The exhilarating biography of a golden boy gone bad, Kentucky Barracuda: The Notorious Scoundrel and Delightful Rogue of Antebellum & Civil War America by Joe Goodbody recounts the true tale of Parker Hardin French, a legendary 19th-century con man with inimitable style, and his hand in a bewildering number of schemes. From legitimate maritime ventures gone conveniently awry, narrow escapes during Gold Rush swindles, illicit legal dalliances in California, and international invasion schemes, Parker French was an infamous fraudster, a media darling, and an incorrigible annoyance to authorities on multiple continents. Backed by Goodbody’s remarkable depth of research into a broad historical record, this jaw-dropping story reveals a gentleman thief who never shied away from attention, controversy, or the allure of an unsuspecting mark, raising the profile of a man who has not always gotten his due, but remains one of the more colorful characters of the Civil War era.
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