While Ludwig Nobel’s patience and determination did not abate in the face of the never-ending obstacles, physically he was worn out. In 1888 at the age of fifty-seven, the Oil King of Baku died of a heart attack while vacationing on the French Riviera. Some of the European newspapers confused the Nobel brothers and instead reported the death of Alfred. Reading his own premature obituaries, Alfred was distressed to find himself condemned as a munitions maker, the “dynamite king,” a merchant of death who had made a huge fortune by finding new ways to maim and kill. He brooded over these
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