happened, you know, there's a station called paddington station in london, the paddington bear, and agatha christie paddington square and i did a poll with my literary agent this irish guy named ivan mulcahey and we looked at each other and we said 20. that's a bit boring, huh? so we started playing with the numbers and i said, look, i could probably write, i don't know, 30 things, 32 things or whatever. but that will make the book too big and he said why don't you start at 25 and we thought 25 is a bit obvious. i told him i don't like even numbers. 21, well, two close to 20, huh? so that left 23. and the title was born, huh? i know, that sounds a bit bizarre, doesn't it? it sounds a bit like a sketch in monty python, maybe. actual actually, it's in a way -- the story -- you know, i i tell you this story because i didn't know it was representative of the spirit with which the book was written, you know? my american publisher, bloomsberg usa in its catalog called it a lighthearted book with a serious purpose. in the same playful way in which we came up with the title, the book has a lot of jokes and

this station in london, agatha christie's for 50. it's a famous location. and i was sitting in this french participatory poll with my literary agent, this irish guy, i've been. we are talking about this and that. and suddenly we looked at each other and said, 20, that's rather boring, isn't it? so we started playing with the numbers, and i said look, i could probably write i don't know, 30 things, 32 things or whatever, but that would make the book too big. so why do we stop at 25? and then we thought 25 is obvious. i told them i don't like even numbers. 21, to close to 20. so that left 23, and that's how the title was born. i know, it sounds -- sounds like sketch and -- a sketch in monty python your in a way, that story, you know, i tell you this but because i didn't know and representative of the spirit with which the book was written. american publisher, bloomsbury u.s.a. in its catalog describes this book as a lighthearted book with a serious focus. in the same playful way in which we came up with the title, the book has a lot of jokes and satire, and t

we were brought up as little mystery readers with agatha christie and went on. it's perfect training for a historian. you want to dig out the story, you want to find the answers, follow the clues, and then once you do it, you want to dole it out to the readers in the same way. hook them and keep them hooked. don't let them get to their video games, you're so right. [laughter] >> absolutely. and i can confirm that each of these writers is a master of doing that. each chapter does have a cliffhanger, so to speak, and you can't wait to get to the next portion. so, obviously, our writers here have cover add broad array of topics, and we're going to try to link all these together in some fashion. but i want to talk first of pat. i have to confess, i just finished her book about rachel jackson this morning, and she is a truly intriguing forget. of course, we all -- figure. we all know about her husband, he graces the central square of our city. can you just tell us, pat, who was rachel jackson in her early years before she met andrew jackson? >> rachel jackson was a m