Ashley James: 31 books

The three last-stand battles of history most well known by the general public are the Spartans at Thermopylae, during the Persian wars; the British at Isandlawana, during the Zulu wars; and Custer’s Last Stand at the Little BigHorn, during the plains Indian wars. Even if most people know next to...

This book deals primarily with the Al Capone Era in Chicago. Technically this would cover a six-year, eight-month period of time from when Johnny Torrio was shot by “Bugs” Moran in January 24, 1925 to October 24, 1931, when Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for income tax evasion....

Al Capone had delayed the start of his imprisonment by over a year with numerous appeals which his lawyers knew to have no merit. This was so that Frank Nitti, who was finishing up his prison sentence for income tax evasion, could be released and able to assume control of the Outfit. However, in many...

Jim Colosimo began the 1890s as a newsboy, bootblack, and a thief. After becoming a skilled pickpocket at 18, Colosimo acquired a “stable” of girls and became a pimp. When “heat” from law enforcement put an end to Colosimo’s criminal enterprises, he obtained employment as a street sweeper....

The “Dust Bowl” of the early 1930s spawned the era of the Mid-West bank robbers. Gangs led by Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and “Baby Face” Nelson became the stuff of American legend. None of them was spectacularly successful at bank robbing and all of them came...

The “Dust Bowl” of the early 1930s spawned the era of the Mid-West bank robbers. Gangs led by Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and “Baby Face” Nelson became the stuff of American legend. None of them was spectacularly successful at bank robbing and all of them came...

The “Dust Bowl” of the early 1930s spawned the era of the Mid-West bank robbers. Gangs led by Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and “Baby Face” Nelson became the stuff of American legend. None of them was spectacularly successful at bank robbing and all of them came...

Bette Davis, despite her lack of beauty and sex appeal, rose up to be a major star, making several memorable movies that would live on as classics, never to be surpassed in any remake. She had lived a rather miserable and unhappy life and most people that worked with her disliked her, and in many...

Mae West was perhaps the most unique female actress of any age of films, in that she became the product of her mind’s eye. Neither the film studios she worked at nor her fans created her, Mae did that herself. She dictated in what she appeared, how she appeared, what her dialogue was, and how her...

The “Dust Bowl” of the early 1930s spawned the era of the Mid-West bank robbers. Gangs led by Bonnie & Clyde, John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and “Baby Face” Nelson became the stuff of American legend. None of them was spectacularly successful at bank robbing and all of them came...

Jean Harlow was widely considered as the reigning sexpot of the golden age of Hollywood filmmaking. She usually played the part either of a tough-talking moll or a prostitute and was every man’s fantasy date. The reality, however, was far different. Although Jean engaged in sex from time to time,...

Clark Gable was born into a dysfunctional family, his mother being a psychotic who was said to have died insane when he was a year old and his father, who believed that brawn over brain was the only standard for measuring manhood, was a oil wildcatter, who preferred being out in the field to spending...

The starvation caused by the potato famine in Ireland resulted in a huge immigration of Irish to the United States, primarily to New York City. They settled in the lower slums of Manhattan, and by their sheer numbers overran the lower east side. Poor, uneducated, and unskilled, the Irish lived in...

Most people believe that the first English colony established in North America was at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609. In point of fact, however, that was the second English colony. The first one was 21 years before Jamestown and was on a small island just behind the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It...