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Terrible People from History
Augustus Hervey, the English Casanova
The English have a somewhat undeserved reputation for being "cold fish" romantically. Their general stereotype is of reserve and aloofness, with none of the fire and passion that their Continental cousins like to display. But one man gave…
Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen of Bohemia
The murky world of international diplomacy is often overlooked by historians, not least because of the lack of definitive information. It’s much easier to see what a country or person actually did, rather than to speculate on why they did…
Catiline, Roman Conspirator
The further we go back into history, the thinner our window into the past becomes. Our sources dwindle, our material diminishes, and we’re forced to rely on less and less viewpoints to tell us how things actually happened. As a result, it’s…
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Portrait Painter Extraordinaire
Art knows no boundaries, it is said. But before the mass media that arrived in the late 19th century, art in the main was a very upper class affair. And art itself became highly formalised in turn. The strictures that the early surrealists…
Anjette Lyles, Restaurateur of Death
One of the most popular lunch spots in 1950s Macon was Anjette’s on Mulberry Street. With a handy location for a lot of local offices, most weekdays it was packed with white collar workers. Businessmen and lawyers, taking a break for some…
Ethel “Etta” Place, Western Woman of Mystery
In some respects, stories of America’s Wild West feel like a young country trying to build itself a mythology from scratch. Legendary figures like Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Belle Starr and the Apache Kid had their exploits built up far out…
John Bodkin Adams, A Curious And Dubious Doctor
For the profession of doctor to work in society, people need to trust them. Most honour that trust but a few abuse it, some in horrific ways. One such scoundrel was John Bodkin Adams. Quite how deep his violation of that trust went is…
Nell Gwyn, the People’s Harlot
When Charles II was restored to the throne of England in 1660, it was clear that things were not going to be the same as they had been before the revolution that had toppled his father from the throne and executed him. Fortunately for “the…
Mary Ellen Pleasant, Businesswoman and Civil Rights Activist
If you’ve heard of Mary Ellen Pleasant before, then chances are that what you’ve heard wasn’t good. “Mammy Pleasant” has often been a favourite of sensational accounts, the “evil Voodoo Queen of San Francisco” who made a good villain to…
Fred Korematsu, Unjustly Imprisoned American
Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland, California in 1919. His parents Kotsui and Kakusaburo had emigrated from Japan fourteen years ago to start a new life for themselves in America, setting up a plant nursery in Oakland and having four sons.…