What to Read During the Covid-19 Exile 2020 -- Biographies of the Infamous

Biographies of the infamous figures of history are often more interesting than biographies of acclaimed men and women.  Yes, biographies of infamous historical figures can degenerate into a sort of historical rubber-necking at the scene of havoc to which they contributed.  But there is much to learn from the lives of those who have gone down in history with less then stellar reputations.

Had he lived fifty years later, Grigori Rasputin would have been the world's most famous televangelist.  A theological mystic and a sexual predator, Rasputin wormed his way into the Romanov household and did much to turn the Russian public against the weak Czar, Nicholas II, and his unpopular German wife, Alexandra.  Smith's fascinating biography clears up many of the myths and legends surrounding Rasputin.  But the Rasputin who emerges from myth and legend is every bit as creepy and destructive as the man of legend.  Smith: Rasputin

Richard Bushman is a Mormon historian and sympathetic biographer of Joseph Smith.  Bushman's account of Smith's production of the Book of Mormon is worth the price of the book.  Smith's odd and unorthdox beliefs, the militarism of the sect, and the effort to establish autonomous self-government, provoked the locals wherever the sect attempted to establish itself.  Bushman establishes a link (which I've long suspected) between the LDS leadership and the Masons.  Highly recommended--fascinating.  Bushman: Joseph Smith

John Brown (whose body "lies a moulderin' in the grave") is a tragic figure.  A man who thought his own judgments to be infallible, Brown's on the side of the angels when it comes to his cause--the end of slavery.  But his methods (hacking people to death with broadswords and seeking to create a slave insurrection) were the work of the Devil.  A civil war between the northern states and the slave holding states of the south was inevitable.  But Smith's capture of the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, along with the election of Abraham Lincoln heightened tensions to the breaking point.  This is a well-written book and certainly worth a read.  Horwitz: John Brown

Benedict Arnold was possibly the Continental Army's best general.  If he had 200 more able-bodied men, and if the temperature had been above freezing, Quebec would have fallen to the Americans and Canada might have had an entirely different (and American) history.  Arnold was also instrumental in the defeat of the British at the Battle of Saratoga--possibly the turning point of the Revolutionary War.  How Arnold became the traitor who sought to ensure that Washington was captured by the British is an important story.  Arnold was a bitter glory-seeker, and a lonely widower seduced by the beautiful loyalist Peggy Shippen.  But the way Arnold was treated by the Continental Congress explains much about his defection to the enemy.  A very compelling story of a complex man, a badly mistreated, and much unappreciated general.  Martin: Benedict Arnold

I recommend Champlin's book with mild reservation.  He clearly knows the primary sources and has produced a well-written and researched biography of a man of unspeakable evil.  As one reviewer points out, Champlin's tad sympathetic biography portrays Nero as a sort of Roman Oscar Wilde, a man who lived life on the edge and who's bad deeds were exaggerated by later Christian moralists (the victors write the history, as the saying goes).  Despite Champlin's efforts to downplay Nero's brutality toward Christians, Champlin does succeed in giving us an interesting account of the life and times of Mr. 666 (as I call him).  Even a slightly sympathetic account reveals a very sick and twisted man.  There is a reason why Nero lurks in the background of the Book of Revelation and in Christian eschatology.  Champlin: Nero