The lives of notorious bad guys, perpetrators of mischief, visionary-if misunderstood-thinkers, and other colorful antiheroes, jerks, and evil doers from history all get their due in the short essays featured in these enlightening, informative, books. Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Boston History features eighteen short biographies of nefarious characters, from the pompous and self-righteous Cotton Mather to the swindler Charles Ponzi.