Best Selling Books by Michael Newton

Even though Alexander Hamilton was among the most important Founding Fathers, less is known about his early life than that of any other major Founder. Relatively few records have been found regarding Hamilton’s birth, childhood, and origins in the West Indies. Alexander Hamilton “rarely . . . dwelt upon his personal history” and never recorded his life’s story. Most of Hamilton’s correspondence prior to 1777 was lost during the American Revolution. This has resulted in many gaps in Alexander Hamilton’s biography, which has given rise to much conjecture regarding the details of his life. Relying on new research and extensive analysis of the existing literature, Michael E. Newton presents a more comprehensive and accurate account of Alexander Hamilton’s formative years. Despite being orphaned as a young boy and having his birth be “the subject of the most humiliating criticism,” Alexander Hamilton used his intelligence, determination, and charisma to overcome his questionable origins and desperate situation. As a mere child, Hamilton went to work for a West Indian mercantile company. Within a few short years, Hamilton was managing the firm’s St. Croix operations. Gaining the attention of the island’s leading men, Hamilton was sent to mainland North America for an education, where he immediately fell in with the country’s leading patriots. After using his pen to defend the civil liberties of the Americans against British infringements, Hamilton took up arms in the defense of those rights. Earning distinction in the campaign of 1776–77 at the head of an artillery company, Hamilton attracted the attention of General George Washington, who made him his aide-de-camp. Alexander Hamilton was soon writing some of Washington’s most important correspondence, advising the commander-in-chief on crucial military and political matters, carrying out urgent missions, conferring with French allies, negotiating with the British, and helping Washington manage his spy network. As Washington later attested, Hamilton had become his “principal and most confidential aid.” After serving the commander-in-chief for four years, Hamilton was given a field command and led the assault on Redoubt Ten at Yorktown, the critical engagement in the decisive battle of the War for Independence. By the age of just twenty-five, Alexander Hamilton had proven himself to be one of the most intelligent, brave, hard-working, and patriotic Americans. Alexander Hamilton: The Formative Years tells the dramatic story of how this poor immigrant emerged from obscurity and transformed himself into the most remarkable Founding Father. In riveting detail, Michael E. Newton delivers a fresh and fascinating account of Alexander Hamilton’s origins, youth, and indispensable services during the American Revolution.

The Encyclopaedia of Serial Killers, Second Edition provides accurate information on hundreds of serial murder cases - from early history to the present. Written in a non-sensational manner, this authoritative encyclopaedia debunks many of the myths surrounding this most notorious of criminal activities. New major serial killers have come to light since the first edition was published, and many older cases have been solved (such as the Green River Killer) or further investigated (like Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer). Completely updated entries and appendixes pair with more than 30 new photographs and many new entries to make this new edition more fascinating than ever. New and updated entries include: Axe Man of New Orleans; BTK Strangler; Jack the Ripper; Cuidad Juarez, Mexico; John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the Sniper Killers; Gary Leon Ridgway, the Green River Killer; and Harold Frederick Shipman.

Umberto Anastasio, better known as Albert Anastasia, was an Italian-American mobster and hitman who became one of the deadliest criminals in American history and one of the founders of the modern American Mafia in New York City. For all-out savagery and ruthlessness, few other leaders of the Mafia worldwide have rivaled Anastasia, known to peers as "The Mad Hatter" and to journalists as "The Lord High Executioner." After escaping a death sentence in 1921 and multiple other arrests for murder, he later served as director of the national crime syndicate''s contract murder department ("Murder, Inc.") from 1931 until informers brought it down ten years later. By 1951 he led one of New York City''s Five Families, a post he held until his public barbershop assassination in October 1957. This first-ever book-length biography of Anastasia traces the mobster''s life and the ripple effects his career had on the American crime world. The story also tracks his brothers and their families, while debunking certain widespread myths about their parentage, various deportations, trials, convictions, and eventual retirement from the mob, dead or alive.

In ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) schemes and murders his way to a dukedom. This title looks into the turbulent personalities that formed the complex style of this film to unravel the fusion of cynicism, contempt, sparkling wit and philosophical curiosity.

Between 1933 and 1939, the FBI pursued an aggressive, highly publicized nationwide campaign against a succession of Depression era "public enemies," including John Dillinger, George "Baby Face" Nelson, Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, and the Ma Barker Gang. Bureau Director J. Edgar Hoover''s successes in this crusade made him the hero of law and order in the public mind. This historical analysis reveals the agency''s often illegal tactics, including torture, frame-ups, and summary executions--later expanded throughout Hoover''s 48-year reign in Washington, D.C., and exposed only after his death (some say murder) in 1972.

This terrifying selection of ghost stories brings together the very best classic works from the masters of the supernatural Phantom coaches, evil familiars, shadowy houses, spectral children and mysterious doppelgangers haunt these tales. They range from the famous, such as M. R. James''s tale of an ancient curse, ''Oh, Whistle, and I''ll Come To You, My Lad'' and W. W. Jacobs''s story of gruesome wish-fulfilment, ''The Monkey''s Paw'', to lesser-known masterpieces: Robert Louis Stevenson''s ''Thrawn Janet'', telling of a parish priest tormented for life by his encounter with the undead; Charles Dickens''s unsettling account of a railway signal-man and an ominous portent; and Edward Bulwer Lytton''s ''The Haunted and the Haunters'', where a cursed house harbours a diabolical secret. Michael Newton''s introduction discusses why ghost stories scare us and why they flourished from the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth century, examining their changing conventions throughout history. This edition also includes further reading, notes, a glossary and a chronology. Edited with an introduction and notes by Michael Newton

Largely forgotten now, Frankie Yale was an influential New York mobster of the early 20th century whose proteges included future leaders of New York''s five Mafia families and Chicago''s outfit. His influence extended to Chicago, where he personally committed two of the city''s most notorious underworld assassinations and waged a five-year war to wrest control of Brooklyn''s docks from Irish rivals. His murder marked New York City''s first use of a Tommy gun in gangland warfare, the same weapon used in Chicago''s St. Valentine''s Day massacre seven months later. Yale''s passing destabilized Gotham''s Mafia, paving the way for an upheaval that modified and modernized the structure of American syndicated crime for the next six decades. Despite Yale''s prominence during his life, this is the first biography to survey his life and career.

Show People offers a comprehensive history of the idea of the film star from Mary Pickford to Andy Serkis, traversing more than one hundred years and drawing on examples from America, Britain, Europe, and Asia. Renowned film writer Michael Newton explores our enduring love affair with fame, glamour, and the cinematic image. Newton builds up an expansive picture of movie stardom through explorations of striking and diverse figures such as Ingrid Bergman and John Wayne, Anna Karina and Sidney Poitier, Maggie Cheung, and Raj Kapoor. He celebrates the great performers of the past, and he looks forward to developments in the future, while also illuminating the inner workings of the movie industry and what moves us in a film and in an actor’s performance. An encyclopedic, illustrated history of film idols ready for their close-ups, Show People is ultimately a book about cinephilia, the love of cinema, and our complex connection to that celebrated and beleaguered figure, the movie star.

Examines instances where celebrities have been involved in crimes, either as victims or perpetrators.

LIVE BY THE SWORD Four international terrorist leaders are called together by a fifth, Ahmad Faisal, and a new era is worldwide horror is born. The killings, bloody and brutal, bring the Western world to its knees. But the deadly Faisal and his gang suddenly encounter INTERSECT agents—experts in paramilitary operations—and they must decide if their grand scheme is to be defended to the death … their own.

They get away with murder. Every year in America, more than 5,000 killers elude police. And most of the notorious murderers who slip the grip of the law commit the same crime again & again, leaving the grisliest of signatures. In Still At Large, master of the crime encyclopedia Michael Newton (author of Hunting Humans, Bad Girls Do It!, Holy Homicide, Cop Killers, Killer Cops, & Black Collar Crimes) recounts chilling tales of unsolved serial murder. So you think you''ll never be the victim of a serial murderer? Don''t be so sure. The killers in this book could be lurking in your neighborhood, your office, & even your home. Watch out, because they''re Still At Large...

The history of crime in American has proven that criminals are often the first to seize upon opportunities presented by new technologies and use them for nefarious purposes. It has also demonstrated that law enforcement groups are quick to respond and use high-tech tools to defend the public safety. This is more true than ever

Meet Kentucky''s legendary monsters in this guided tour. Examine reports of cryptids, a ball python snake found in a rental car, and a one-eyed ape near the Kentucky River. Includes a comprehensive list of alleged Bigfoot encounters, alien big cats, fresh-water phantoms, cold-blooded creatures, and monsters so strange they defy classification.

Scottish Highlanders, and their descendants all over the world, are no better and no worse than any other people where "sinful" behaviour is concerned. Standards of morality and social conventions changed dramatically during the 19th century - and most of the people engaged in recording and commenting upon Highland life and tradition were puritanical ministers and priests who left out the racy bits. So, while there are many useful books that provide a wide range of Scottish Gaelic vocabulary to express many aspects of daily life - except, for the most part, the topics covered in this book.

Journey with cryptozoologist Michael Newton as he seeks Bigfoot in North America. BHMs ("Big Hairy Monsters") have been called Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Oh-Mah, Skookum, Momo, Skunk Ape, and more throughout history, and the quest for these elusive beings has been reported and pursued from time immemorial. Read seven classic cases that put Bigfoot "on the map" and established the riddle of its existence in public consciousness. Then wander through 47 states and 6 Canadian provinces where there have been sightings since the year 2000. Meet Bigfoot hunters and learn methods employed in ongoing quests. Examine details of the debate considering whether Bigfoot should be killed (to prove the species exists) or if conclusive evidence may be obtained by other means. Discover physical evidence for Bigfoot''s existence, ranging from footprints to DNA sampling. Read about hoaxes and the creature''s portrayal in modern media and advertising.

Join the search to examine reports of unidentified and misplaced creatures--known as "cryptids"--throughout the Mountain State, from its earliest history to present day. Included are such famous unknowns as Bigfoot; Mothman, harbinger of disaster; giant birds and snakes unrecognized by modern science; anomalous huge human remains unearthed statewide since the 19th century; "extinct" cougars that refuse to die; animals alien to North America, including lions, tigers, black panthers, kangaroos, and piranha; the ferocious "Dogman" and woolly, horned "Sheepsquatch"; freshwater cephalopods; and other creatures that defy classification. Wherever you reside or visit in West Virginia, phantom cryptids have been seen near your location--terrifying witnesses, baffling investigators, and monsters sometimes leave evidence behind to mark their passing through our world. Happy hunting!

"Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia" offers more than 200 entries on assassinations of all kinds that will allow readers to grasp the often-complex motivating factors behind each event and better understand historical and contemporary social unrest. Each entry identifies the assassination target and summarizes that person''s significance; discusses the person''s assassination, including the factors that led up to it and its political and cultural contexts; and explains the powerful effects of the assassination in world history.