Lord Timothy Dexter was, by most accounts, a living embodiment of irony. Time and time again he beat insurmountable odds (often, it seems, without realizing they existed) and came out on top (and flush with cash). A farm laborer, with little schooling to speak of, Dexter catapulted himself into the 'Who's Who' of 18th Century New England society through numerous trading endeavors of all sorts. But for all of his quirks, he also seems to have been something of a cruel prankster. Many of the events of his later life would make most men of honor blush with shame. Doubly so when one reviews the...