'You can be young without money but you can't be old without it.'

The Rich, Author: John Kampfner
Publisher: Little Brown,Pages: 454

WHAT Tennessee Williams said will hold significance as long as the world lives! The interesting thing is that most people usually discover the true meaning of wealth or money after they have crossed their best years.

By that time, it's of course too late to strike gold. However, what most do is curb their maverick ways and settle down with financial security taking top priority in life.

But there are those who understand from an early age the power of wealth and the force of more wealth.

The Rich is a book about people who, over the course of human history, have startled millions with their rise in social status by the sheer power of wealth. Some have made it themselves through hard-work, shrewd steps and some skullduggery, whereas others have inherited it.

The book is a fascinating read not only because it gives a detailed glimpse into the lives of the wealthy but also for its inherent ability that helps us shed any feeling of guilt that moral brigades have linked to the pursuit of richness and ostentation.

Take Louis XIV for instance. The Sun King of France was the master in spending money like water. He became king at a time when France was a supreme European power with arts, culture and debauchery flourishing at the same robust pace.

He built palaces that still give dizzying headaches with their blinding extravagance, patronized the arts, loved women, launched wars at whims and made France into a spectacle.

Louis regarded himself as a God and people surrounding him made him feel like one. His everyday actions, even the waking up (lever) and going to sleep (coucher) were ritualised.

Trust me, people of noble birth considered themselves fortunate if they could sit before the king defecating in a gold and gem encrusted commode.  Talk about glamourising 'royal relieving'.

But for most South Asians, the most intriguing section of the book is the part which talks of an obscure British East India Company official called Robert Clive who, with the help of an astute brain and plenty of shenanigans, became Clive of India.

In between he brushed aside a superior military force of an incompetent Nawab Siraj ud Dowla, made a Faustian agreement with the Nawab's main military chief Mir Zafar and took control over most of Bengal. We know the results very well: Bengal, Bihar Orissa came under the British, establishing the first concrete foothold for an imperial power, enriched the company plus the shareholders in England and, in the process, made Clive a wealthy man.

The moral here is sometimes shrewd tactics, not necessarily honest, can be adopted for a greater cause. Obviously, we would not regard it as a noble deed since our independence was lost and under the company stranglehold Bengal faced successive famines due to excess taxes.

But that is another aspect of wealth for you – affluence attained through the optimum usage of imperial policies.

How about those who live right now and flaunt their millions? Say hello to the oligarchs and the Sheikhs. The former struck rich after the hammer and sickle fell in the Soviet Union. While general people stood on line for the piece of bread, others manipulated the post Communist anarchy to either control the resources or the industries to quickly become billionaires in no time.

As for the Arab Sheikhs, tales of their lifestyle are essential ingredients for modern day urban myth. Rolls Royce, blowing up millions at the gambling table on one night, wanting to buy everything that takes their fancy – one can go on and on with stories of fabulous decadence.

But wait a second: many Arabs are intelligent business people too! After all, oil is not here forever! So, let's not define all Sheikhs and oligarchs in one simple definition of debauchery.

Look at it this way, he has millions so throwing a party with champagne flown from France, olives from Spain, women from the best escort agencies around the world are not abnormal. He has to spend it right and spend it so new boundaries for comfort are created. I know all this sounds a little vulgar.

But how many of us will be different if we have so much?  

A compelling read without doubt!