There is an almost gravitational pull towards farce that draws everything from Congressional budget negotiations to the badminton competition at the 2012 London Olympics into its field. Several recent farcical works have crafted its chaotic order to predictably entertaining effect. If you missed any of these the first time around, fear not.

This list considers those literary political or public figures who would not have withstood much scrutiny in the modern age. In contrast to the predictable quality of even the most captivating political biography, these tales favor the eerie or the bizarre over the electable in their consideration of political life.