The Assumption of the Rogues and Rascals

The Assumption of the Rogues and Rascals
Author: Elizabeth Smart
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-08-13
Genre: English fiction
ISBN: 9780008155742

First published in 1978, and widely considered to be the sequel to her masterpiece 'By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept', this remarkable book further established Smart's reputation as a brave and inspirational writer. A still beautiful woman, 31 years old with four children by a faithless lover, cannot break the habit of expectation. She must learn to submit to the cold, bare, unglamorous tenets of reality - the untenable position of love. She must learn to deflect Grand Passion into an acceptance of the rogues and rascals with their radiant faces, who buy her a bitter with borrowed cash. Out of a passionate youth, through pain and harsh revelation, she has attained a maturity - a certain knowledge that the cost of rapture is high and that there is no looking back. Hers is a voice that distils a woman's determination for survival - a voice that rises up from everyday life, from the bus queue, the Underground, the pub - and in Elizabeth Smart's hand is wrought into something magnificent.

Rascals in Paradise

Rascals in Paradise
Author: James A. Michener
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0804151512

In a thrilling collection of nonfiction adventure stories, James A. Michener returns to the most dazzling place on Earth: the islands that inspired Tales of the South Pacific. Co-written with A. Grove Day, Rascals in Paradise offers portraits of ten scandalous men and women, some infamous and some overlooked, including Sam Comstock, a mutinous sailor whose delusions of grandeur became a nightmare; Will Mariner, a golden-haired youth who used his charm to win over his captors; and William Bligh, the notorious HMS Bounty captain who may not have been the monster history remembers him as. From lifelong buccaneers to lapsed noblemen, in Michener and Day’s capable hands these rogues become the stuff of legend. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from James A. Michener's Hawaii. Praise for Rascals in Paradise “The best book about those far-scattered islands that has appeared in a long time . . . a portfolio of rare and ruthless personalities that is calculated to make the curliest hair stand straight on end.”—The New York Times “[Combines] research and scholarship (A. Grove Day was a professor at the University of Hawaii) with a gift for spinning a yarn and depicting character (Michener, journalist and novelist, needs no introduction).”—Kirkus Reviews

Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags

Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags
Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1761185586

An incredible collection of true crime characters from Australia's master storyteller. The bold, the bad, and the slightly mad... Criminality, some say, is part of Australia's national identity, and in Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags Jim Haynes profiles fifteen larger-than-life Aussie rogues - some of our greatest ne'er-do-wells from colonial times to the modern era. These stories uncover the truth and expose the myths about characters ranging from the most despicable examples of humanity, to those whose courage has to be admired and whose so-called 'crimes' were unjustly punished. This fascinating collection features felons who have sprung from Australia's underbelly since 1788, such as the infamous Kate Leigh of the razor gangs; the convict Mary Bryant, who in 1791 escaped from the Sydney penal settlement and somehow made it back to England; James Hardy Vaux, who was sent to Australia no less than three times; Henry James O'Farrell, the madman who attempted to murder Prince Alfred in Sydney in 1868; and John Leak, who was repeatedly charged with insolence, disobedience and being absent without leave in World War I - and awarded the Victoria Cross. Told with Jim's inimitable combination of history and humour, Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags is packed with murders, mystery and miscreants: true stories of true criminals from Australia's past. 'entertaining . . . highly readable . . . you will find some genuinely amazing new facts and insights.' ArtsHub

Civil War Rogues. Rascals, and Rapscallions

Civil War Rogues. Rascals, and Rapscallions
Author: Gene Schmiel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2020-07-23
Genre:
ISBN:

Jesse James, George Custer, Napoleon III, Ambrose Bierce, Phil Sheridan. These and 45 other "characters" were Rogues, Rascals, and/or Rapscallions -- and sometimes all three!! -- during the Civil War era who you will learn about in this book. Every war has strange bedfellows. It brings forth the best and the worst in a society, and it certainly accelerates the appearance and impact of Rogues, Rascals, and Rapscallions. The Civil War was no exception. These are the people who are memorable during a conflict, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad.In writing this book, I have used the following definitions: Rogue: one who acts outside normal parameters;.Rascal: mean, unprincipled, or dishonest person; Rapscallion: ne'er do-well, extreme rascal.But, and this is a critical point for the reader to understand, some of the people I categorize as "rogues" did have a positive impact, even though they were persons who, as the definition notes, acted "outside normal parameters." These are the "positive rogues." Custer, Sheridan, and several others fit in this category.At the same time, there are some other characters in this book who have no redeeming features. Jesse James, William Quantrill, and others fit into that group.Of course, these are the author's judgments about these people. Further, there are certainly more than 50 who might be written about. All the other characters I write about fit in between, like most human beings a combination of the good and the bad. I have presented each character via a short 2-3 page essay, their picture from the era, contemporary images, including political cartoons, modern maps, and suggested additional books to read. After reading about each person, I hope you will say, "I didn't know that," and look for further information, using the books I have recommended and others. In the end, as a result, the process of learning about the American Civil War, the "American Iliad" will accelerate. I am pleased to be able to help continue that process with this and my other books.