Witches, Rakes, and Rogues (paperback) [Paperback]

Brenton Simons gives us true stories that portray a sampling of the creatively scandalous characters in colonial Boston. Their escapades survived in diaries and journals, letters, court records, newspapers, and broadsides. He put together a fascinating group of never-before-told episodes, and he researched the truth behind fragments of tales which had been handed down.

Witches, Rakes, and Rogues provides a window into the lives of colorful colonial Bostonian characters and their innocent "victims," at a time when the get-away vehicle was a horse, or a boat. The reader will discover women and men who were unsavory, persuasive and seductive, conniving, stealthy, unethical, and just plain ridiculous in their expectations that they could fool or delude others into thinking they were engaged in legitimate pursuits. Some of these characters are likeable on the surface, and despicable underneath.

Are we more sophisticated and knowledgeable today, to avoid getting swindled by some of the too-good-to-be-true deals which were offered to the gullible, in these pre-Revolution stories? I highly recommend the book to readers who enjoy true tales of intrigue, as well as to historians and genealogists curious about some of the "real" people and the times in colonial Boston.

This is a delightful, informative and well-written set of tales about our less-than-pure Puritan forefathers. The stories are fascinating and Simons is an engaging storyteller.

D. Brenton Simons' WITCHES, RAKES, AND ROGUES: TRUE STORIES OF SCAM, SCANDAL, MURDER AND MAYHEM IN BOSTON, 1630-1775 holds special interest to Massachusetts residents and history buffs. Bostonians of the colonial period may have been Puritans but they had their own sins and scandals, and historians Brenton Simons dug deep into Boston's records to reveal a wealth of true crime tales from murder and bigamy to black sheep. Bostonians will find it engrossing reading.

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