A 19th-century conman invented a fake country
The story of Gregor MacGregor, the Scottish soldier who invented the fictional nation of Poyais, selling land and bonds to hundreds of settlers who sailed to their deaths in a non-existent paradise.
Listen in the Fylom app.
Detailed account of the Poyais scheme (1821-1837).
Biography of Gregor MacGregor, from the British Army to Venezuelan General.
Analysis of the 1820s Latin American bond bubble.
The tragic fate of the settlers on the Mosquito Coast.
MacGregor's later years and military funeral in Caracas.
- 01Intro1 min
- 02The Man Who Would Be Prince2 min
- 03The Birth of Poyais2 min
- 04The Financial Architecture of a Ghost State2 min
- 05The Voyage to Nowhere2 min
- 06The Unbelievable Aftermath1 min
- 07Outro1 min
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