Book Thirty-Two: A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans

This is a treasury of stories about pirates, skinflints, patriots and other *ahem* colorful characters that make American history much more fun.  Too bad these characters are mere footnotes.

Anne Bonny was more man than any pirate could hope to be.  The privileged daughter of a plantation owner, she elopes.  Then meets Caribbean pirate 'Calico Jack' Rackham.  The adulterous couple became one of the fiercest to sail the seas.

Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte.  She married the other Bonaparte brother with questionable results.

Hetty Green, affectionately known as 'the witch of Wall Street', was the richest woman in the world with a real estate and railroad empire to match that of Carnegie, Rockefeller, Astor, and Vanderbilt.  Still she chose to use newspapers for legwarmers.  Taught not to owe anyone anything--not even a kindness, history doesn't look upon her fondly.

Though I've chosen to profile three women--my favorite of the thirty stories here--there's not an uninteresting story in the bunch.  However, allow me to say that this book should have been more fun to read.  For the life of me, though, I cannot put my finger on why the book is not.  Bank robberies, muck-rakes, evangelists, spies, murderers.  They are all here.

As I see it, these are the stories that would enhance the tales of George Washington or Thomas Edison.  Or Blackbeard.  Maybe we wouldn't need Drunk History if stories like these were more readily available.