ginger

One of my favorite nonfiction books in my possession would have to be The Redhead Handbook. I received it as a birthday present from my mom a couple of years ago and have read it several times since, most recently this weekend.

Not only does The Redhead Handbook tell me that I should make sure to wear enough sun screen when I go out each day but it traces the roots of redhair back to the days of the Roman Empire. A Roman people named the Picts were the first to record any evidence of people having redhair. The Picts lived in the area now known as Scotland. It's funny because a lot of people think redhair is an Irish characteristic, which makes since I guess, Scotland and Ireland are close enough together but today 13% of Scotland's population has redhair.

The book also looks at the well known people with redhair. Cort Cass, the author of the book claims that there is speculation that Adam (as in Adam and Eve) had red hair because the Hebrew word for red is Adom. The list goes on to include Judas, Nero, Eric the Red, Christopher Columbus, William the Conqueror, King Henry VII, Elizabeth I, Napolean, Oliver Cromwell, Galileo, Van Gogh, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Jesse James and seven U.S. Presidents. The Handbook also brings up the famous that have dyed there hair to get the color.

The Redhead Handbook is always a fun read for me. It's full of facts, but Cass manages to make me laugh aloud when I read it.