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Yamashita was just one portion of a colossal haul, much of which – as with ill-gotten Nazi gains – was never traced or recovered. But the possibility of finding Yamashita’s gold has hypnotised all sorts of gullible folks ever since, including, bizarrely, a dentist from Northern called Colin Howell, who in 1991 murdered his wife and won a £400,000 insurance payout by framing her death as suicide. He went on to lose the lot on a Yamashita scam (a tale well told in the 2016 TV drama The Secret). So far we’ve learned that gold can
provide useful discipline for national treasuries, but that it can also lead the wicked and the weak into atrocious and delusional acts. It has also provoked some terrible decisions. In 1886 a man called George Harrison (not that one, a prospector in South Africa) made the main discovery of the Witwatersrand field that went on to produce perhaps 30 per cent of all the gold ever mined – but he sold his claim for £10 and disappeared. Still, at least he did no harm. The UK media has been a lot less forgiving of Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1999 ordered the sale of 415 of the UK’s 715 tonnes of reserve gold at what turned out to be the lowest price point of the era – around £150 per ounce, compared with £2,200 by the time Frisby is writing, and more than £2,400 at the time that this edition of Spear’s went to press. How many hospitals would that notional loss have paid for? Frisby, who is also a comedian, writes with a light touch. But this is not a trivial book: on the contrary, it is deeply thought provoking, particularly as to what makes for good national governance. And having thought about that issue, some might conclude, in the manner of the Rev JC Flannel in Private Eye of long ago, that gold has brought both good and evil to civilisation. But Frisby is more positive: ‘Gold is
inherently honest. It brings a natural order to things… Its value cannot be distorted by the whims of politicians or bankers. The world would be a better place with a monetary system underpinned by gold.’ That’s a minority view these days, but he argues it with clarity and passion. Martin Vander Weyer is business editor of The Spectator
Nota bene
Empire of the Elite By Michael M Grynbaum (Hodder & Stoughton, £22, from 15 July)
In his new book, Michael M Grynbaum, a media correspondent for the New York Times, takes a deep dive into the ‘dishy’ history of the magazine magnate company Condé Nast – the giant behind such titles as the New Yorker, Vogue and Vanity Fair. From the golden era of glamorous parties and glossy magazines to the creation of a caste of powerful editors and the inevitable reckoning of the digital revolution, Grynbaum recounts the story of the ascent, decadence and
Positive Tipping Points By Tim Lenton (Oxford University Press, £20, from 4 Sept)
How do we get out of a climate crisis of our own making? That is the central question in Professor Tim Lenton’s new book, a description of ‘tipping points’, those pivotal events that can irreversibly accelerate climate change. But Lenton, chair in climate change and earth system science at the University of Exeter, doesn’t dwell solely on the threat. Instead, he points to emerging signs of hope and positive shifts that could be steering us towards a better future. The result is both optimistic and encouraging.
The Genius Myth By Helen Lewis (Vintage Publishing, £22)
The Beatles, Jane Austen, Stephen Hawking; if there is one thing they had in common, it is the genius status unanimously credited to them by society for decades – centuries, even. In The Genius Myth, staff writer for the Atlantic Helen Lewis unpacks the ideas behind the word genius. What does it mean to be one? How does this status distort our view of the world? Does Elon Musk qualify? By uncovering the undercurrents that run beneath their success, Lewis gives a warm account of those praised for their brilliance.
What We Can Know By Ian McEwan (Vintage Publishing, £22, from 18 September)
without the science’. The much-anticipated book is set in a future in which the UK’s lowlands have been submerged by rising seas. Searching through what is left of past human lives – our present – academic Tom Metcalfe comes across a clue that could lead to a poem read aloud once in 2014, then never again. Letting the past, present and future ‘address each other across the barriers of time’, McEwan offers the promise of an epic and hopeful voyage through time, meaning – and people.
Book previews by Livia Giannotti
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