How Long to Read Inventing Loreta Velasquez

How Long Does it Take to Read Inventing Loreta Velasquez?

It takes the average reader 6 hours and 9 minutes to read Inventing Loreta Velasquez by William C. Davis

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

She went by many names—Mary Ann Keith, Ann Williams, Lauretta Williams, and more—but history knows her best as Loreta Janeta Velasquez, a woman who claimed to have posed as a man to fight for the Confederacy. In Inventing Loreta Velasquez, acclaimed historian William C. Davis delves into the life of one of America’s early celebrities, peeling back the myths she herself created to reveal a startling and even more implausible reality. This groundbreaking biography reveals a woman quite different from the public persona she promoted. In her bestselling memoir, The Woman in Battle, Velasquez claimed she was an emphatic Confederate patriot, but in fact she never saw combat. Instead, during the war she manufactured bullets for the Union and persuaded her Confederate husband to desert the Army. After the Civil War ended, she wore many masks, masterminding ambitious confidence schemes worth millions, such as creating a phony mining company, conning North Carolina residents to back her financially in a fake immigration scheme, and attracting investors to build a railroad across western Mexico. With various husbands, Velasquez sought her fortune both in the American West and in the Klondike, though her endeavors cost one husband his life. She also became a social reformer advocating on behalf of better prison conditions, the Cuban revolt against Spain, and the plight of Cuban refugees. Further, Velasquez was one of the first women to venture into journalism and presidential politics. Always a sensational press favorite, she displayed throughout her life an uncanny ability to manipulate popular media and to benefit from her fame in a way that prefigured celebrities of our own time, including using her testimony in a Congressional inquiry about Civil War counterfeiting as a means of promoting her latest business ventures. So little has been known of Velasquez’s real life that some postmodern scholars have glorified her as a “woman warrior” and used her as an example in cross-gender issues and arguments concerning Hispanic nationalism. Davis firmly refutes these notions by bringing the historical Velasquez to the surface. The genuine story of Velasquez’s life is far more interesting than misguided interpretations and her own fanciful inventions.

How long is Inventing Loreta Velasquez?

Inventing Loreta Velasquez by William C. Davis is 358 pages long, and a total of 92,364 words.

This makes it 121% the length of the average book. It also has 113% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Inventing Loreta Velasquez Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 8 hours and 24 minutes to read Inventing Loreta Velasquez aloud.

What Reading Level is Inventing Loreta Velasquez?

Inventing Loreta Velasquez is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Inventing Loreta Velasquez?

Inventing Loreta Velasquez by William C. Davis is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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