The illicit adventures of an American on foreign soil. Henry Meiggs, the hero in this novel is one of a type that has become familiar in American history: the man who wanted power and millions and was not much concerned about his means of getting them. But his story has freshness because little attention has been paid him and because of the Latin-American scene of his activities. While many Americans have gone abroad and played roles of significance in the life of other nations, few perhaps equaled Meiggs in the scope of his ideas or in the daring with which he strove to make them actualities. His place in the history of both Chile and Peru is one of considerable importance. The economic and political developments in those countries in the period 1855-1880, during most of which Meiggs was quite prominent in one or both, were of the first importance in their later history. The fact that the War of the Pacific, of greatest significance to both countries, was begun shortly after Meigg's death, cannot fail to suggest that his activities are worthy of some study.