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Rascals in Paradise written by James Michener and A. Grove Day is a compilation of true stories about adventurers in the South Pacific that would make the pirates Black Beard and Henry Morgan look like sissies. Most of the characters profiled in this book were largely unknown, after all whoever heard of Coxinga the Chinese pirate who wielded such maritime power in the Oriental Pacific in the early 1600’s disrupting the business of the Dutch traders and other nations. The Caribbean pirates were noted in our school history books, especially the famous privateer Sir Francis Drake, but the Pacific adventurers were mostly unmentioned.   Many people have dreamed of life in the South Pacific as a carefree paradise where food was plentiful, social rules were nonexistent, and women were beautiful and willing. These are great true stories of men who sailed to the Pacific in search of fame, power, and riches only to have their adventures turned into perilous enterprises.