Nothing illustrates the rich variety of Hamilton's history better than the lives of some of those who made the city their home. Many Hamiltonian's have learned about their city's past through visits to local cemeteries, in the company of a knowledgeable local historian. This book assembles the best of these stories, told by some of the city's most expert writers.

Among them:

* Bessie Starkman, partner of Rocco Perri, King of the Bootleggers, killed in a gangland style slaying, whose funeral attracted 25,000 spectators in 1930

* Isabella Hyde Whyte, long thought by Hamiltonians to be the illegitimate offspring of Edward the Duke of Kent, Queen Victoria's father

* Martha Cartmell, a missionary to Japan who started the first girls' school in Tokyo; every year students from the school make a pilgrimage to Hamilton to Cartmell's home church

* Richard Lancefield, first chief librarian in the city, but also a compulsive gambler who embezzled funds from the library and left town when his crime was discovered; his body was returned for burial

With many colourful illustrations, this book will appeal to anyone interested in Canadian history.

MARGARET HOUGHTON is the Special Collections Archivist at the Hamilton Public Library. A Hamiltonian born and bred, she has been employed by the library since 1978. She is a long time member of the Players\ Guild of Hamilton and the President of the Head-of-the-Lake Historical Society. Houghton was the editor of last fall's bestselling Hamilton Street Names. `

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