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Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick
Greed in the Gilded Age is a Gatsby-esque tale of mystery, money, sex, and scandal.
'Millionaire' had just entered the American lexicon and Cassie Chadwick was front page news, becoming a media sensation before mass media, even eclipsing President Roosevelt's inauguration. Using these newspaper articles, Hazelgrove tells the story of one of the greatest cons in American history.
Combining the sexuality and helplessness her gender implied, Chadwick conned at least 2 million dollars, equivalent to about 60 million today, simply by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of steel titan, Andrew Carnegie. Playing to their greed, she was able to convince highly educated financiers to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars, on nothing more than a rumor and her word.
She was a product of her time and painting her as a criminal is only one way to look at it. Those times rewarded someone who was smart, inventive, bold, and aggressive. She was able to break through boundaries of class, education, and gender, to beat the men of the one percent at their own game.
'Millionaire' had just entered the American lexicon and Cassie Chadwick was front page news, becoming a media sensation before mass media, even eclipsing President Roosevelt's inauguration. Using these newspaper articles, Hazelgrove tells the story of one of the greatest cons in American history.
Combining the sexuality and helplessness her gender implied, Chadwick conned at least 2 million dollars, equivalent to about 60 million today, simply by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of steel titan, Andrew Carnegie. Playing to their greed, she was able to convince highly educated financiers to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars, on nothing more than a rumor and her word.
She was a product of her time and painting her as a criminal is only one way to look at it. Those times rewarded someone who was smart, inventive, bold, and aggressive. She was able to break through boundaries of class, education, and gender, to beat the men of the one percent at their own game.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published February 15, 2022
69 people are currently reading
2737 people want to read
About the author
William Elliott Hazelgrove
27 books16 followersWilliam Elliott Hazelgrove is the national bestselling author of ten novels and fourteen narrative nonfiction titles, including Dead Air: The Night That Orson Welles Terrified America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), and Al Capone and the 1933 World's Fair: The End of the Gangster Era in Chicago (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). His books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly Kirkus, Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editor's Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections, and optioned for movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, Daily Mail, and other publications, and has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CSPAN, and USA Today have all covered his books with features.
source: Amazon
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
May 31, 2022
A good story ruined by the writing. The author jumps all over the place with side stories, some relating to the story, some not. The over all layout of this book is just bad. This book also had some punctuation errors.
April 12, 2022
I finished this book because the story behind it is fascinating. However, it gets 3 stars for a few reasons. The way the timeline was laid out was difficult to follow at times, going back and forth between before and after the trial. Also, while I try not to be a stickler for grammatical errors, too many times I literally said, “Where was the copy editor?!” Simple things were missed so often throughout that it became distracting. And last, many historical facts were thrown in that really had nothing to do with the story, and parts were sensationalized that frankly didn’t need to be.
February 16, 2022
I like the story, but not the writing. It's sometimes dificult to follow because the author jumps from one year to the other. And there's much repetition, probably to fill the book? It would be a nice "Stuff you missed in history class" podcast topic.
January 9, 2023
Missed Opportunity
The book covers an interesting episode in a fascinating era, but is ruined by an incomprehensible organization of chapters. It is like the writer put each chapter on an index card,tossed them down the steps, and then published the resulting chaos. A real shame.
The book covers an interesting episode in a fascinating era, but is ruined by an incomprehensible organization of chapters. It is like the writer put each chapter on an index card,tossed them down the steps, and then published the resulting chaos. A real shame.
November 6, 2023
“Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick” is a nonfiction book focusing on Cassie Chadwick, a Canadian drifter who pulled off one of the greatest cons in American history by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and sole heir of steel titan Andrew Carnegie.
The book consists of a note to the reader, prologue, introduction, thirty-five chapters, notes, selected bibliography, an index, and information about the author.
In “A Note to the Reader,” author William Elliott Hazelgrove shares that prior to this book, there was nothing written about Cassie Chadwick other than a fictional account in the 1970s. Considering the high-profile nature of the legal trial involving Chadwick and a connection to legendary steel titan Andrew Carnegie, this book was built on by Hazelgrove accessing thousands of newspaper articles written back in the early 1900s when her con began to unravel.
In the prologue, Hazelgrove shares how Cassie Chadwick was arrested for bank fraud on December 8, 1904. Chadwick had purportedly conned at least $2 million ($100 million in today’s money) from unsuspecting bankers. Adding to the shock of a woman embezzling so much money was the fact that Chadwick claimed to be the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest men during that time period.
In the introduction, “The Gilded Age,” Hazelgrove details how the term “The Gilded Age” was created by Mark Twain to refer to the period after the Civil War from 1865 to 1890. Twain also used term “The Gilded Age” also to refer to a thin layer of gold overlays on a cheap surface like wood. Shortly after naming the new time period, Twain published a book “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today” in which he described the time period as an age of robber barons and political bosses, of obscene wealthy gained and disposed of with little regard to how poor people live.
Elizabeth “Betty” Bigley (later known as Cassie Chadwick) was born in Woodstock, Ontario in 1857. Although Elizabeth was referred to as an ugly duckling, had a lisp, and was slightly deaf, she has a smile that would make men her whatever she wanted. Elizabeth devised her first criminal scheme at the age of thirteen by writing a letter saying that an uncle had died and left her a small sum of money. After a few months of success, she was arrested and warned to never do that again.
Nine years later, Elizabeth enters an Ontario bank and has refined her original con of a dead uncle leaving her an inheritance. Elizabeth’s con is based on her knowledge that banks would lend money on the promise or perception of wealth. Likewise, Elizabeth learns than men can be easily swayed by rouge, powder, and perfume. By bringing the banker a signed document and dressing in fine clothing, this implied that Elizabeth had the means to repay the money she was borrowing. Due to lax banking regulations, no one questioned the validity of Elizabeth’s credit worthiness. Elizabeth feels she belongs in the world of wealth, luxury, and opulence, not that of her current home life of poverty and child rearing.
Background is provided on Andrew Carnegie including that he emigrated from Dunfermline, Scotland, and that by working his way up from a lowly railroad clerk, he eventually becomes a titan in the steel industry and one of the United States’ first millionaires. During “The Gilded Age,” two percent of families in America owned one-third of the wealth in the country, the top ten percent owned the remaining two-thirds of all the wealth while the poor had no wealth at all.
Chapter one, “The Trial of the Century,” Following begins on March 9, 1905, with Theodore Roosevelt being sworn in as President of the United States while the trial of Cassie Chadwick begins in Cleveland, Ohio. Ironically enough, the newspapers of the day gave more focus on Chadwick’s trial dubbed “The Trial of the Century” than to the new president’s inauguration.
When Andrew Carnegie attends the trial to face Chadwick, he is shocked by the madness of the trial as well as the woman who claimed to be his illegitimate daughter. Due to Chadwick’s con, this caused Ohio banks to become chaotic, another bank to declare bankruptcy, reputations are ruined, men are imprisoned, and a man dies.
The country is captivated by how despite Cassie Chadwick being an emigrant woman without an education was able to obtain millions out of nothing and is viewed as either brilliant or insane.
As the book progresses, details are provided in how Chadwick started illegal activities from a teenager through forgery and as an adult, continued illegal activities even after serving prison time. Despite several stints in prison, Chadwick’s greed led her to creating her biggest scheme yet: presented herself as Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter, saying that he was paying her hush money, and used his reputation and clout to borrow money from banks with fake signed notes.
The book ends with Chadwick being found guilty of numerous charges related to bank fraud and forgery. Even after being found guilty due to an overwhelming amount of evidence, Chadwick still declares her innocence. On 27, 1905, Chadwick is sentenced to prison for a max of fourteen years but two years later, she dies of neurasthenic or nervous collapse. Hazelgrove closes the book by highlighting how the Gilded Age could make honest men push their morals aside exchange of becoming millionaires. To me, the main reason why Chadwick’s crime was so shocking was that up until the 1900s, it was assumed that women were simpletons and unable to have independent thought. Through Chadwick’s criminal enterprise, men and the country as a whole learned that women could be just as smart and cunning as a man by using their avarice against them.
As I finished reading the book, I liked how Hazelgrove alternates the lives of Chadwick and Carnegie. Despite not agreeing with what Chadwick’s con, I do admire her using her feminine charm to dupe men who were duping her as a woman using their banking services. Likewise, I liked how Hazelgrove interweaves Chadwick’s story with historical milestones of the day including the introduction of automobiles, incandescent light bulbs, the first mail order catalog in 1872, the instance of a flying machine by Orville Wright in December 1903 and the Panama Canal in 1905.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read since Hazelgrove creates an entertaining and engaging book interweaving the story of Cassie Chadwick and events occurring during The Gilded Age such as the invention of the light bulb, the first department store and mail order catalog, and the first instance of human flight by the Wright Brothers.
The book consists of a note to the reader, prologue, introduction, thirty-five chapters, notes, selected bibliography, an index, and information about the author.
In “A Note to the Reader,” author William Elliott Hazelgrove shares that prior to this book, there was nothing written about Cassie Chadwick other than a fictional account in the 1970s. Considering the high-profile nature of the legal trial involving Chadwick and a connection to legendary steel titan Andrew Carnegie, this book was built on by Hazelgrove accessing thousands of newspaper articles written back in the early 1900s when her con began to unravel.
In the prologue, Hazelgrove shares how Cassie Chadwick was arrested for bank fraud on December 8, 1904. Chadwick had purportedly conned at least $2 million ($100 million in today’s money) from unsuspecting bankers. Adding to the shock of a woman embezzling so much money was the fact that Chadwick claimed to be the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest men during that time period.
In the introduction, “The Gilded Age,” Hazelgrove details how the term “The Gilded Age” was created by Mark Twain to refer to the period after the Civil War from 1865 to 1890. Twain also used term “The Gilded Age” also to refer to a thin layer of gold overlays on a cheap surface like wood. Shortly after naming the new time period, Twain published a book “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today” in which he described the time period as an age of robber barons and political bosses, of obscene wealthy gained and disposed of with little regard to how poor people live.
Elizabeth “Betty” Bigley (later known as Cassie Chadwick) was born in Woodstock, Ontario in 1857. Although Elizabeth was referred to as an ugly duckling, had a lisp, and was slightly deaf, she has a smile that would make men her whatever she wanted. Elizabeth devised her first criminal scheme at the age of thirteen by writing a letter saying that an uncle had died and left her a small sum of money. After a few months of success, she was arrested and warned to never do that again.
Nine years later, Elizabeth enters an Ontario bank and has refined her original con of a dead uncle leaving her an inheritance. Elizabeth’s con is based on her knowledge that banks would lend money on the promise or perception of wealth. Likewise, Elizabeth learns than men can be easily swayed by rouge, powder, and perfume. By bringing the banker a signed document and dressing in fine clothing, this implied that Elizabeth had the means to repay the money she was borrowing. Due to lax banking regulations, no one questioned the validity of Elizabeth’s credit worthiness. Elizabeth feels she belongs in the world of wealth, luxury, and opulence, not that of her current home life of poverty and child rearing.
Background is provided on Andrew Carnegie including that he emigrated from Dunfermline, Scotland, and that by working his way up from a lowly railroad clerk, he eventually becomes a titan in the steel industry and one of the United States’ first millionaires. During “The Gilded Age,” two percent of families in America owned one-third of the wealth in the country, the top ten percent owned the remaining two-thirds of all the wealth while the poor had no wealth at all.
Chapter one, “The Trial of the Century,” Following begins on March 9, 1905, with Theodore Roosevelt being sworn in as President of the United States while the trial of Cassie Chadwick begins in Cleveland, Ohio. Ironically enough, the newspapers of the day gave more focus on Chadwick’s trial dubbed “The Trial of the Century” than to the new president’s inauguration.
When Andrew Carnegie attends the trial to face Chadwick, he is shocked by the madness of the trial as well as the woman who claimed to be his illegitimate daughter. Due to Chadwick’s con, this caused Ohio banks to become chaotic, another bank to declare bankruptcy, reputations are ruined, men are imprisoned, and a man dies.
The country is captivated by how despite Cassie Chadwick being an emigrant woman without an education was able to obtain millions out of nothing and is viewed as either brilliant or insane.
As the book progresses, details are provided in how Chadwick started illegal activities from a teenager through forgery and as an adult, continued illegal activities even after serving prison time. Despite several stints in prison, Chadwick’s greed led her to creating her biggest scheme yet: presented herself as Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter, saying that he was paying her hush money, and used his reputation and clout to borrow money from banks with fake signed notes.
The book ends with Chadwick being found guilty of numerous charges related to bank fraud and forgery. Even after being found guilty due to an overwhelming amount of evidence, Chadwick still declares her innocence. On 27, 1905, Chadwick is sentenced to prison for a max of fourteen years but two years later, she dies of neurasthenic or nervous collapse. Hazelgrove closes the book by highlighting how the Gilded Age could make honest men push their morals aside exchange of becoming millionaires. To me, the main reason why Chadwick’s crime was so shocking was that up until the 1900s, it was assumed that women were simpletons and unable to have independent thought. Through Chadwick’s criminal enterprise, men and the country as a whole learned that women could be just as smart and cunning as a man by using their avarice against them.
As I finished reading the book, I liked how Hazelgrove alternates the lives of Chadwick and Carnegie. Despite not agreeing with what Chadwick’s con, I do admire her using her feminine charm to dupe men who were duping her as a woman using their banking services. Likewise, I liked how Hazelgrove interweaves Chadwick’s story with historical milestones of the day including the introduction of automobiles, incandescent light bulbs, the first mail order catalog in 1872, the instance of a flying machine by Orville Wright in December 1903 and the Panama Canal in 1905.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read since Hazelgrove creates an entertaining and engaging book interweaving the story of Cassie Chadwick and events occurring during The Gilded Age such as the invention of the light bulb, the first department store and mail order catalog, and the first instance of human flight by the Wright Brothers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2022
e-Audiobook on Libby
Interesting, but I feel like the book could have been a lottt shorter and gotten the main points across without meandering through the weeds of random details.
Interesting, but I feel like the book could have been a lottt shorter and gotten the main points across without meandering through the weeds of random details.
April 5, 2022
This is engaging and fast paced.
This very much reminds me of the Anna Delvey debacle.
What a wild ride.
This book covers the times so the reader can understand the environment that breeds this scandal.
My low rating is solely because the author makes racists statements regarding Native Americans. Its during the parade for President Theodore Roosevelt which included 'ind%^n' chiefs as described by the author. Using 'ind&%n' to describe Native Americans is cringeworthy but I'll give the author that is a historical based book and that was the nomenclature of the times.
What I don't forgive the author is the suggestion that Native Americans & White folks from the USA equally committed atrocities. No, no, no, no, no. White people committed atrocities against Native Americans and Native Americans defended themselves. What happened to the peoples and nations we now simply call 'Native American' is nothing less than deliberate and calculated genocide. What a horribly racist 'alternative facts' version of history.
This very much reminds me of the Anna Delvey debacle.
What a wild ride.
This book covers the times so the reader can understand the environment that breeds this scandal.
My low rating is solely because the author makes racists statements regarding Native Americans. Its during the parade for President Theodore Roosevelt which included 'ind%^n' chiefs as described by the author. Using 'ind&%n' to describe Native Americans is cringeworthy but I'll give the author that is a historical based book and that was the nomenclature of the times.
What I don't forgive the author is the suggestion that Native Americans & White folks from the USA equally committed atrocities. No, no, no, no, no. White people committed atrocities against Native Americans and Native Americans defended themselves. What happened to the peoples and nations we now simply call 'Native American' is nothing less than deliberate and calculated genocide. What a horribly racist 'alternative facts' version of history.
February 12, 2024
Found it truly interesting …worthy of tv bio pic if their isn’t already one out there. It seems Not many know of her story. I thought the way the timeline was handled was confusing. It jumped around a lot. Plus they didn’t address if she had a mental illness, nor was her childhood or family mentioned much. All in all it was a good read and I would recommend it. Q
July 18, 2022
Interesting but dry read- the author tied in bits of coinciding history, keeping the reader focused on the time frame of this colossal con. The author did jump back and forth between years which was somewhat confusing. I didn’t realize Andrew Carnegie was without heirs.
You will probably want to pass, pal.
You will probably want to pass, pal.
February 10, 2023
Really enjoyed this book about a clever con lady and how she was able to do what she did.
February 28, 2023
Interesting premise spoiled by jumping from before to after trial times and the inclusion of too many exact financial interactions. I wanted more about how people felt about her and what else was going on in the gilded age.
February 1, 2024
Though the story is fascinating, it's told in a convoluted manner. Jumping back and forth in time, repeating key points with different information each time, and sprinkling in random facts about the era with little to no relevance to Cassie's con, made this short book a struggle.
November 4, 2022
It was a thought provoking book but had some noticeable flaws. An interesting overview of the guilded age. I'd suggest keeping a pen and notebook handy to keep track of people, events, etc. if you read it.
The book chronicles Elizabeth Bigley (aka Cassie Chadwick), a Canadian con artist that claimed to be the illigitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie, the steel tycoon, philanthropist and richest man in the world in the early 1900s. The author interestingly juxtaposes the impoverished rise of Carnegie through a mix of hard work, insider trading and worker brutality against Bigley. It traces hee development as a grifter and climb to the highest eschelons of Cleveland society. Both saw what they wanted and took it by any means necessary. It's an interesting idea. Considering the brutality and utter disregard for workers' rights by the robber barons of the time, both Bigley and Carnegie look like criminals.
The Good: There were many positive things about the book. The dual comparision mentioned in the previous paragraph was interesting. The author's description of the total lack of due diligence done by bankers when lending money to this woman was dumbfounding. If you dressed well, had a good backstory (ex. you're the illegitimate daughter of the wealthiest man in the world) and were good at forging documents, you could get what you wanted. The bankers did not check in with Carnegie to see if she was who she claimed to be and had a the funds to backup her claim. They saw someone they thought they could take advantage of by charging insane loan interest rates and get sizeable kickbacks in the process. They didn't suspect that they were being played instead.
The Bad: This book jumped all over place. It starts with her attempted escape from US authorities and jumps back and forth between the subsequent trial and her life leading up to being caught. There are different characters that are referred to and it was difficult at times to keep them straight. I got the general idea of the story but missed parts of it because it jumped around too much. If the story was told in a linear fashion, I would have gotten more out of it.
Bigley is played up too much of an anti-hero by the author. She could act defenseless when necessary (ex. loss of hearing during the trial, fainting, etc.) and could likewise be cold and callous. Yes, she was able to lead a lavish lifestyle through a sophisticated con, but she left a lot of wreckage in her wake. She married a successful doctor in Cleveland society based on lies (she claimed to be descended from royalty) and then drained his finances like a parasite. She spent and spent and spent all of his money. Creditors later took everything he had to cover her bills. He died a shattered man.
Likewise, another banker died as a result of stress induced from his banks failure. He had loaned the banks money and his personal fortune to her, which ruined his family. He tried multiple times to get a portion of the loans repaid without luck. In an act of desperation, he threatened to shoot himself in front of her at her home and she could have cared less. Thankfully, at least for the depositors of the bank, Carnegie generously reimbursed them for the banks recklessness.
There were no heroes in this story. Bigley, Carnegie and the bankers are all foolish for their actions. The guilded age was defined by the veneer of wealth that covered a rotten interior. Bigley's story is a great example of a affluent exterior covering a remorseless and diseased mind that sought what it wanted through any means necessary.
The book chronicles Elizabeth Bigley (aka Cassie Chadwick), a Canadian con artist that claimed to be the illigitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie, the steel tycoon, philanthropist and richest man in the world in the early 1900s. The author interestingly juxtaposes the impoverished rise of Carnegie through a mix of hard work, insider trading and worker brutality against Bigley. It traces hee development as a grifter and climb to the highest eschelons of Cleveland society. Both saw what they wanted and took it by any means necessary. It's an interesting idea. Considering the brutality and utter disregard for workers' rights by the robber barons of the time, both Bigley and Carnegie look like criminals.
The Good: There were many positive things about the book. The dual comparision mentioned in the previous paragraph was interesting. The author's description of the total lack of due diligence done by bankers when lending money to this woman was dumbfounding. If you dressed well, had a good backstory (ex. you're the illegitimate daughter of the wealthiest man in the world) and were good at forging documents, you could get what you wanted. The bankers did not check in with Carnegie to see if she was who she claimed to be and had a the funds to backup her claim. They saw someone they thought they could take advantage of by charging insane loan interest rates and get sizeable kickbacks in the process. They didn't suspect that they were being played instead.
The Bad: This book jumped all over place. It starts with her attempted escape from US authorities and jumps back and forth between the subsequent trial and her life leading up to being caught. There are different characters that are referred to and it was difficult at times to keep them straight. I got the general idea of the story but missed parts of it because it jumped around too much. If the story was told in a linear fashion, I would have gotten more out of it.
Bigley is played up too much of an anti-hero by the author. She could act defenseless when necessary (ex. loss of hearing during the trial, fainting, etc.) and could likewise be cold and callous. Yes, she was able to lead a lavish lifestyle through a sophisticated con, but she left a lot of wreckage in her wake. She married a successful doctor in Cleveland society based on lies (she claimed to be descended from royalty) and then drained his finances like a parasite. She spent and spent and spent all of his money. Creditors later took everything he had to cover her bills. He died a shattered man.
Likewise, another banker died as a result of stress induced from his banks failure. He had loaned the banks money and his personal fortune to her, which ruined his family. He tried multiple times to get a portion of the loans repaid without luck. In an act of desperation, he threatened to shoot himself in front of her at her home and she could have cared less. Thankfully, at least for the depositors of the bank, Carnegie generously reimbursed them for the banks recklessness.
There were no heroes in this story. Bigley, Carnegie and the bankers are all foolish for their actions. The guilded age was defined by the veneer of wealth that covered a rotten interior. Bigley's story is a great example of a affluent exterior covering a remorseless and diseased mind that sought what it wanted through any means necessary.
March 8, 2022
Very rarely do I use the word “perfect” to describe a book, but Greed in the Gilded Age by William Elliott Hazelgrove certainly comes close! A very special thank you to William for sending me a signed copy of this wonderful book! I can’t wait to read your next book!
Greed in the Gilded Age describes the story of Cassie Chadwick, aka Elizabeth Bigley, who pulled off multiple outrageous cons in the late 1800s and early 1900s, amounting in about $2 million of stolen money, which is equivalent to over $60 million today.
I absolutely loved everything about this book! First off, the story is extremely compelling on its own, but we all know that even nonfiction is not objective, and Hazelgrove tells Chadwick’s story in a captivating and enchanting way.
Perhaps the detail I appreciated most in the story is Hazelgrove’s depiction of Cassie. Yes, she is certainly a con artist and criminal, but in a time where there was a very narrow margin between legitimately wealthy people and criminals, the narrative truly makes readers question where Cassie actually falls on that continuum. Criminal? More than likely. But also clearly brilliant and innovative.
The way in which Hazelgrove tells the story leaves the reader wondering, “Was Cassie really wrong for trying to make something of her life?” We can obviously see that she crossed some lines, but when her actions are juxtaposed by those of Andrew Carnegie, we start to wonder what it is that morphs someone from legitimate to criminal. By the end of the novel, I felt as though Cassie partially got what she deserved, but I was also left with a somewhat mystical admiration of her too.
Additionally, Hazelgrove frequently referenced women’s positions in society at the time Cassie lived. This aspect is vital to the story, as many of us cannot comprehend some of the gender differences between then and now. I was also quite happy that Hazelgrove makes small suggestions that point towards sexism linked to Cassie’s case. For instance, the way in which many people assumed a man must have been helping Cassie, or the likelihood that many of the parties involved did not want to give an accurate depiction of what happened, purely out of embarrassment from being duped by a woman. These details were not only key to the overall narrative, they also gave women credit where credit was due, which is not the case with all nonfiction authors.
Finally, Hazelgrove frequently provided context to other events going on during Cassie’s life. Some nonfiction books treat their topics as though they exist in a vacuum, which is detrimental to conveying a complete understanding to the readers. However, Hazelgrove does the opposite, and provides relevant and interesting information about events that occurred during Chadwick’s life. From background information on Andrew Carnegie, to information about the Wright brothers, to details about Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Hazelgrove gave such a comprehensive narration of Cassie Chadwick’s life, and it would not have been so complete without the additional information he provided.
Overall, the story of Cassie Chadwick’s life is interesting on its own, but William Hazelgrove has given it new depth through his thoroughness and talent with situating a story in history. I am never hesitant to admit that I’m quite picky when it comes to reading nonfiction, simply because nonfiction can become boring in the wrong hands. History is an important treasure that we should all treat as valuable, and some nonfiction authors simply don’t seem to have the passion to convey that value to readers. On the opposite end of that spectrum we have authors like William Elliott Hazelgrove, who clearly make it a point to convey the value of history in any narrative they tell. I may be a picky reader, but Hazelgrove certainly has one lifelong reader in me!
Greed in the Gilded Age describes the story of Cassie Chadwick, aka Elizabeth Bigley, who pulled off multiple outrageous cons in the late 1800s and early 1900s, amounting in about $2 million of stolen money, which is equivalent to over $60 million today.
I absolutely loved everything about this book! First off, the story is extremely compelling on its own, but we all know that even nonfiction is not objective, and Hazelgrove tells Chadwick’s story in a captivating and enchanting way.
Perhaps the detail I appreciated most in the story is Hazelgrove’s depiction of Cassie. Yes, she is certainly a con artist and criminal, but in a time where there was a very narrow margin between legitimately wealthy people and criminals, the narrative truly makes readers question where Cassie actually falls on that continuum. Criminal? More than likely. But also clearly brilliant and innovative.
The way in which Hazelgrove tells the story leaves the reader wondering, “Was Cassie really wrong for trying to make something of her life?” We can obviously see that she crossed some lines, but when her actions are juxtaposed by those of Andrew Carnegie, we start to wonder what it is that morphs someone from legitimate to criminal. By the end of the novel, I felt as though Cassie partially got what she deserved, but I was also left with a somewhat mystical admiration of her too.
Additionally, Hazelgrove frequently referenced women’s positions in society at the time Cassie lived. This aspect is vital to the story, as many of us cannot comprehend some of the gender differences between then and now. I was also quite happy that Hazelgrove makes small suggestions that point towards sexism linked to Cassie’s case. For instance, the way in which many people assumed a man must have been helping Cassie, or the likelihood that many of the parties involved did not want to give an accurate depiction of what happened, purely out of embarrassment from being duped by a woman. These details were not only key to the overall narrative, they also gave women credit where credit was due, which is not the case with all nonfiction authors.
Finally, Hazelgrove frequently provided context to other events going on during Cassie’s life. Some nonfiction books treat their topics as though they exist in a vacuum, which is detrimental to conveying a complete understanding to the readers. However, Hazelgrove does the opposite, and provides relevant and interesting information about events that occurred during Chadwick’s life. From background information on Andrew Carnegie, to information about the Wright brothers, to details about Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Hazelgrove gave such a comprehensive narration of Cassie Chadwick’s life, and it would not have been so complete without the additional information he provided.
Overall, the story of Cassie Chadwick’s life is interesting on its own, but William Hazelgrove has given it new depth through his thoroughness and talent with situating a story in history. I am never hesitant to admit that I’m quite picky when it comes to reading nonfiction, simply because nonfiction can become boring in the wrong hands. History is an important treasure that we should all treat as valuable, and some nonfiction authors simply don’t seem to have the passion to convey that value to readers. On the opposite end of that spectrum we have authors like William Elliott Hazelgrove, who clearly make it a point to convey the value of history in any narrative they tell. I may be a picky reader, but Hazelgrove certainly has one lifelong reader in me!
June 1, 2025
I audiobook this and maybe I'll give it 1.5 stars. But this is yet another AI written nonfiction book the book was a magazine article extended into the long diatribe of haphazard chapters jumping back and forth in time frames repeating itself over and over again where I lost interest after the first 40 minutes but I still finished listening to it from 1 and 1/4 speed to double the speed just to get through it I wasn't even paying attention. There is a new trend today in nonfiction books probably because of audio books is creating this for these books are written by AI this is too many nonfiction books has happened to me and taking ideas from Wikipedia that are should stop it Wikipedia just an article or could have been a magazine article but then they decide oh wait I'm going to make it into a book so I can be called an author and maybe get paid to give some lectures or something. I would have remembered and learned more if this was just a magazine article it just keep going on and on again about a woman who was a con woman who grifted Banks that's great but it just was so repetitive so poorly written by the artificial intelligence like so many nonfiction books today I almost stopped listening so I can't even give this it was an okay I didn't like it if I'm being nice maybe 1.5 Stars it was just a waste of time you're better off going to Wikipedia and giving a quick read of this woman Chadwick
January 5, 2026
An interesting story, to be sure. As someone who has worked in finance, it boggles my mind how any of this graft was possible, at least on this scale. The author makes the case that misogyny and greed blinded the bankers, and the name Carnegie made them giddy. Cassie seems like a genuinely sociopathic person who pressed as hard as she was allowed (though as the book describes, quite a few banks told her to kick rocks).
The writing feels amatuerish, however. Repeating phrases inexplicably across chapters (did you know that flash photography back then produced smoke and a distinct smell?) At one point he used the word "literally" when he meant figuratively, which is a pet peeve of mine and something that you shouldn't see from a professional writer.
And telling the story out of chronological order just made things confusing; that can be an interesting device in fiction (e.g. Pulp Fiction), but what's the point when describing actual events?
I didn't mind the asides that added some historical color for the period, but clearly the publisher wanted him to get to a certain page count - which also likely explains the absurdly short chapters toward the end of the book so white space can juice the pages (James Patterson, anyone?).
Good story, probably could've been better served as a feature in the New Yorker or something.
The writing feels amatuerish, however. Repeating phrases inexplicably across chapters (did you know that flash photography back then produced smoke and a distinct smell?) At one point he used the word "literally" when he meant figuratively, which is a pet peeve of mine and something that you shouldn't see from a professional writer.
And telling the story out of chronological order just made things confusing; that can be an interesting device in fiction (e.g. Pulp Fiction), but what's the point when describing actual events?
I didn't mind the asides that added some historical color for the period, but clearly the publisher wanted him to get to a certain page count - which also likely explains the absurdly short chapters toward the end of the book so white space can juice the pages (James Patterson, anyone?).
Good story, probably could've been better served as a feature in the New Yorker or something.
July 27, 2025
The story of Cassie Chadwick is 5 stars. The way Mr Hazelgrove told it? 1 star. Between jumping back and forth in time, his incessant repetition (sometimes even in the same sentence!), and his unceasing obsession with early flash photography (among other things), reading this book was maddening at times. But Cassie's story is worth it. Can you imagine some nobody using Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos to shake down bankers for millions? That's what Cassie did using Andrew Carnegie's name. Cassie also used being a woman to her advantage too. She played the male bankers like a fiddle and duped them out of millions to the point that even after she was arrested, they still believed she was Carnegie's illegitimate daughter. They had to. To admit that a woman had taken each of them for hundreds of thousands of dollars was unthinkable. I'm glad Mr Hazelgrove brought Cassie out of the shadows, but I wish her story had been written better.
October 28, 2022
I did enjoy listening to Greed in the Gilded Age and yet, I can’t justify more than three stars. There is an incredible amount of repetition. If you only listen to audiobooks in short bursts of time, you may find that very helpful. It could serve as reminders of what has gone before. However, if like me, you read several chapters or more at a time, it will get very old hearing which street in Cleveland was “Millionaires’ Row”, etc. In addition, there is more than one crime committed by the same woman, but the account is told in a non sequential manner. I could follow it most of the time, but I was paying close attention. If I had been listening while driving or cooking I could have confused victims or the aliases the woman used.
December 15, 2022
It was a great book in that painting a picture of unruled and totally unrestricted banking in the late 19th century and early 1900s. It took this case to remind us of the possibilities of people overall to take advantage of trust and individual wants.
My main complaint about the book overall is that the timeline is far from linear, and very confusing. I understand that doing a straight line makes the whole story lose some of its punch and overall impact, but it also clears the whole thing up more and makes it less confusing.
In total, however, I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. I have been totally unaware of what was possible! And I learned something about Andrew Carnegie, as well (overall a jerk but reality minded)
My main complaint about the book overall is that the timeline is far from linear, and very confusing. I understand that doing a straight line makes the whole story lose some of its punch and overall impact, but it also clears the whole thing up more and makes it less confusing.
In total, however, I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. I have been totally unaware of what was possible! And I learned something about Andrew Carnegie, as well (overall a jerk but reality minded)
May 17, 2025
Fascinating nonfiction book about the Canadian Cassie Chadwick, who conned several American banks out of $2 million ($70 million today) during the Gilded Age by claiming to be an illegitimate daughter and heiress of Andrew Carnegie, who was at that time the richest man in the world.
What is amazing is that she did this at a time when women were thought to be significantly less than men and did what in some ways was a Ponzi scheme by appealing to the greed of bankers who were looking for kickbacks and a way to manage her inheritance.
What is amazing is that she did this at a time when women were thought to be significantly less than men and did what in some ways was a Ponzi scheme by appealing to the greed of bankers who were looking for kickbacks and a way to manage her inheritance.
December 22, 2023
Great history and oodles of good details, but you have to be patient. The author seems to have enough material for about 4-5 chapters, so he adds rich historical context when he can. I loved that part — especially when he parallels the lives of the con artist with Carnegie himself.
Unlike other readers, I didn’t mind the time shifts, but the repetition of caper details got really frustrating. I know readers need to be guided, but come on…
I listened to the audio book. The reader was terrific.
Unlike other readers, I didn’t mind the time shifts, but the repetition of caper details got really frustrating. I know readers need to be guided, but come on…
I listened to the audio book. The reader was terrific.
December 17, 2025
a well written work, detailing a fascinating con, by a clever woman.
i note each chapter has a time period to keep you from getting confused on the timeline. i believe the author dovetailed the narrative from early events and later events, to culminate with the trial and Cassie's sentencing. masterfully written, entertaining, yet a sad commentary of arrogant men with authority but limited business skills.
i note each chapter has a time period to keep you from getting confused on the timeline. i believe the author dovetailed the narrative from early events and later events, to culminate with the trial and Cassie's sentencing. masterfully written, entertaining, yet a sad commentary of arrogant men with authority but limited business skills.
March 14, 2022
The story at the center of this book is compelling and interesting. The author does a really good job of showing the fault lines in American banking that Chadwick exposed. Unfortunately, the author spends too much time trying to force a comparison between Chadwick and Carnegie and other framing devices.
March 4, 2024
The information in the book about the trial and events leading up to it was fascinating. However, the author writes very repetitive sentences, often writing the same sentence in each chapter. The editor should have caught the repetition or asked the author to summarize differently. It could have been a lot shorter.
April 10, 2022
It's a very interesting story more people should know about. I wish it would have been told chronologically. The story would still be plenty interesting and the book would have been a lot less confusing and repetitive.
January 6, 2023
I enjoyed this book, and learned quite a bit about an area of history which I wasn't so familiar with. I didn't find Cassie Chadwick to be a very sympathetic character, but then, I doubt that was the author's intention.
January 30, 2023
Interesting story bit needed a better timeline.
I followed the basic tenants and ideas of this book bit didn't like jumping back and forth. It was confusing. A chronological telling would have made it easier to follow the story.
I followed the basic tenants and ideas of this book bit didn't like jumping back and forth. It was confusing. A chronological telling would have made it easier to follow the story.
March 12, 2025
I'd never heard of Cassie Chadwick of the late 1800s. Wow, she fooled many men to borrow money saying she was the illegitimate child of Andrew Carnegie. She talked bankers out of about $60M in today's money!
December 30, 2025
Interesting topic, and the audiobook narrator was fantastic! I didn’t like how the author jumped back ans forth in the timeline since it made some details difficult to track and others repetitive. Overall, very interesting!
May 2, 2022
2.5 stars upgraded to 3.
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