Scales of Gold

by Dorothy Dunnett Book 4 in the House of Niccolo series.

First published 1991

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4.5(490)

In 1464, an attack on the House of Niccolo’s finances drives Nicholas to pursue a West African trading expedition in search of gold. The voyage follows Atlantic and river routes where Portuguese ambitions, local rulers, established Islamic commerce and European rivalry complicate every bargain. Nicholas’s determination to reach Timbuktu forces him to confront the human cost of treating exploration as a commercial contest.

The expedition exposes Nicholas to trading systems that existed long before European merchants arrived. Gold, salt, river transport and political permission determine what can be bought and where travellers may go, while slavery sits uncomfortably beside the commercial opportunities he seeks. The novel uses the journey to challenge Nicholas’s confidence that every problem can be solved through calculation and profit.