From the Publisher
"This is an easy-to-read, enjoyable book, accessible to every reader and particularly timely given the current political climate. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers." — P. J. Kurtz, Minot State University, CHOICE
"Battistella takes readers on a delightful tour of US presidents, highlighting the names they were called and the insults and critiques they faced from their colleagues and the media of the day. Part linguistics text, part history, and part humor, this is an easy-to-read, enjoyable book, accessible to every reader and particularly timely given the current political climate. . . . A fascinating read for historians, linguists, and students of journalism in particular, but of interest to all." — CHOICE"It was a pleasure to read a book that made me laugh aloud. Edwin Battistella has done an impressive job of documenting and explaining the history of presidential ignominy. I suspect that readers will be sending him their favorite insults for the next edition." — Donald A. Ritchie, Senate historian emeritus"Though our Twitter-dominated era may seem uniquely venomous, this wise, witty and thoroughly entertaining history of American political insults proves otherwise. Word-lovers will delight in linguist Edwin Battistella's resurrection of once-deadly insults such as'mountebank' and 'dastardly poltroon.' More important is the compelling case Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels makes that our precious freedom of speech has always rested on the ability to openly criticize and even insult our highest elected officials." — Charles Slack, author of Liberty's First Crisis"Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels takes a deep dive into America's long history of attacks on the president, not only exploring the insults themselves, but placing them in the context of their times. It's an engaging, thought-provoking look at a tradition as old as the republic and as immediate as the next election." — Rosemarie Ostler, author of Splendiferous Speech"This authoritative handbook reveals how insults have always been a part of American politics." — Library Journal, Starred Review"[A] small but nicely-balanced, nonpartisan selection of 45-plus brief, quick-to-read entries and accompanying sidebars that are gently humorous, historical, and —most surprisingly— not entirely focused on politics. Nope, author Edwin L. Battistella writes just as much about the language we use when we create insults as he does about the targets of those japes; here, you'll learn about the different kinds of insults and how delivery is important." — Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Carolina Peacemaker