In the preface, Griffin explains the book’s purpose. Although many texts cover the same ground as Jekyll Island, most are too technical to be accessible. Therefore, Griffin aims to write a book that is compelling and accessible enough to capture popular attention. He acknowledges the story is hard to believe and many treat his accounts as crackpot theories. In the process of composing the book he settled on four different lines of discussion: how finance works; the role of central banking in war; the history of banking in the US; and the historical analysis of the Federal Reserve. He finishes his preface by listing seven reasons to abolish the Federal Reserve, to which he returns in subsequent chapters.

The Introduction is a reprint of a joke that explains how banks function and how their profit is generated. The joke is that the system seems implausible and confusing, but accurately explains how banks function.

Chapter 1 opens with a narrative description of a train station at 10 pm on a November night in 1910. The train is uncomfortable and unappealing, except for the luxurious car at the end of the train which bears the name Aldrich after its owner,

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