Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780452008250 A master of literary naturalism, Dreiser is known for his great intensity and keen journalistic eye as he examines real-life subjects. This powerful novel explores the dynamics of the financial world during the Civil War and after the stock-market panic caused by the Great Chicago Fire. The first in a ''trilogy of desire,'' The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of financier C. T. Yerkes, Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the corrupt magnate Cowperwood illustrates the idea that wealth is often obtained by less than reputable means.

The Titan is a novel by Theodore Dreiser and the sequel to The Financier. Frank Cowperwood has moved to Chicago with new wife Aileen. His plan is to take over the street-railway system in the process bankrupting opponents with political allies. The Titan follows Cowperwood through the trials of realizing his dream, marital upheavals and social banishment. Theodore Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist who the naturalist school and is known for portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency.

Frank Cowperwood, a ruthless American businessman, moves to London where he hopes to build and control the city's new subway