Parliament paid £70,000 for the Isle of Man in 1765. The Duke’s annual revenue was around £7,500. The estimated annual revenue loss to Britain from smuggling was £200,000. The compensation dispute lasted sixty-three years.

Calculate what £70,000 was worth in 1765 — how many years of a labourer’s wages? How many houses? How many ships?

Calculate Parliament’s return on investment. Calculate the Duke’s total compensation over 63 years.

Then ask the question the Manx people asked: what did they get? The answer is in the book. It’s not a comfortable one.