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An African Millionaire Paperback – December 1, 2004

by Grant Allen (Author), 1st World Library (Editor), 1stworld Library (Editor)

4.0 26 ratings

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Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - My name is Seymour Wilbraham Wentworth. I am brother-in-law and secretary to Sir Charles Vandrift, the South African millionaire and famous financier. Many years ago, when Charlie Vandrift was a small lawyer in Cape Town, I had the (qualified) good fortune to marry his sister. Much later, when the Vandrift estate and farm near Kimberley developed by degrees into the Cloetedorp Golcondas, Limited, my brother-in-law offered me the not unremunerative post of secretary; in which capacity I have ever since been his constant and attached companion. He is not a man whom any common sharper can take in, is Charles Vandrift. Middle height, square build, firm mouth, keen eyes - the very picture of a sharp and successful business genius. I have only known one rogue impose upon Sir Charles, and that one rogue, as the Commissary of Police at Nice remarked, would doubtless have imposed upon a syndicate of Vidocq, Robert Houdin, and Cagliostro.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ 1st World Library - Literary Society (December 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 260 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1595406344
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1595406347
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.59 x 8.5 inches

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4.0 26 ratings

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Kindle Customer

Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is a free novella e-book from Amazon by Grant Allen.

I listened 🎶 to these twelve short stories as part of The Victorian Rouge Megapack.

This novella e-book contains twelve short stories about a con artist Colonel Cozy and the number of times that he cons the Millionaire. Each story is different and stand alone with interesting well developed characters lots of action and misdirection leading to each conclusion.

I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers of British 🏰👑 Victorian era novels 👍🔰. 2023 😀👒☺😮👑🏰

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

I loved this series of short stories, everyone was amazing. The only thing I dislike about the book, is the ending. I know he was a thief and criminal,but I liked him better then the so called victim in the stories. Anyway I definitely recommend this book.

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Saul

Okay Adventure Stories

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

Pleasant way to pass the time, but nothing special.

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David R. Eastwood

DISGUISED AS A COLLECTION OF MYSTERIES, THIS IS A BOOK WITH A MESSAGE

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2010

In QUEEN'S QUORUM (1951), Ellery Queen mistakenly listed Grant Allen's AN AFRICAN MILLIONAIRE (1897) among the 106 most important books of crime short stories published since 1845, and many other critics have praised it as the first short story collection that focuses on the adventures of a rogue. In actuality, this book is a novel with 12 chapters that add up to an indictment of a group of men that the author, a progressive writer of the late 19th century, strongly disapproved of.

Although several of its chapters have been anthologized separately by modern editors as if they are short stories, many other chapters would be very unsatisfying if read as stand-alones--some because Colonel Clay (as the confidence man is usually called) plays little or no part in them; others because they have to do with the capture and trial of the confidence man. When read in their proper order, the 12 chapters form a connected whole and, especially towards the end, thrust upon the reader a "message" about the class of people that the African millionaire (the supposed victim) represents.

Like many novels written by Allen's contemporaries, who included Thomas Hardy, this book is "didactic" in the best sense. Specifically, it is an example of what Aristotle called "forensic rhetoric," detailing chapter by chapter the petty, sleazy, shady, and unscrupulous sides of a typical wealthy businessman of the late 19th century. Colonel Clay, the confidence man, is used by Allen as a minor rogue to show readers what the really big rogues are like. At the end, while the conman is being tried, convicted, and sentenced, the world-within-the-novel learns the full details of the totally "legal" crookedness of the millionaire, who ironically is free to continue plundering every which way he likes, fully protected by the law. Near the end the trial, the judge who summarizes the evidence says that in this case the law is set up to protect rogues from being preyed on by other rogues.

The story is narrated by the brother-in-law of the millionaire (a man of weak morals himself), and for the most part Allen's writing is quite witty and engaging. Although AN AFRICAN MILLIONAIRE was written more than a century ago, its message is a relevant one to anybody who has been following news these past few years.

One nice feature of the Dover reprint edition (which I own) is that it includes the original illustrations.

Very highly recommended!

7 people found this helpful

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Beaker

Good story

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2012

Verified Purchase

A very pleasant read with a nice moral. I was duped at the beginning and gradually swayed by the end as the author intended.

5 people found this helpful

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Karl Janssen

Scam after scam from an expert flimflam man

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2022

Grant Allen (1848-1899) was a prolific Canadian-born British writer of both science books and fiction. His book An African Millionaire: Episodes in the Life of the Illustrious Colonel Clay was published in 1897. The table of contents would lead one to believe this is a collection of short stories, since all the chapter titles begin with “The Episode of the . . .”, but really this is a novel. The chapters don’t really make much sense unless read together in sequence, and they all add up to one unified narrative. The story is narrated by Seymour Wilbraham Wentworth, who works as secretary to his wife’s brother Sir Charles Vandrift, the “African Millionaire,” an Englishman who has struck it rich in South African diamond mines. Vandrift has an estate in Scotland but spends most of his time in London. He and Wentworth’s adventures take place primarily in Europe, not in Africa, with a sojourn in America.

The first chapter gives the impression that the reader is in for yet another Sherlock Holmes pastiche, with Wentworth playing the part of Vandrift’s Dr. Watson. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the plot is not so much a mystery as it is a series of what might be called capers. The “illustrious” Colonel Clay is a con artist who sets his sights on Vandrift. In each chapter he comes up with a new ingenious scheme to bilk the millionaire out of thousands of pounds sterling. Colonel Clay (not his real name) is a master of disguise and various accents, as is his attractive female accomplice. The larcenous pair repeatedly fool Vandrift and Wentworth with their assumed personalities and ever-changing appearances. Thus, An African Millionaire does not emulate the Sherlock Holmes stories but rather presages the adventures of the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin created by French writer Maurice Leblanc in 1905.

The premise soon becomes formulaic, as the reader always recognizes that every new character the millionaire and his secretary encounter in each chapter will likely turn out to be Clay or his woman friend in disguise. This is very similar to the structure of another book by Allen, Miss Cayley’s Adventures, in which the heroine travels around Europe repeatedly encountering a rogue who serves as her nemesis. Vandrift and Wentworth get a little wiser in each chapter, employing various methods in an attempt to thwart the master con man, but Clay remains one step ahead of them. Allen’s clever and witty writing keeps all this from becoming monotonous, and the way he wraps things up in the final two chapters is delightfully smart.

Also adding to the fun is that the right-and-wrong, good-vs.-evil setup of the crime story plot becomes less cut-and-dried as the story moves along. Allen was a writer known for advocating radical ideas like evolution, socialism, atheism, and feminism. At first his leftist agenda is not readily apparent in An African Millionaire. The novel reads as if Allen aimed for an audience of the smart set, who would identify with Vandrift’s lavish lifestyle and expensive vacation destinations. After Clay’s first few scams, however, Allen starts working in digs at the British class system. The con man is fashioned into a quasi-socialist Robin Hood while Vandrift is painted as a greedy capitalist. Though Vandrift and Wentworth are supposedly the heroes of the book, Allen takes pleasure in satirizing the upper classes by frequently depicting the pair as buffoons.

An African Millionaire is a bit too familiar, predictable, and repetitive to get excited about, but it is a moderately entertaining read. I think I prefer Allen’s nonfiction writings, but his fiction is dependably good for those who appreciate Victorian pulp fiction along the lines of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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Top reviews from other countries

Mark Taylor

Wrongly Overlooked

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 24, 2016

Verified Purchase

Radio 4 did a series of readings by martin jarvis a few years ago which first drew my attention to colonel clay,
when I found this book I had to buy and renew my acquaintance with the entertaining fraudster.
Highly Recommended.

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