Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison: Fifteen Years in Solitude

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

24739

Title

Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison: Fifteen Years in Solitude

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A sensational autobiography detailing fifteen years of solitude after a life sentence for a massive forgery. Bidwell recounts thrilling escapes, international adventures, and moral lessons, claiming his story surpasses fiction.

Summary up to 500 words

In *Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison*, Austin Bidwell recounts his dramatic descent from a successful Wall Street broker to a life sentence at London's Old Bailey. Charged with a massive £1,000,000 forgery against the Bank of England, Bidwell details the financial schemes, police chases, and psychological tolls that defined his career in crime. The narrative emphasizes the central thesis that success in crime is ultimately failure, offering moral lessons to young men and employees in positions of trust. Bidwell describes his harrowing escape attempts, including a perilous journey through Cuba and Spain. He survived twenty years as the sole survivor of over seventy life prisoners, witnessing the deaths of his comrades due to sickness, insanity, or despair. His escape involved crossing the Caribbean, evading Pinkerton agents, and navigating the dangers of slavery in Cuba and the Carlist wars in Spain. The text highlights his endurance, describing a night swim across an inlet in Cuba while armed with a revolver, and his eventual capture and imprisonment in Chatham Prison. The book includes testimonials from notable figures such as Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Rev. Dr. Edward Beecher, and Ira D. Sankey, who praise the work's dramatic interest and moral value. One reviewer compares the extraordinary character of its adventures to Dumas' *The Count of Monte Cristo*. Bidwell argues that crime springs from a lack of intelligence and imagination, asserting that the practice of vice is not the road to joy. After years of lobbying by his family and friends, including representations from the U.S. President and Secretary of State, Bidwell was finally granted release in 1893. The narrative concludes with his emotional liberation, stepping out of the prison cell to behold the Milky Way, realizing he was free to begin the battle of life again. The story serves as a burning record of truth, illustrating that in the world of wrongdoing, success is failure, and redemption is possible through endurance and moral reflection.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24739.epub.noimages

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Categories

• Biography
• Travel
• Crime