Villains, Scoundrels, and Rogues

Starred review from December 16, 2013
Former National Geographic editor Martin delivers the reverse of his Secret Heroes, highlighting Americans who have negatively impacted society in a variety of stomach-churning ways. He sets the tone with his profile of the rapacious Rhode Island slave trader James DeWolf, whose considerable wealth is something with which his heirs continue to struggle, and Samuel Mason, a vicious pirate captain who terrorized travelers along the Ohio River in the early 1800s. There’s also Belle Sorensen Gunness, the icy Norwegian immigrant who “is believed to have slain over 40 people, including her two husbands and all seven of her children”; Charles Davenport, who campaigned for racial purity and helped popularize eugenics; and the notorious Ed Gein, the reclusive Wisconsin serial killer who was the inspiration for several movie murderers. Martin’s rich and varied portraits display misbehavior, from simple idiocy and apathy to conniving con men, gold diggers, and gamblers. He also includes inveterate hucksters like Don Lapre, the late-night TV pitchman whose infomercials and Ponzi schemes yielded a tidy sum he eventually lost (along with his life; he committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial). They make a pretty reprehensible bunch, but Martin puts their crimes in context while keeping the book entertaining and informative.

June 1, 2014

A collection of 30 portraits of "bad guys" throughout American history, this book covers a range of badness from horrifically evil to momentary lapses into wrongdoing that had lasting negative impact. While a few characters are well known, such as Ed Gein, the role model for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, most are forgotten figures of the past. The cast includes slave traders, pirates, murderers, swindlers, lawmen gone vicious, crooked politicians, hucksters, prostitutes, gold diggers, and many more. This work is the inverse of Martin's (former editor, National Geographic; Secret Heroes) previous book which covered lesser-known "good guys" throughout American history and their positive impacts. Well-researched and engagingly told with rich detail, each portrait reads like fiction and includes a photograph or other image of the subject. The characters are colorful, brazen, and unforgettable; their stories disturbing, yet enthralling. Martin's goal is not to be a moralist, but rather to provide entertaining accounts about America's ne'er-do-wells. VERDICT This book proves the adage that it is often more fun to read about evil than good and is appropriate for history buffs, fans of American history, and anyone who likes engaging tales about mayhem and mischief.--Leslie Lewis, Duquesne Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
This collection of exceptionally well-crafted historical portraits deals, in descending order, with monsters, the merely evil, and the unscrupulous. The first include such people as the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and serial murderer Ed Gein. The second includes Old West adventuress Squirrel Tooth Annie, the journalist who puffed up Robert Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole, and a doctor who lent himself to the American eugenics movement. The last category includes a number of the merely fraudulent as well as a charming old gentleman who counterfeited one-dollar bills to keep himself in pocket change. Apart from his literate writing, Martin also has the knack for passing harsh judgments when they are deserved and also withholding them when they are not. A model of how to write short popular history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)