An African Millionaire

Tantalizing tales of a diamond smuggler.

Wealthy, confident and handsome, Charles Van Drift is not Drift is not accustomed to being swindled, so his brush with Colonel Clay both rattles and infuriates him. As his South African diamond fortune takes hit after hit, Van Drift grows increasingly suspicious of everyone around him. The millionaire lashes out with misguided accusations that shake his confidence to the core. Colonel Clay, the notorious con artist and thief, has triumphed. But who is this master of disguise, really?

First serialized in The Strand in 1896, the adventures that comprise An African Millionaire are widely regarded as the first to feature a criminal protagonist, literature's first gentleman rogue.

Introduction by Gary Hoppenstand