INTERVIEW WITH BLACKBEARD & OTHER VICIOUS VILLAINS

Horrid historical humans get the Q&A treatment.

With the aid of a time machine/translator, the author meekly interviews a slew of antiheroes (eight men, one woman, and one couple, the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow), most of whom are of European or American origin. British humor and amusing line drawings leaven the encounters, but quite a number of fascinating facts make it through. Each outlaw is evil in a different way. Allowed his say, Blackbeard contends that he is not bloodthirsty and disavows chanting “pieces of eight” (Seed does not mention that the piece was in fact a Spanish coin); Ivan the Terrible (or “Fearsome”) argues for the rightness of his acts. The interviews are followed by a fact sheet with maps that finishes the story (sometimes adding missing details, since these baddies could be secretive). Characters who might be new to U.S. readers include the self-justifying Guy Fawkes, Ned Kelly (who uses Aussie slang and whose backstory complicates his case), and Zheng Yi Sao (a female Chinese pirate). We are told of Vlad’s impaling practices but not why he remains a heroic figure in Romania. Victor Lustig, a mere con man, is outclassed by the murderers here. But they all (except Zheng) come to a bad end—unlike this engrossing book, which ends with a tongue-in-cheek quiz.

This entertaining gallery of malefactors seductively introduces history.