Citadel Press Inc.,U.S.

The first and only comprehensive biography of unjustly forgotten war hero Ben Kuroki, a Japanese American farm boy from Nebraska who flew fifty-eight combat missions during World War II while battling racism, injustice, and prejudice on the home front.WINNER OF THE NEBRASKA BOOK AWARD With a foreword by Naomi Ostwald Kawamura of Densho. Introduction by William Fujioka of JANM. Afterword by Jonathan Eig.Ben Kuroki was a 24-year-old Japanese American farm boy whose heritage was never a problem in remote Nebraska—until Pearl Harbor. Among the millions of Americans who flocked to military stations to enlist, Ben wanted to avenge the attack, reclaim his family honor, and prove his patriotism. But as anti-Japanese sentiment soared, Ben had to fight to be allowed to fight for America. And fight he did.As a gunner on Army Air Forces bombers, Ben flew 58 missions spanning Europe, North America, and the Pacific, including the climactic B-29 firebombing campaign against Japan that culminated in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In between his harrowing combat tours, he challenged FDR’s shameful incarceration of more than a 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry in America. In the euphoric wake of America’s victory, the decorated war hero used his national platform to carry out what he called his “fifty-ninth mission,” urging his fellow Americans to do more to eliminate bigotry and racism at home.Ben’s extraordinary story is a quintessentially American one of patriotism, principle, perseverance, and courage. It’s about being in the vanguard of history, the bonding of a band of brothers united in a just cause, a timeless and unflinching account of racial bigotry, and one man’s transcendent sense of belonging—in war, in peace, abroad, and at home.

Written by Meyer Lansky’s grandson, this definitive portrait of the legendary “Mob’s Accountant” chronicles the singular life of the business entrepreneur who built a gambling empire, perfected money laundering, established a more efficient Mafia, and changed the course of organized crime forever—featuring never-before-seen personal letters, photographs, and firsthand stories.Meyer Lansky was more than a co-founder of the Mafia. He was a truly transformative figure, a key player who balanced criminal enterprise and legitimate business, ushering in a “Golden Age” of the Mafia that lasted half of the 20th century. His impact lives on today—in the lavish casinos of Las Vegas, the offshore banking strategies of major global industries, and the countless Hollywood films like The Godfather Part II and Bugsy, with Lansky portrayed by actors Lee Strasberg, Ben Kingsley, Harvey Keitel, and others. He remains a legend in the annals of American crime. But even now, after decades of fictionalized accounts, historical conjectures, and larger-than-life mythmaking, the question remains:Who was the real Meyer Lansky?In this eye-opening account—featuring personal letters, rare and exclusive photographs, and stunning new details never before revealed—the grandson of Meyer Lansky dares to answer the most intriguing questions that have fascinated the public to this day: Why and how did a serious Jewish boy from Poland get involved with mobsters like Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel? What was his role in the growth and consolidation of the Mafia, and why couldn’t the Feds pin any crime on him besides illegal gambling? How many millions had Lansky amassed by the time of his death in 1983—and what happened to the money? But most shocking of all: Who really killed Bugsy Siegel, and can the truth finally be told?Packed with surprising insights from the grandson and his family, The Lansky Legacy is a must-read for crime buffs, Mafia enthusiasts, and anyone invested in the American Dream.

Written by the legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino’s cousin, this gripping insider’s account is an epic tell-all of the Pennsylvania Mafia family''s origins, both personal and criminal, from its coal-mining Black Hand days in Pittston, to their national rise and control of the Teamsters Union, while also offering convincing clues as to what became of Jimmy Hoffa.Russell Bufalino was considered the most powerful Mob boss of his day, if not all time—rivaling the likes of Carlo Gambino, Vito Genovese, and Lucky Luciano in their prime. But until now, no one has ever so personally traced Russell’s career back to the coal fields of Northeastern Pennsylvania, or explored so completely the legacy of the Pittston crime family Russell would inherit. Charles Bufalino, cousin and caretaker of the family’s explosive history, also offers the most authentic and probable solution to the greatest Mob mystery of all time: What really happened to Jimmy Hoffa? Stretching back to the Bufalino roots in Sicily and the emigration of the men of Montedoro to the turn-of-the-19th-century Pennsylvania coal fields, this gripping story lays the groundwork for the inception of an organized crime empire. Once in America, the Bufalinos penetrated both sides of the labor-versus-management conflict to magnify their own power and ultimately influence events on the national stage. By the 1950s, in the wake of Black Hand threats, murder, kidnapping, and bombings, Russell would be named boss—the Don of all Dons. Blood ties and extended family were his to control. Likewise, his enemies, including Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa.Delving deeply into corroborated family documentation, Charles Bufalino separates fact from fiction and corrects the presumed history of his ruthlessly enterprising ancestors to paint an intimate, epic, and riveting portrait of one of the most storied crime families of the 20th century.

One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies. Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend’s flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, the girl with the wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot’s license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn’t easy.In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China’s field of male-dominated aviation, she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, or impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred, she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause, achieving more in her short, remarkable life than even she had imagined possible.American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirted fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke through every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succeed. And against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Hazel Ying Lee reached for the skies and made her mark as a universal and unsung hero whose time has come.

Vladka Meed, born Feigele Peltel, was just a teenager when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. Increasingly devastated by the deportation and murder of 300,000 Jews-including her mother, brother, and sister-from Warsaw to the death camp of Treblinka, she heeded the call for armed resistance, joining the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB), established in Warsaw in July 1942. With her typically Aryan looks and fluency in Polish, she could pose as a Gentile, so the ZOB asked her to live on the Aryan side of the wall and serve as a courier. In this role, she smuggled weapons across the wall, helped Jewish children escape from the Ghetto, assisted Jews hiding in the city, and established contact with both Jews in the labor camps and with the partisans in the forest. First published in Yiddish by the Educational Committee of the Workmen''s Circle in New York in 1948, On Both Sides of the Wall was based on a series of twenty-seven articles Vladka wrote in the Yiddish-language Jewish Daily Forward (Forverts) in 1946-47. In this revised translation, which includes exclusive, new materials and photographs, Vladka''s son, Dr. Steven D. Meed, captures the vibrancy and passion of his mother''s original Yiddish text, preserving the testimony and memory of this valiant woman for a new generation of readers.

Of the hundreds of murder cases that noted South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian has prosecuted, one in particular haunts him. Donald ''Pee Wee'' Gaskins was a serial killer and rapist, a master manipulator who claimed to have killed over 100 people and is known to have murdered over a dozen, including a toddler, and his own teenage niece. Yet it was on Death Row that he pulled off his most audacious murder - killing another inmate with a military grade explosive. As personable as he was ruthless, Pee Wee defied easy categories. He killed to avenge minor slights as well as for pleasure, using any convenient method - including stabbing, shooting, poison, suffocation, and drowning. Evidence suggested he forced at least one victim to dig his own grave, stand in it, and be shot. With escalating callousness, Pee Wee murdered acquaintances, friends, family members, and strangers. Yet within his North Charleston community he was well-liked - a family man who took neighbourhood kids to the beach and hosted cookouts. Ice-cold within but outwardly charming, he joked with judges, reporters, and Harpootlian himself, but didn''t hesitate to hatch a plot to kidnap the prosecutor''s daughter in order to extort an escape. Dig Me a Grave is a haunting look at a prolific, remorseless killer, as well as a provocative exploration of justice and the death penalty.

The Kennedys, Marilyn, the Vatican, Vegas, The Godfather, the Mob, and more... During a cursed childhood in a Manhattan neighborhood teeming with Italian immigrants, Gianni Russo fended for himself at an early age. It was a quality that didn''t go unnoticed by Frank Costello-father figure, mentor, and legendary crime boss. Thanks to Costello, Gianni was only twelve when his luck would change for a lifetime. All of it charmed-and thrilling. With it came Hollywood glamor, Vegas risk-takers, political conspiracies, sex, murder, shadow governments, and secrets. The stories Gianni Russo could tell... Now he does in this bombshell confessional. This is the inside account of the Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, what really transpired in those Mulberry Street clubs, and who whacked whom-including how mobster Tony Spilotro and his brother really died, finally revealed for the first time. This is Gianni, buddy of Frank Sinatra, and intimately more with Marilyn Monroe. What''s the cover-up behind her death, JFK''s, and Jimmy Hoffa''s? It''s all here. So is the clandestine role of the pope as the sacred boss of bosses, the glory days and downfall of Las Vegas, and the colorful behind-the-scenes tales of Gianni''s role in the greatest movie ever made, The Godfather. The go-getter Frank Costello once called the ''Kid'' shares his shocking, exhilarating, sometimes violent, and always riveting life with the dealmakers of Hollywood and the Mob. Gianni Russo lives to tell, and spills it all.

''Believe me baby, this is not just a book, sugar, it''s a marvelous dance with words, enchanting, heady and daring!'' - Liza Minelli. A figure as fascinating as any of his celebrated subjects, Don Bachardy has lived an extraordinary life at the heart of Hollywood, literary, and artistic circles. His drawings and paintings reside in museums throughout Europe and the United States, and include portraits of movie stars, writers, artists, and public and private figures of every background-from Bette Davis and Joan Crawford to Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote-all rendered in a candid, expressive style unmistakably the artist''s own. In this unique oral biography, Bachardy recounts his astonishing story, providing illuminating recollections of celebrity portrait sittings and revelations about his 30-year relationship with Christopher Isherwood. From their meeting in the 1950s until Isherwood''s death in 1986, theirs was a legendary love story, courageous and uncompromising for its time, and remarkable in any era for the creative collaborations and art it continues to inspire. Drawn from one-on-one interviews and conversations conducted at the Santa Monica home Bachardy shared with Isherwood, Michael Schreiber has crafted a biography unlike any other, filled with tantalising celebrity tales set against the backdrop of Bachardy''s artistic and personal journey. Wise, warm, and thoroughly unflinching, this is a fresh and revealing portrait of a life lived with boundless bravery, curiosity, and love.

Harry Lenga was born to a family of Chassidic Jews in Kozhnitz, Poland. The proud sons of a watchmaker, Harry and his two brothers, Mailekh and Moishe, studied their father''s trade at a young age. Upon the German invasion of Poland, when the Lenga family was upended, Harry and his brothers never anticipated that the tools acquired from their father would be the key to their survival. Under the most devastating conditions imaginable - with death always imminent - fixing watches for the Germans in the ghettos and brutal slave labor camps of occupied Poland and Austria bought their lives over and over again. From Wolanow and Starachowice to Auschwitz and Ebensee, Harry, Mailekh, and Moishe endured, bartered, worked, prayed, and lived to see liberation. Derived from more than a decade of interviews with Harry Lenga, conducted by his own son Scott and others, The Watchmakers is Harry''s heartening and unflinchingly honest first-person account of his childhood, the lessons learned from his own father, his harrowing tribulations, and his inspiring life before, during, and after the war. It is a singular and vital story, told from one generation to the next - and a profoundly moving tribute to brotherhood, fatherhood, family, and faith.

Before the internet and social media offered voyeuristic glimpses into the lives of others, the acclaimed Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, exposed the dangers and delights of looking - and knowing - too much in his 1954 masterpiece Rear Window. Widely hailed as one of the greatest films ever made, it stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly at the top of their game but, in an unusual gamble, is shot entirely from within a Greenwich Village apartment... Using this limited point of view, Hitchcock forces his audience to participate in his protagonist''s voyeuristic impulses and darkest obsessions - a bold move in the era of the Hollywood Blacklist and restrictive Hays Code. But the gamble paid off, and Rear Window became a timeless classic. This eye-opening book goes straight to the source of Rear Window''s genius by mining the original papers of Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, and Thelma Ritter, revealing little-known facts behind the scenes: Why taking the role of Lisa Fremont was one of the toughest decisions Grace Kelly ever made; How Hitchcock intertwined suspense and romance with inspiration from Ingrid Bergman; How he used a topless scene to distract the censors from other scenes to which they may have objected; and how Hitchcock crafted the film''s unforgettable villain, Lars Thorwald, by modeling him on a producer he loathed - the infamous David O. Selznick. Filled with eye-catching photographs, outrageous anecdotes, and delicious details, this exciting book pulls back the curtain on a classic thriller that''s as relevant today as ever - and every bit as thrilling.

In 1940, with the Nazis sweeping through France, Henri Matisse found himself at a personal and artistic crossroads. His 42-year marriage had ended, he was gravely ill, and after decades at the forefront of modern art, he was beset by doubt. As scores of famous figures escaped the country, Matisse took refuge in Nice, with his companion, Lydia Delectorskaya. By defiantly remaining, Matisse was a source of inspiration for his nation. While enemy agents and Resistance fighters played cat-and-mouse in the alleyways of Nice, Matisse''s son, Jean, engaged in sabotage efforts with the Allies. In Paris, under the swastika, Matisse''s estranged wife, Amelie, worked for the Communist underground. His beloved daughter, Marguerite, active in the French Resistance, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, sentenced to Ravensbruck concentration camp - and miraculously escaped when her train was halted by Allied bombs. His younger, son, Pierre helped Jewish artists escape to New York; even his teenaged grandson risked his life by defying the Germans and their Vichy collaborators. Amidst this chaos, Matisse responded to the dark days of war by inventing a dazzling new paper technique that led to some of his most iconic pieces, including The Fall of Icarus, his profile of Charles De Gaulle, Monsieur Loyal, and his groundbreaking cut-out book, Jazz. His wartime works were acts of resistance, subtly patriotic and daringly new. Drawing on intimate letters and a multitude of other sources, Christopher C. Gorham illuminates this momentous stage of Matisse''s life as never before, revealing an artist on a journey of reinvention, wrenching meaning from the suffering of war, and holding up the light of human imagination against the torch of fascism to create some of the most exciting work of his career, of the 20th century, and in the history of art.

''Whether you''re a brother or whether you''re a mother,'' it''s impossible to resist the throbbing disco beats - and lasting cultural impact - of Saturday Night Fever. Released in December 1977, the low-budget ''disco movie'' was the surprise gift that kept on giving. It made millions at the box office, earned an Oscar nomination for TV-actor-turned-movie-star John Travolta, catapulted The Bee Gees'' music career into the stratosphere with a record-breaking, Grammy-winning soundtrack album, and ignited a ''disco inferno'' that burns to this day. From Travolta''s iconic white polyster suit and legendary dance moves, to the flashing lights and illuminated floor of the Odyssey disco in Brooklyn, Saturday Night Fever captured the era like no other film - and launched a phenomenon that changed the world forever. Here, for the first time, is the complete history of Saturday Night Fever. From the New York Magazine article that inspired the film - ''Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night'' by Nik Cohn-to the on-and-off-set dramas of Travolta, director John Badham, and producer Robert Stigwood, this deep dive into the making of a movie classic also includes special interviews with actors Donna Pescow and Joseph Cali, among others. It explores the huge impact of the film on the industry - including a ''Death to Disco'' backlash - as well as on American culture itself. With modern-day insights into its 1970s-era portrayals of gender, sex, and race, this is a richly detailed, delightfully entertaining celebration as glittering and multi-faceted as a mirrored disco ball. It''s a must-have for every movie and music lover who''s ever caught the Fever...

The figures are shocking - 40% of American women and nearly a quarter of American men have been sexually assaulted. While #MeToo stories have helped combat sexual harassment in the workplace, improved police interventions, and resulted in high-profile convictions, the public has only just begun to reckon with the impact sexual assault has on survivors. The ongoing silence points to the still-taboo intersection of two subjects: sexual assault and sexuality. Sex After Sexual Assault explores this crossroads through the lens of survivors'' own stories. Tens of millions of people across the United States experience sexual assault, and 94% of survivors experience symptoms of traumatic stress. These symptoms, such as decreased trust, anxiety, powerlessness, and depression, may affect our sex lives. This crucial book tackles the obstacles a survivor frequently faces while rebuilding a sex life after sexual trauma: dissociation, panic attacks, physical pain, flashbacks, and more. Each chapter includes a varied selection of survivors'' stories in order to normalize and uplift a diversity of healing experiences. For survivors it is a guidebook, a road map, true stories to lean on in a lonely void. Consider it a companion survivors can turn to for support, knowledge, encouragement, resources, and fellow survivors'' expert insight while also providing clarity for current partners of sexual assault survivors, giving them the tools to help us through whatever obstacles our trauma histories present.

On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist was released. Within days it had become legend. Moviegoers braved hours-long lines in winter weather to see it. Some audience members famously fainted or vomited. Half a century later, the movie that both inspired and transcends the modern horror genre has lost none of its power to terrify and unsettle. The Exorcist Legacy reveals the complete story of this cultural phenomenon, from the real-life exorcism in 1949 Maryland that inspired William Peter Blatty''s bestselling novel on which the movie is based, to its many sequels, prequels, TV series, and homages. Nat Segaloff, biographer of the film''s director, William Friedkin, draws on original interviews with cast, crew, and participants as well as revelations from personal papers to present an intriguing and surprising new view of the making of movie, and its aftermath. Segaloff also examines as never before the keys to the movie''s enduring appeal. Friedkin and Blatty''s goal was far more ambitious than making a scary movie; they aimed to make people ''think about the concept of good and evil.'' The Exorcist succeeds, and then some, not just by creating on-screen scares, but by challenging viewers'' deepest personal belief - and fears.

Years after her successful and impactful career at the CIA, Christina Hillsberg became enthralled with the stories of the trailblazing women who forged new paths within the Agency long before she began her career there in the aughts. These were women who sacrificed their personal lives, risked their safety, defied expectations, and boldly navigated the male-dominated spy organization. Through exclusive interviews with current and former female CIA officers, many of whom have never spoken publicly, Agents of Change tells an enthralling and, at times, disturbing story set against the backdrop of the evolving women''s movement. It was the 1960s, a ''secretarial'' era, when women first gained a foothold and pushed against the one-dimensional, pop-culture trope of the sexy Cold War Bond Girl. Underestimated but undaunted, they fought their way, decade-by-decade, through adversity to the top of the spy game. Seamlessly weaving together the individual stories of these exceptional women, Hillsberg deftly tackles not just the fight for gender equality at the CIA, but the current dilemma the Agency faces when dealing with the culmination of a decades-long culture of sexual harassment and assault. Each chapter sheds a light on women''s issues during that decade before bringing to life the stories of female CIA operations officers whose experiences were emblematic of that given era. In this fascinating and empowering chronicle, Hillsberg takes readers inside the Agency in a way that''s never been done before, paying long overdue tribute to the survivors and thrivers, the indispensable groundbreakers, and defiant rabble-rousers who made the choice to change their lives and in turn, changed history.

On February 15, 2010, Joseph McStay, his wife Summer, and their two young sons were reported missing from their new home in San Diego County. They left eggs and fruit rotting on the counter. Their Dodge truck sat in the driveway. Their dogs were abandoned outside without food. But investigators found no blood, signs of a struggle, or clues to their whereabouts. Did the family take an unannounced vacation? Were they running away from personal problems? Or were they victims of foul play? Nearly four years later, a motorcyclist found the McStays'' remains in and around two shallow graves, one hundred miles away in the Mojave Desert. Their skulls showed signs of blunt-force trauma, likely due to the sledgehammer buried with them. Authorities focused on Charles ''Chase'' Merritt, a close friend and subcontractor for Joseph''s company. Despite a lack of physical evidence, scenarios that defied logic, and numerous unanswered questions, prosecutors convinced a jury of Merritt''s guilt. After an emotional sentencing hearing, the judge imposed the death penalty. But did another possible suspect, who was ignored by investigators and ducked a subpoena to testify, get away with murder? In this twisting, deeply researched true-crime mystery, New York Times bestselling investigative journalist Caitlin Rother hunts for answers to reveal the truth behind a heinous crime that became a nation''s obsession, with a controversial trial in its wake, and lingering questions of justice.