The pillars of power

The Pillars of Power ( A Dangerous Fortune , 1994) is a historical novel by Ken Follett and is about the rise and fall of the fictional London private banking house Pilaster in the second half of the 19th century. This is led by the senior partner Seth Pilaster. His nephew Joseph is married to the attractive but scheming Augusta. They both have a son, Edward. The brother of Joseph, Tobias, called Toby, has made the mistake of a familiar sight to pull their capital out of the family bank in order to open their own business, the company Tobias Pilaster & Co . Since then he has been considered the black sheep of the Pilaster family. Tobias has a son, Hugh.

prehistory

The action begins in May 1866. The main character, 13-year-old Hugh Pilaster, is still a student at Windfield School at this point. Hugh and his friends of the same age Antonio "Tonio" Silva and Peter Middleton bathe in the pond of an abandoned quarry despite the ban. Doom takes its course when the two 16-year-old boarding school classmates Miguel "Micky" Miranda and Hugh's cousin Edward Pilaster also appear at it. There is a quarrel between the two parties and physical disputes. For reasons still unclear, Peter Middleton drowns in the swimming lake.

Despite Hugh's unspoken suspicion that his cousin Edward drowned the younger Peter, the investigating commission finally found only an accident, not least because Micky said that his friend Edward had even tried to save Peter. Micky, whose father is a brutal landowner in Cordoba, receives the hoped-for favor from Edward's attractive mother Augusta through this statement. He managed to become a friend of the Pilaster clan. Although Tonio apparently knows more about the boy's death, he withholds what he has seen out of fear for his family, who also live in Cordoba.

On the same day, Hugh learns another bad news: his father has committed suicide as a result of his bankruptcy . The reason was an economic crisis in which a brokerage company went bankrupt and took many banks and companies with it, including Toby Pilaster's company.

In parallel, the history of Yiddish girl Maisie Robinson (Miriam Rabinowicz) describes his father by the bankruptcy of the company Tobias Pilaster & Co . becomes unemployed and no longer knows how to support his family. As a result, Maisie's older brother Danny disappears to America and she herself to Newcastle .

part One

Seven years later, in June 1873: Micky Miranda, still best friend of Edward and his family, receives a visit from his father, Senor Carlos Xavier Raul Miranda. He wants to buy two thousand rifles in London in order to attack his competitor Delabarca and take over his saltpeter mines . His son Micky, who continues to be tolerated by his friend Edward, is said to let his relationship with the Pilaster bank play out and the arms business to be financially approved. The senior partner Seth Pilaster, who, like the entire family, is a Methodist, will not finance an arms trade for moral reasons. Augusta has also long been a thorn in the side of her father-in-law, as she would like to have the top post of the bank for her husband Joseph. Hugh, who lives with his aunt and uncle, now works as a small clerk in the big bank, but is seen as a nuisance just like his late father, while Edward and Micky live big and mostly hang out in pubs and brothels. Mickey is under a lot of pressure from his father for funding. In order not to have to return to Cordoba, he murders the senior boss Seth Pilaster. Augusta, who is now able to secure the post of senior partner for her husband Joseph through further intrigues (including against Joseph's homosexual brother Samuel), covers Micky. Both therefore make Seth's death look like a natural death.

In the meantime, Hugh and Maisie meet. Although she initially has prejudices against the son of the man who also drove her father into poverty, feelings for one another develop over time. When Edward catches Hugh and Maisie intimate, Hugh goes after Edward and beats him up. Since his aunt Augusta has only been waiting for such a mistake, she can persuade her husband to send Hugh to America. At the same time, she manages to convince Maisie to stay away from Hugh in order not to harm his career. After a while, Maisie notices that Hugh made her pregnant. First she wants to let him know, but breaks off her efforts after she learns that Hugh is now in America.

Part II

Six years later, in January 1879, Hugh returned to London as a successful banker for the Boston branch . He hasn't seen Maisie since. Due to his North American connections, he proposes a merger on the American market with the New York bank Madler & Bell (Sidney Madler is the protégé of Hugh). Through this deal, Hugh hopes to finally get a share in the Pilaster bank. At a dinner with his former classmate Solomon "Solly" Greenbourne, who is also the son of the much wealthier Jewish banker Ben Greenbourne, he meets Maisie again. To his horror, she is now married to Solly and has a son, Bertie. However, Hugh still doesn't know that Bertie is actually his birth son.

Micky has meanwhile succeeded in cheating against his predecessor (and former classmate) Tonio to become his country's envoy in London. Senor Miranda, his then plan came up against his rival, turns again Micky to get a new loan in the amount of 500,000 pounds to enforce the construction of a railway line. Officially, in order to be able to deliver the saltpeter deposits to the capital Palma more quickly. The real reason, however, is to prepare a storm for the government and take power in Cordoba. Since Micky needs Edward's influence over the bank for this risky financing, he persuades Edward to finally marry in order to give him the partnership. Hugh, who is still in love with Maisie, meets Nora Dempster, whom he marries at short notice. Augusta takes advantage of Nora's simplicity and lets her embarrass her at a ball. As a result, Hugh is now denied partnership. Hugh then asks Greenbourne for a new job. Tonio returns from Cordoba. He wants to report in the Times about the inhumane conditions in Micky's father's saltpeter mines. Hugh, who still works for the Pilaster bank, sees his duty in informing the shareholders about the proposed article and the likely deterrent effect on investors in the railway finance. Micky has Tonio ambushed, seriously injured and steals the testimony to give his father the names. The article no longer appears, the witnesses are murdered.

Nora is re-established in society with Maisie's help. In order not to lose all of North American relations with Hugh's departure to the Greenbournes, Joseph Pilaster finally offers Hugh the partnership.

Meanwhile, Augusta wants to achieve a title of nobility for her husband. But when Ben Greenbourne is under discussion as a candidate, she instigates an anti-Jewish campaign against him. Thereupon Joseph Pilaster is raised to the nobility and receives the title " Lord Whiteheaven". When Ben's son, Solly Greenbourne, learns the background, he threatens to abandon the collaboration between the Greenbourne and Pilaster banks on railway financing. In order not to endanger the financing of the railway line, Micky Solly comes across a carriage that fatally injures him. Maisie becomes a widow, but receives no support from Ben Greenbourne. He tells Hugh that Bertie is not his grandson. Hugh now realizes that he must be Bertie's father. Because of this, his bad marriage and his ongoing love for Maisie, Hugh decides to divorce Nora and marry Maisie. But before he can tell his wife about this decision, she tells him that she is pregnant. Hugh therefore distances himself from his plan and remains at Nora's side.

Part III

Joseph Pilaster dies in September 1890. Hugh would like to become a senior partner with the bank. Augusta obtained this position for her son Edward under threat of pulling the family capital out of the bank. Outraged by the bank's future financial plans in Cordoba, Hugh (along with Samuel) resigns from all functions at the end of the year. Edward can now secure further funding of £ 2,000,000 for Mickey and his father's overturning plans. Externally, the money is used to build a port. Edward, who was informed of Mickey's character and his suspected crimes by Hugh, withdraws from Mickey. In order to secure the financing of the revolution, Mickey enters into a homosexual relationship with Edward. Hugh tries to prevent major damage to the financing by ensuring that the bonds are offered for sale without guarantee. Mickey can persuade Edward to draw up a guarantee contract behind the backs of the partners: the ensuing loss for the bank is 1,400,000 pounds. The partners remove Edward and Hugh becomes the new senior partner. After the Mirandas revolution began in Cordoba and the value of the bonds fell to zero, all that remains for Hugh to save is what can be saved. The members of the Pilaster clan have to sell their property, and a bank consortium is formed with the support of Ben Greenbourne . In Cordoba, the civil war is unexpected for the Mirandas. Tonio's family, the Silvas, have sided with President Garcia, and a military stalemate arises. Tonio Silva returns to London and becomes the official ambassador. The now deposed Micky shoots Tonio and escapes Hugh. Since Micky is not ready to take Edward, who is dependent on him (and who has since suffered from syphilis ), with him on his escape to Cordoba, he tells the police about Micky's further murders of Peter Middleton, Seth Pilaster and Solly Greenbourne. Micky therefore uses Augusta's help by proposing to her. After she smuggled him onto a ship in a suitcase, Micky reveals to her that he doesn't love her and only proposed that Augusta smuggle him out of the country. When he climbs back into his suitcase hiding place, she sinks it into the sea with Micky. Maisie and Hugh, who has been abandoned by his wife Nora, get back together. Augusta moves to the south of France with her son Edward, where he dies in May 1892. Ben Greenbourne finally approaches Maisie and his stepchild Bertie, and the Pilaster bank has been saved. The coup attempt in Cordoba was thwarted, and bonds are rising again.

Historical reference

The people, the Pilaster and Greenbourne banks, and many other things were made up by the author. However, the incidents in the world economy mentioned in the book really happened that way. The collapse of the banking house Overend, Gurney and Company (referred to in the book as Overend & Gurney ), which is responsible for the bankruptcy and death of Tobias Pilaster, meant the end of more than 200 companies and banks in Great Britain. The founder crash or the Great Depression , which were triggered by the bankruptcy of Jay Cooke & Company, are true historical events. Other banking houses mentioned in the book such as JP Morgan and the Rothschild banking family really existed.

filming

ZDF-Enterprises , together with Constantin Television, made a film adaptation of the book as an international TV production. The two-part series (which differs considerably from the original book) was first broadcast on January 25 and 27, 2016, but was available online in the media library two days in advance . Christian Schwochow directed the film .

literature

The pillars of power . Bastei Lübbe, ISBN 3-404-12501-0 (the paperback was illustrated by the artist Achim Kiel ).

Audio book

The pillars of power . Lübbe Audio, 6 CDs, approx. 386 minutes, read by Frank Glaubrecht .

swell

1. ↑ Online first! Both parts are fully available in the media library 48 hours before they are broadcast. (No longer available online.) In: ZDF website for broadcast. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016 ; Retrieved January 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.