The dramatic story of early 18th century James Annesley has inspired at least 5 novels, most famously Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. Annesley was especially popular during the 19th century, among burgeoning middle classes who loved rags to riches stories - but it has long been dismissed by historians as fanciful fiction. During the 20th century, interest in Annesley waxed and waned, mostly waning and receding in popularity until by centuries end he reached the lowest level of interest in over 200 years - by now, you've probably never heard of James Annesley. Then recently, American historian Roger Ekirch found a trove of 18th century legal documents that showed Annesley's story was, incredibly enough, mostly true. It's a case of fact being more interesting than fiction, the stories veracity is only now coming to light for the first time.

I won't retell Annesley's story here, suffice it to say Ekirch has done his homework by spending seven years studying transcripts of a courtroom battle as famous in its day as the Lindbergh kidnapping. The arch-nemesis, uncle Richard "Dick" Annesley, is one of the most vile villains I've ever come across. It's also a wonderful portal into the early 18th century, in particular courts and lawyers and legal procedures - a seemingly dry subject that reveals colorful bits of life, as Henry Fielding discovered around the same time (he was a judge and novelist).

When I first saw this book, it looked like a journalistic popular version of a well know topic, updated with dramatic creative non-fiction techniques for the modern reader. This is not entirely the case. It's actually written by an academic historian who spent years studying primary source documents, and who has uncovered and retold -- for the first time ever --- the true tale of one of the great stories in European history.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2010 cc-by-nd ( )

As always truth is at least as strange as fiction (although fiction is often more entertaining).

This book is about the true story that inspired the book Kidnapped (which is just a great, wonderful adventure story that you should read if you haven't). The true events behind the story are pretty gripping and astounding and this book is worth the read.

Fair warning - there is lots of intricate detail about inheritance laws and family ties in the beginning, but you need it to understand the later legal battle. For me this detail and the legal battle were the least interesting parts of the book. Far more interesting is the story of this family, the dastardly uncle, the heir transported to the colonies, his mother misused and put out of the house, and all the hardships that followed. This book also provides an interesting picture of Georgian Dublin and gave me a new perspective on the Protestant Irish gentry than I had had previously.

I'd like to say that everything turns out well, but it doesn't. This is a story where no one prospers no matter their behavior. Sad and shocking - a reminder that people have been doing terrible things to each other as long as we've been people. ( )