — Episode opens by naming Tycoon's War and its author as the book being discussed.
- Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer — The host introduces this as today's featured book and opens the episode by reading from its epilogue before covering Vanderbilt's conflict with Walker.
- Ed Thorp and Claude Shannon — David points back to his Cornelius Vanderbilt book and names Tycoon's War while applying its story to the current episode.
Unofficial listener-built companion, not affiliated with or endorsed by David Senra or Founders Podcast.