Parker Hardin French earned in his lifetime a nationally known reputation as a hustler and swindler but was nearly relegated to the ash heap of history. His jaw-dropping funeral honored him as a family man and adventurer rather than as the deeply disturbing but colorful, narcissistic criminal that psychology would surely diagnose him as today. Many of French’s outlandish schemes may have started and could have succeeded as legitimate enterprises had he made different decisions, but he often chose the fast and easy path to benefit himself but deceive his business partners.

When French’s identity began to surface in newspapers during his lifetime, his notorious exploits garnered fond fascination. He turned up all over the United States and the territorial West during the Gold Rush, the Civil War, the invasion of Cuba, and other historical events. French’s early years as a runaway kid spurred him to enlist in the British Navy, and he subsequently became a merchant, visionary entrepreneur, lawyer, district attorney, legislator, and journalist, among many other positions. His politics shifted with whatever benefitted him, so he acted as a seditionist agitator and Confederate agent during the Civil War but also was a lawyer for Union soldiers.

What began as a family tree quickly morphed into an intriguing and larger historical study for the author and his brother in 2012 when they discovered their great-grandfather’s connection to French, a Kentucky native. Well-researched, cited, and illustrated, this lively biography reveals the depth and breadth of French’s astonishing and mostly unpunished crimes. One can only speculate why this talented conman chose the crooked path over the straight and narrow. The narrative shows how French was similar to the indomitable Forrest Gump (but without the innocence), appearing almost everywhere US history was being forged in his era. Goodbody expertly brings his subject to light with all his flair and flaws intact.

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