This is a novel of gold rush San Francisco, a place and time so far out of the ordinary that, even in its day, it could scarcely be believed by those who weren't there. Banker and future Union Army general William Tecumseh Sherman said he would sooner throw candy among school children and expect its return than he would lend money to San Franciscans. Supported by the city's lawyers and escaped Australian convicts, he would have directed cannon fire...