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Robert Shaw unforgettably commanded attention as the weathered seaman Captain Quint in the blockbuster sensation, Jaws. But what came before and after that landmark film is as dramatic as the hunt for the great white shark itself. Capturing the many facets of the vibrant, generous, and sometimes polarizing man is his nephew, Christopher, who explores the forces that shaped a dynamic personality-including Robert''s indomitable mother, his deeply troubled father, and his activist sister, Joanna, with whom Robert shared an unbreakable bond. Out of the traumatic events of their childhood in the Orkney Islands and Cornwall, Mrs. Shaw pushed her children to pursue their dreams. For Robert, that dream was acting and writing. Despite a storied career on the British and American stage-as both performer and playwright-and a string of hit films including From Russia with Love, A Man for All Seasons, The Sting, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, international celebrity eluded Robert... until he was summoned to star in ''a little horror film'' called Jaws. What happened on-screen was unforgettable. What happened off-screen was chaos. Now Christopher Shaw Myers reveals the true story of the making of the classic. Jaws would become both an artistic success and a worldwide triumph for Robert Shaw. Tragically, for a man shadowed by his father''s demons, it would also signal the beginning of the end. Drawing on family recollections, personal letters, scrapbooks, recordings, extensive interviews, and a lifetime of his own memories, Christopher paints a unique, intimate, and honest portrait of a man he was proud to call his uncle.

How did a small-time, hip-pocket bootlegger become one of the most notorious gangsters in the country? For George ''Machine Gun'' Kelly, the answer was simple: a woman. Her name was Kathryn Thorne, a charming, strong-minded beauty who, had family connections in the crime world-and big ambitions for the tall, handsome bootlegger. By the time she met Kelly, she was already an experienced criminal herself, divorced twice and ready to marry a man who could give her the posh life she always dreamed of. With that in mind, she bought Kelly his first machine gun. And the rest is history George Kelly wasn''t a natural-born gangster and never carried a weapon bigger than a revolver. But Kathryn changed all that. Like a mobbed-up Lady Macbeth, she pushed her husband to commit greater crimes, introducing him to her friends in the underworld and convincing him to join in a series of bank robberies. Soon, the Kellys were living large, with a house in Texas, expensive jewellery, the works. But it wasn''t enough, and eventually the couple hatched a daring plot to kidnap oil tycoon Charles Urschel. Their plan worked. They collected the ransom-and captured the attention of the nation, the world and the FBI. A shocking story of ambition and greed, crime and punishment, Meet the Kellys offers a fascinating portrait of a reluctant gangster named after a machine gun and a scheming moll as driven as Bonnie Parker and Ma Barker. A must-read for true crime fans.

Rodney Dangerfield''s fidgety delivery, self-deprecating humour, and catchphrase, ''I don''t get no respect,'' made him a comedy icon in nightclubs, on television, and in movies. But Rodney''s long road to stardom was as rocky as his real life. Born Jacob Cohen in 1921 to a coldhearted mother and absentee father, anxiety-prone Jacob found escape from reality by writing and performing jokes. It led to ten years going nowhere on the ''toilets'' of the club circuit. What followed was marriage, fatherhood, selling aluminum siding, and depression, self-doubt, and debt. That''s when he decided to give comedy one last shot... Back in the clubs and thanks to a fortuitous prime time set on The Ed Sullivan Show, at the age of 45, the newly christened Rodney Dangerfield was an ''overnight'' success. It was the greatest second act in the history of show business. Rodney mined his insecurities, personal and professional setbacks, and dismal childhood into comedy gold on the The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Dean Martin Show, The Joey Bishop Show, Merv Griffin, and Mike Douglas. A generation of new fans discovered him in a string of hit comedies, including Caddyshack, Easy Money, Back to School - even popping up in Oliver Stone''s Natural Born Killers. And behind that iconic comedy persona was a caring, compassionate man who took in a hard-luck friend for the rest of his life; a dedicated father who almost singlehandedly raised two children; and a selfless and supportive mentor to such up-and-comers as Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, and George Carlin. Nobody didn''t love him. NOTHING COMES EASY gives the legend, the man, the father, and friend all the respect he deserves.

From the beginning, Rambo was more than a character in a 1972 novel by David Morrell. He was the culmination of the author''s personal encounters with veterans returning from the Vietnam War. The 1982 movie adaptation of First Blood reflected the novel''s powerful insights into a troubled veteran''s post-war experience. Then in 1985, the film''s explosive sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II transformed the character into something shockingly different. With a focus on blood-and-guts action and the beefed-up muscles of Sylvester Stallone - Rambo became an invincible one-man army. A new kind of hero for a new day in America. A full-blown pop-culture icon as controversial as he was crowd-pleasing - blasting his way through the most influential action film franchise in Hollywood history... The Rambo legend was born. Five feature films. Three novels. Seven video games. Countless comic books, action figures, and even an animated TV show for kids. The Rambo machine has been as unstoppable as Rambo himself. Now for the first time, Hollywood insider Nat Segaloff digs deep into the man, the myth, and the massive impact of the phenomenon known as ''The Rambo Effect.'' Packed with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, sharp cultural insights, and ongoing debates about violence in the media, this is an explosive no-holds-barred report from the front lines of Hollywood myth-making.

A courageous and remarkably accomplished Holocaust survivor''s powerfully vivid account of his transformation from a 13-year-old music student, to smuggling food and arms for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and tenaciously enduring a series of brutal concentration camps, fighting for life against impossible odds. When Hitler''s Nazis marched into Poland, it brought an abrupt, cruel end to Jack Eisner''s childhood, shattered his loving family, and turned his peaceful Jewish community into a nightmarish world of atrocity and murder. Instead of entering the Warsaw Music Conservatory, to which he''d won a scholarship, Jack found himself climbing cemetery walls, leaping over rooftops, and tunneling through sewers with a gang of fellow teenagers to smuggle food, hope, and survival into his besieged home. Pulse-pounding and chillingly graphic, Jack''s story takes you into the terror of the Warsaw ghetto... to the clandestine meetings with Christian friends who risk their lives to help the teenagers... and alongside young rebels as they raise the flag with the Star of David in the final, unforgettable moments of the daring but doomed Warsaw uprising. From the rubble of the ghetto to the horror of the concentration and slave labor camps, The Survivor of the Holocaust is both a stunning chronicle and a poignant true story of a young man sustained by his passionate desire to be reunited with the girl he loves. It also stands as captivating memorial to the 100 members of a single family who perished, told by one among them who - pitted against overwhelming odds - clung fiercely to their life-affirming message.

When Wayne Adam Ford walked into the Humboldt County Sheriff''s Office in November 1998 with a woman''s body part in his jacket pocket, the 36-year-old truck driver wasn''t a suspect in any crime. After a lengthy investigation spanning four California counties and a sensational trial, he was convicted of the torture and murder of four women. His first victim, whom he dismembered, would remain unidentified for 25 years. While serving honourably in the Marine Corps, Ford had learned life-saving techniques that gave him structure and purpose. But a severe head injury worsened pre-existing emotional problems, rendering him unable to suppress his dark sexual impulses. Knowing he would kill again, he enlisted his brother''s help to turn himself in. Award-winning investigative journalist Caitlin Rother drew on previously sealed testimony and interviewed key players in the case, including Ford''s brother and father, to write this intimate and psychologically resonant narrative. Extensively updated with the inside details of how Ford''s first victim was recently identified through DNA testing and forensic genealogy, this classic true crime story continues to haunt us.

June 20, 1991. A five-man hit team waited in a car outside the Long Island home of Victor Orena, the acting crime boss of the Colombo crime family. Orena recognized the vehicle - and managed to escape with his life. But it was just the beginning. Over the next year, more shots would be fired in what would become the last major mob war in New York''s crime-soaked history - and one of the bloodiest. The war ended with Orena''s 1992 arrest and conviction for racketeering. But the full story of ''Little Vic''s'' astonishing rise and fall has never been told. Until now... With shocking new revelations from Orena''s son Andrew, this eye-opening account takes readers inside the criminal underworld of New York''s infamous ''Five Families'' from the point of view of one of its rising stars. The grandson of Sicilian immigrants, Victor Orena ingratiated himself with the local Mafiosi during his teens, ultimately aligning himself with the Colombos. Ascending the ranks, he eventually became acting boss of the family when its don Carmine ''The Snake'' Persico was sentenced to prison. But as Persico struggled to maintain control from behind bars, Orena decided to seize that power for himself -launching a ruthless mob war the city would never forget. It''s all here: the Mafia hits, the FBI stings, the bullets and the backstabbings. Featuring a rogues gallery of legendary mobsters - from the Gallo brothers to the Gambinos and John Gotti - this riveting account sheds new light on one of the most fascinating chapters in American crime.

She was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet, the longest-serving labor secretary, and an architect of the New Deal. Yet beyond these celebrated accomplishments there is another dimension to Frances Perkins''s story. Without fanfare, and despite powerful opposition, Perkins helped save the lives of countless Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. ''Immigration problems usually have to be decided in a few days. They involve human lives. There can be no delaying,'' Perkins wrote in her memoir, The Roosevelt I Knew. In March 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, Perkins was appointed Secretary of Labor by FDR. As Hitler rose to power, thousands of German-Jewish refugees and their loved ones reached out to the INS - then part of the Department of Labor - applying for immigration to the United States, writing letters that began ''Dear Miss Perkins...'' Perkins''s early experiences working in Chicago''s famed Hull House, and as a firsthand witness to the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist fire, shaped her determination to advocate for immigrants and refugees. As Secretary of Labor, she wrestled widespread antisemitism and isolationism, finding creative ways to work around quotas and restrictive immigration laws. Diligent, resilient, empathetic, yet steadfast, she persisted on behalf of the desperate when others refused to act. Based on extensive research, including thousands of letters housed in the National Archives, Dear Miss Perkins adds new dimension to an already extraordinary life story, revealing at last how one woman tried to steer the nation to a better, more righteous course.