Bankrupting a Nation: How a Failed Colony Destroyed Scotland

In the late 17th century, the independent nation of Scotland gambled everything on a wildly ambitious dream. They aimed to establish a booming trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama, bridging the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to command global commerce. It was called the Darien Scheme. Instead of a paradise of wealth, the settlers found a green hell. Decimated by malaria, besieged by the Spanish,...