In the age of Verdi and Puccini, Wagner and Richard Strauss, opera in Britain and the USA was almost exclusively the preserve of individual private businessmen - the impresarios - who made (and lost) fortunes by personally employing the great stars of the day. Concentrating on the period 1860-1939, this book looks at the successes and disasters of such impresarios as "Colonel" James Mapleson, grandest and then most unlucky of showmen; and John Christie, whose love for his wife led to his building the largest private opera house since Bayreuth. Patti and Melba, Caruso and Tetrazzini - the legendary super-egos with jewels, parrots, castles and private investment accounts at Rothschilds - were the raw material these enterprising men tried to turn to gold.