The stunning true story of the rise of Nazism in America in the years leading to WWII—and the fearless Jewish gangsters and crime families who joined forces to fight back. With an intense cinematic style, acclaimed nonfiction crime author Michael Benson reveals the thrilling role of Jewish mobsters like Bugsy Siegel in stomping out the terrifying tide of Nazi sympathizers during the 1930s and 1940s.

As Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1930s Germany, a growing wave of fascism began to take root on American soil. Nazi activists started to gather in major American cities, and by 1933, there were more than one-hundred anti-Semitic groups operating openly in the United States. Few Americans dared to speak out or fight back—until an organized resistance of notorious Jewish mobsters (Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Red Levine, and others) waged their own personal war against the Nazis in their midst, gangland-style . . .

Packed with surprising, little-known facts, graphic details, and unforgettable personalities, Gangsters vs. Nazis chronicles the mob’s most ruthless tactics in taking down fascism—inspiring ordinary Americans to join them in their fight. The book culminates in one of the most infamous events of the pre-war era—the 1939 Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden—in which law-abiding citizens stood alongside hardened criminals to fight against the Nazis for the soul of America.

This is the story of the mob that’s rarely told—one of the most fascinating chapters in American history and American organized crime.

Today you'd call Ballantyne suburban, but back then, at the start of the summer of 1966, it was country - just a cluster of houses, some of them shacks, on or near Ballantyne Road, in the Town of Chili, NY. And while June 25 started like any other day it would end in a nightmare. In The Devil at Genesee Junction, veteran crime writer, Michael Benson, returns to his formerly rural hometown to take on the double homicide of his friends Kathy Bernhard and George-Ann Formiciola that took place that night. The two girls were missing for a month and then found in the bushes horribly mutilated. The double homicide changed the author's childhood suddenly, and drastically. He went from living in a rural playland, to being encased in fear, wondering who among them was the werewolf who cut up Kathy and George-Ann. This heinous crime was never resolved, and didn't go away. In recent years, the author has teamed up with a victim's mom, and a local private investigator to delve deep into the 6/66 murders, developing along the way some strong new leads and shocking details. Together they have heated up this icy cold case, and their investigation has led them in a startling new direction.

What grandstand collapsed during a game, killing twelve? How high is the Green monster in Fenway? In what park was the outfield fence only 187 feet from home plate? ""Ballparks of North America"" is a comprehensive encyclopedia of the grounds, yards and stadiums used for organized baseball from the invention of the sport in the 1840s to the present. Entries, listed alphabetically by community, cover everything from cornfields to Yankee Stadium. Each entry gives the location of the park, who played there and when, home run dimensions, seating capacity, architectural comments, attendance records, and anecdotes. This title includes over 100 photos and drawings, some rare.

This encyclopedic listing of every man who played on or coached the New York Knicks from the team's inception in 1946 to the present is jam-packed with details on everything from a player's careers statistics to his height, weight, and jersey number. Included is information about a player's life before and after the NBA, college career, and dates of birth and death. Relive the glory days of Bill Bradley, Walter "Cylde the Glide" Frazier, Patrick Ewing, Bob McAdoo, Dave DeBusschere, and all the other Knickerbockers in this comprehensive guide to Madison Square Garden's most famous denizens.

The definitive story of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, acclaimed today as one of the greatest films ever made, and of director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke-"a tremendous explication of a tremendous film....Breathtaking" (The Washington Post). Fifty years ago a strikingly original film had its premiere. Still acclaimed as one of the most remarkable and important motion pictures ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted the first contacts between humanity and extraterrestrial intelligence. The movie was the product of a singular collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and science fiction visionary Arthur C. Clarke. Fresh off the success of his cold war satire Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick wanted to make the first truly first-rate science fiction film. Drawing from Clarke's ideas and with one of the author's short stories as the initial inspiration, their bold vision benefited from pioneering special effects that still look extraordinary today, even in an age of computer-generated images. In Space Odyssey, author, artist, and award-winning filmmaker Michael Benson "delivers expert inside stuff" (San Francisco Chronicle) from his extensive research of Kubrick's and Clarke's archives. He has had the cooperation of Kubrick's widow, Christiane, and interviewed most of the key people still alive who worked on the film. Drawing also from other previously unpublished interviews, Space Odyssey provides a 360-degree view of the film from its genesis to its legacy, including many previously untold stories. And it features dozens of photos from the making of the film, most never previously published. "At last! The dense, intense, detailed, and authoritative saga of the making of the greatest motion picture I've ever seen...Michael Benson has done the Cosmos a great service" (Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks).

The breadth of the human experience We quite rightly celebrate human creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, but too often our triumphs in science, engineering and technology come at monumental cost. The human story is more often a tale of conflict and despair than of nurture, love, and coexistence. It would be easy to read the human story as one of tragic hubris. Yet it does not end here. We stand on the threshold of the future wondering which way the dice will fall. Our wager with posterity is that human ingenuity, intelligence, and resilience of spirit are powerful enough to insist upon a very different future for the human story. Prix Pictet: Human features over 100 outstanding works of contemporary photography by many of the world’s most acclaimed photographers.

Root disease epidemics, because much of the activity takes place in soil and out of sight, pose special challenges to growers who seek to manage them and to scientists who study them. All relevant topics of root disease epidemics and their management are presented: The critical aspects of specific disease components including inoculum, host roots, mycorrhiza and the soil environment are explored. Challenges of disease assessment and the temporal and spatial aspects of epidemic development are considered, and approaches to root disease management including host resistance, chemical, biological and cultural management are discussed in detail. The book fulfills the needs of researchers, teachers, and practitioners of plant pathology.

There is only one casino game in which players, if they play perfectly, can gain a mathematical advantage over the house. That game is blackjack.
Blackjack Strategy teaches you everything you need to know to fatten your wallet and have a good time at the tables. At last, here is an easy-to-understand guide to blackjacks basic strategy and card counting. Michael Benson explains when to take a hit, when to stand, when to split, and when to double-down - and how all these decisions are influenced by the card count. Included are:
* A comprehensive list of blackjack rules, including those particular to specific casinos,
regions, and foreign countries
* How to avoid the surveillance techniques houses use to weed out card counters
* Inside tips from the professionals
* A money-management guide to maximize winnings and minimize losses
* Forty strategy charts
Blackjack Strategy is entirely up-to-date for todays casino play and, unlike many other blackjack guides, doesnt require a mathematicians skill to comprehend.

In Why the Grateful Dead Matter, veteran writer and lifelong Deadhead Michael Benson argues that the Grateful Dead are not simply a successful rock-and-roll band but a phenomenon central to American culture. He defends the proposition that the Grateful Dead are, in fact, a musical movement as transformative as any -ism in the artistic history of this century and the last. And a lot more fun than most. From the street festivals of Haight-Ashbury to the cross-country acid tests with the Merry Pranksters, and from the sound-and-light show at the Great Pyramid at Giza to the ecstatic outpouring of joy at Soldier Field in the summer of ’15, the Grateful Dead have been at the center of American life, music, and karmic flow for fifty years. In Why the Grateful Dead Matter, Michael Benson brings it all back to life and makes a compelling case for the band’s lasting cultural importance.

So you think you're smarter than a fifth grader? Well, as many contestants have already discovered on the smash hit TV show hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, you may have either "forgotten" more than you realize about "the three R's" or simply never learned in the first place! How much do you really know about third grade math? Fourth grade social studies? Fifth grade science? First grade spelling?

You may have a high school diploma or a college degree hanging on your wall, but are you smarter than a fifth grader? You'll find out in this book, which includes brain-teasing ten-question quizzes (including million-dollar bonus questions) on information the average eleven-year-old is expected to know--plus there are great bits of fun and fascinating trivia sprinkled throughout. Go ahead--we "dare" you to prove you're as bright as that gum-chewing kid with the backpack who's waiting on the corner for that yellow bus every morning. School is back in session. And maybe you'll even learn a thing or two that you missed by not paying attention the first time around.

It was one of the biggest crime stories of the decade-two deadly killers, desperate and on the run. After months of planning, Ricky Matt and David Sweat cut, chopped, coerced, and connived their way out of a maximum-security prison in the wilderness of upstate New York and managed to elude police for three weeks, sending the region into lockdown and keeping the entire country on edge. The media called it "a bold escape for the ages," and veteran true-crime writer Michael Benson leads us along the story's every wild path to dig out a tale of adventure, psychology, sex, and brutality. Escape from Dannemora examines the strange case of Joyce Mitchell, the long-time prison employee who had a sexual relationship with at least one of the killers, and who smuggled them tools and aided in the escape, while they cooked up a plan to kill her husband. In the end, Benson looks closely at conditions at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY, a crumbling Gothic pile now under investigation for charges of drug trafficking and brutality.