jjares reviewed on 9/25/2021 + 3293 more book reviews

This is a fairly light-hearted look at a variety of rascals in history. Having already read Bragg's HOW THEY CROAKED and HOW THEY CHOKED, I knew this would be a fun, but informative read.

I think kids aged 10 to 14 will enjoy it just as much as I did. Here is the list of the 14 Rogues Gallery highlighted in this book:
Joan of Arc,
Sir Walter Raleigh,
Caravaggio (a murderer-artist),
Blackbeard,
John Wilkes Booth,
Jesse James,
Billy the Kid,
Mata Hari,
Typhoid Mary,
Rasputin,
Vincenzo Peruggia (Mona Lisa thief),
Bernard Kuehn (Pearl Harbor spy),
Anna Anderson (Anastasia impersonator), and
Al Capone.

This is a fun way to learn history. Most of these miscreants died young (Billy the Kid at 21; Joan of Arc at 19). Mata Hari and Anastasia were my favorites. Mata Hari did nothing wrong, but was a victim of the "Red Scare." I remember seeing Anna and Jack Manahan interviewed (actually Jack talked, Anna ignored) on television. They were an odd couple that seemed perfectly content to carry the ruse forever -- and they did.

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