Entertaining look at historical people with mini-biographies. ( )

Picks up where "Miracles and Massacres" left off, in a way. These books are not perfect but the true stories anthologized here tell something significant and important to be aware of if you care about American history. The stories each tell us something about America that you cannot understand just by getting the dry, big picture or the official highlights.

What is most novel is the representation of both the good and the bad. Charles Ponzi ripped people off because both he and his victims thought that America presented an opportunity to get rich quick with very little work. By contrast, Desi Arnaz worked hard and was fortunate to marry a talented wife. (His contribution behind the scenes was often underestimated, though: Desi Arnaz practically invented the TV rerun.) In his personal life, Arnaz was a womanizer who ended unhappily without the woman he really loved.

Everything is a mixture. Deceivers are also dreamers; it's just that their dreams are false, but when dreamers are pure, their lives can be meaningful even if bittersweet. The founders of the award-winning animation company Pixar, for example, had both been spurned by the companies where they had had their dream jobs, and yet, through Pixar, they not only rediscovered their passions but eventually worked their ways back into their original jobs--only when they returned they were more successful than before.

There are also heroes within each story of a villain. Sometimes people are part hero and part villain. We learn that someone risked everything to expose a presidential lie and his reputation suffered. Beck does not dwell on it, but perhaps tacitly acknowledges that the president in that case, Grover Cleveland, had a good reason for lying to the American people, but did this justify either the perpetuation of the lie or the destruction of a man's reputation?

Unlike with the previous book, here there isn't even one clunker. (See my review of "Miracles and Massacres" where I found the story of the ratification of the Constitution much too superficial.) In the present volume, we have the story of Alan Turing who could be considered off-topic since he was not an American; nevertheless, it is good that Beck made an exception because Turing follows the pattern of Beck's books in this series: little-know true stories that lie behind something we take for granted in our every day lives. In the case of Turing, he is the man who invented the computer. (Coincidentally, also portrayed in the movie I am about to go see: "The Imitation Game.")

This is not great literature, yet it is well worth reading for its insight into the moral vicissitudes of history: Twistings in moral clarity and compromise that play out today, too, although Beck only makes that connection in one remark, generally letting the reader draw his or her own conclusions.

As always, Beck writes his books with the great help of a committee. (See also in my review of "Miracles.") He seems to work closely with them on these projects and his own voice can occasionally be distinguished, yet he has a staff of both researchers and writers who stitch these books together. (I'd like to help edit them so they could avoid the sometimes jarring little mistakes that a good proofreader might have noticed.)

The authorship question is not entirely a matter of simple fraudulence. I once heard a talk by Germaine Greer in which she said that she had wanted to edit a book on women painters with the help of a team of writers but her publisher had told her that she needed to be the nominal author of any book she produced because, as an established "name," she was the commodity being sold to the reading audience. Beck's name is clearly the commodity that sells all of his books regardless of how many of them are his own work. In any case, as with Greer's proposed project, the nominal author directs the project and gives final approval to everything that goes into the work. This is Beck's baby, warts and all.

For the scholar unsatisfied with the popularized tellings of any of these stories, there are notes for each story that point to the sources. It has come to my attention that in some, perhaps many cases, the reader might be disappointed to know that other writers dispute Beck's conclusions. This is what happens when you explore history--or any subject, really--and find that nothing is ever definitive and there is always controversy. ( )

The direct sequel to Miracles and Massacres, this continues Beck's account of famous, infamous and forgotten people that made American what it is today. I especially found the stories of Charles Ponzi (creator of the infamous ponzi scheme) and Alger Hiss to be fascinating. Beck's political views not withstanding, it makes for very entertaining reading. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Some stories better than others, obviously, looking at you Walt and Desi, but overall I learned a lot and it was well researched. I didn't give it five stars because I felt like a few of the stories were drawn out to the point I almost wanted to skip them, looking at you Cleveland and Ponzi, but overall I did enjoy it a lot. 4.25 stars out of 5. I would recommend this book. ( )