In 1876 a man named Henry Wickham smuggled seventy thousand rubber tree seeds out of the rain forests of Brazil & delivered them to Victorian Englands most prestigious scientists at Kew Gardens. Those seeds planted around the world in Englands colonial outposts gave rise to the great rubber boom of the early twentieth century
- an explosion of entrepreneurial & scientific industry that would change the world. The story of how Wickham got his hands on those seeds
- a sought-after prize for many suffered & died
- is the stuff of legend. In this lively account of obsession greed bravery & betrayal author & journalist Joe Jackson brings to life a classic Victorian fortune-hunter & the empire that fueled then abandoned him. The Thief at the End of the World" is a thrilling true story of reckless courage & ambition."