'The funniest book of the year, and quite possibly of all time' Francis Wheen, Mail on Sunday Everyone loves a rogue. Take Louis de Rougemont, pearl diver, alligator hunter and King of the Cannibals, who was allegedly shipwrecked off the coast of New Guinea and survived by clinging to the tail of the ship's dog. Or Archbishop Lancelot Blackburne, who tired of waiting for heavenly rewards and became a swashbuckling pirate, rumoured to have employed Dick Turpin as his butler. From assassins and arsonists to hell-raisers and highwaymen, plus an array of poisoners, strumpets, quacks, and forgers, BREWER'S, ROGUES, VILLAINS and ECCENTRICS is a hugely entertaining miscellany of bizarre Britons through the ages. Including the famous, infamous and downright dangerous, you couldn't ask for a better gallery of Britain's most outrageous characters.
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'Reading this entrancing compendium on public transport would be misguided, as the regular yaps of laughter are liable to infuriate your fellow passengers.' THE GUARDIAN 'This is my first tip for stardom in the Christmas present league.' -- DAILY RECORD "What makes his crackpot scholarship so beguiling is the fine line between heedless heroism and shameless hedonism that wobbles through so many mini-biographies.' THE INDEPENDENT
About the Author
Willie Donaldson has led an extraordinary and colourful life - from his privileged public-school eduction to an untidy lifestyle in the company of pop stars, actors, models and others. He is the author of the various volumes in the 'Henry Root' series and of numerous other humorous titles.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two cross-dressing pirates a sittin' in the sand...,
By E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
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This review is from: Brewer's Rogues, Villains, and Eccentrics: An A-Z of Roguish Britons Through the Ages (Paperback)
The Roman author, Terence once said, " Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto" (I am human; I think nothing human foreign to me), but obviously he hadn't read "Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics."This book is "Burke's Peerage" as interpreted by Monty Python's Flying Circus, with a few lower-class gangsters, rogues, and levitating butlers thrown in to an already incredible mix of human misbehavior. What we have is not good old-fashioned American humor as typified by a Dave Barry booger joke. Rather the humor is meticuluously British, as typified by, "Lady Victoria has made her mark on the public imagination by appearing in nightclubs in her foundation garments." Speaking of Yanks versus Brits, the American version of Charles Bronson is a bit of a poof compared to his British counterpart. The British Charles Bronson was imprisoned for stealing 35 pounds from a Liverpudlian jeweler, whereupon he "assaulted more than twenty prison officers, [took] two governors and seven Iraqi terrorists hostage, lassoed a visiting teacher with a skipping rope and caused 500,000 pounds worth of damage to prison property." One of my favorite entries involves two female cross-dressing pirates. They were so well disguised, that one tried to seduce the other, thinking she was a man. Even after they sorted things out, Anne Bonny and Mary Read remained friends. (If this episode doesn't bring to mind the song, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..." then you are obviously not a Monty Python fan). Entries in this compendium are hilariously and sometimes mysteriously cross-referenced. For instance, these items pertaining to butlers: * "butlers, disgraced bishops masquerading as. See JOCELYN, THE REVERENT PERCY." * "butlers, indecently assaulted. See AUDLEY, MERVYN CASTLEFORD, 2ND BARON; JACKSON, THE REVEREND WILLIAM." * "butlers, levitating. See GREATRAKES, VALENTINE." There are also a few black-and-white photos illustrating various rogues, villains, and eccentrics. One of my favorites is captioned: "The Reverend Harold Davidson, whose mission as the rector of Stiffkey was the salvation of fallen women, seen here in compromising circumstances with a young 'model'. Brought before a consistory court, Davidson claimed that he had walked into a trap, but he was not believed. He was eaten later by a performing lion." I don't think another country in the world (not to mention planet in the universe) could have come up with such a maniacally funny gallery of rogues, villains, and eccentrics. Hail Brittania! Long may she waive the rules! (I sure got a lot of spit on my screen while writing this review.)
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential resource for insight into weird British, Scottish, Welsh, & Cornish eccentricts!!,
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This review is from: Brewer's Rogues, Villains, and Eccentrics: An A-Z of Roguish Britons Through the Ages (Paperback)
Everything you never knew that you wanted to know about the oddballs, rogues, cads, scoundrels, footpads, and other non-conformists who made the "Sceptered Isle" what it is (and was). I bought this book since I really enjoyed "The Henry Root Letters" and "Root Into Europe", and subsquently gave the hard cover edition Brewer's Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics to friends in London for Christmas, & they "adore" it. Our old friend the 5th Duke of Portland is well represented(see "Ballroom, construction of one underground"), as are swindlers, the Krays, women who served as men in the Army, train robbers, etc. The list truly does go on and on. If you are familiar with "Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels", Lenny "the Guvnor" McLean, The Guv'norwho played Barry The Baptist, and Vinnie Jones, who played Big Chris are both subjects of bios here, but although I mostly seem to be citing criminals in this review, there is far, far more to this book. I highly and unreservedly recommend this! This is a great one to keep close at hand, just when you want to read something "odd". When I heard "Willie" Donaldson had died, I read some obits of him in the UK press, & they were WONDERFUL. A womanizing, drunken druggie....no wonder his entries about Keith Moon and Brian Jones sound so accurate...and he dumped Carly Simon back in the '60's, & rumours say "You're So Vain" was about Willie. Whatta guy!!
0 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Used book,
This review is from: Brewer's Rogues, Villains, and Eccentrics: An A-Z of Roguish Britons Through the Ages (Paperback)
Couldn't tell that the book was ever used. It was in excellent condition
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