'I am not a gangster,' I spat. 'I'm a businessman trying to make a hard-earned crust. Understood?' I didn't give him time to reply. I took the barrel out of his mouth and smashed him in the face with the butt. His lip split, but he wasn't a dead man. He seemed to appreciate that his life had been spared. He spluttered his thanks: 'Ok, youâe(tm)re not a gangster. You are not a gangster.' This is the gripping true story of how one man ruled his north London manor with an iron fist âe" and a sawn-off shotgun called Kennedy. Itâe(tm)s a shocking insight into a society where the rules are made by gangland leaders and if anybody dare break them, they have to deal with the consequences. Bobby was sent to prison for the first time in 1967, aged 16, and over the next decade he established himself as a hardened criminal running protection rackets and robberies against a backdrop of all-out gang warfare, where doorstep slayings and bloody shoot-outs were common. Eventually Bobby was sentenced to 12 years in Britainâe(tm)s most notorious prisons, along with the Krays, Charlie Richardson and the Yorkshire Ripper. Inside, he was introduced to the Open University and on his release he soon got down to business again. Only this time his efforts saw him go from custody of Her Majestyâe(tm)s Prison Service to meeting with the Queen herself... I Am Not A Gangster is an explosive account of life in the criminal underworld by one of Britainâe(tm)s most dangerous men, but above all itâe(tm)s a remarkable tale of redemption with the biggest turnaround in gangland history.

'I am not a gangster,' I spat. 'I'm a businessman trying to make a hard-earned crust. Understood?' I didn't give him time to reply. I took the barrel out of his mouth and smashed him in the face with the butt. His lip split, but he wasn't a dead man. He seemed to appreciate that his life had been spared. He spluttered his thanks: 'Ok, youâe(tm)re not a gangster. You are not a gangster.' This is the gripping true story of how one man ruled his north London manor with an iron fist âe" and a sawn-off shotgun called Kennedy. Itâe(tm)s a shocking insight into a society where the rules are made by gangland leaders and if anybody dare break them, they have to deal with the consequences. Bobby was sent to prison for the first time in 1967, aged 16, and over the next decade he established himself as a hardened criminal running protection rackets and robberies against a backdrop of all-out gang warfare, where doorstep slayings and bloody shoot-outs were common. Eventually Bobby was sentenced to 12 years in Britainâe(tm)s most notorious prisons, along with the Krays, Charlie Richardson and the Yorkshire Ripper. Inside, he was introduced to the Open University and on his release he soon got down to business again. Only this time his efforts saw him go from custody of Her Majestyâe(tm)s Prison Service to meeting with the Queen herself... I Am Not A Gangster is an explosive account of life in the criminal underworld by one of Britainâe(tm)s most dangerous men, but above all itâe(tm)s a remarkable tale of redemption with the biggest turnaround in gangland history.

The highly acclaimed novel that reveals the life of a Vietnamese family in America through the knowing eyes of a child finding her place and voice in a new country. “A brilliant evocation of human sorrow and desire.... Heartbreaking and exhilarating.” —The New York Times Book Review In 1978 six refugees—a girl, her father, and four “uncles”—are pulled from the sea to begin a new life in San Diego. In the child’s imagination, the world is transmuted into an unearthly realm: she sees everything intensely, hears the distress calls of inanimate objects, and waits for her mother to join her. But life loses none of its strangeness when the family is reunited. As the girl grows, her matter-of-fact innocence eddies increasingly around opaque and ghostly traumas: the cataclysm that engulfed her homeland, the memory of a brother who drowned and, most inescapable, her father’s hopeless rage.

With a phone call from an old friend in need Cookster finds himself back in the firm he had fought so hard to leave. Cookster soon falls once again into the temptation of beautiful women, sex, drugs and money and gangsters, only this time the steaks are even higher as he becomes blinded by the lights in London and abroad.

The gangster movie is one of the most popular genres in film. From the Italian, Irish, and Russian "families" in America to similarly sinister groups in Europe, Japan, and beyond, the cinema has never shied away from portraying the evil exploits of these brutal outfits. In this highly entertaining and informative book, two accomplished and apropos authors put the genre in perspective like no other author or documentarian has done before. The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies provides extensive reviews of the Top 100 gangster films of all time, including sidebars like "Reality Check," "Hit and Miss," "I Know That Guy," "Body Count," and other fun and informative features. Also included are over a dozen stand-alone chapters such as Sleeper "Hits," "Fugazi" Flops, Guilty Pleasures, Lost Treasures, Q&A Interviews with top actors and directors (including Chazz Palinteri, Michael Madsen, Joe Mantagna, and more), plus over 50 compelling photographs. Foreword by Joe Pistone, the FBI agent and mob infiltrator who wrote the bestselling book and acclaimed movie, Donnie Brasco.

‘The next stage meant that there was no going back. An Irish prisoner stepped forward and slipped a blade into my hand. I felt the ice cold metal and pressed it against the governor’s cheek. I thought to myself: would they ever release me after this?’ Bobby Cummines was only 28 when he passed through the grim gates of Parkhurst, Britain’s Alcatraz, as a category-A prisoner with a host of crimes to his name. Joining the most notorious gangsters and criminals of the day – from the Krays, the Yorkshire Ripper and Charles Bronson, to high ranking members of the IRA – nothing could have prepared him for the brutal regime, violent convicts, vindictive screws and riots on the inside. It’s the story of Britain’s most hellish prison, from one of its hardest inmates.

It is 1952, and in the opening pages of Little Gangster, Joey DAngelo, our young Sicilian protagonist, and his friend, Johnny Marino, are called late at night to First Street park where their gangster employer, Pepi Savino, is in the middle of an argument with another gangster, Nick Bonanti. Immediately after the two twelve year old boys arrive in the park, the confrontation becomes violent and Joey is told by Pepi to carry out a task which risks arrest for Joey and becomes one of the great challenges facing him in the novel. The boys have been running errands for Pepi and earning money for bets on stickball games. Joey has no moral concern about this work until he is called into the office of Peter Capra, Director of The Boys Club of New York, and is offered an opportunity for a scholarship to a New England prep school; but there is a catch: Joey must break all ties with Pepi Savino. Joey finally decides what to do, and in an exciting climax, he confronts Pepi with his decision. In this dramatic coming-of-age tale, Joey takes the first steps toward realizing the American dream, its pursuits, its challenges and sacrifices. For 140 years, The Boys Club of New York, (BCNY), has combined a single-minded focus on boys and young men with a unique multi-disciplinary approach which prepares them for a fulfilling and meaningful adulthood. The Boys Club accomplishes this through an approach which includes music and arts programs, social activities, academic support and athletics. By introducing them to new ideas in a nurturing environment, BCNY helps shape them into the best adults they can be. The Boys Club of New York has sent over 2,000 boys to prep schools and colleges throughout the country since 1952. A percentage of all book sales will go to support programming at the Boys Club of New York. To learn more about The Boys Club of New York, visit www.bcny.org.