'This is the story of how a great European crime, the murderous ethnic program of the German Reich, cancelled out the sweet Polish childhood and adolescence of the child Halina Trachtenberg. Above all, the book fills out our knowledge of the huge injustice done to families like hers. It is wonderful she was able to put it down in a satisfying record.' (Publication summary)

'I don't know whether I found trouble or trouble found me. Whatever the case, trouble and I have been lifelong companions...Frank Sinatra, Sir Peter Abeles, Jimmy the Weasel Fratianno... big celebrities, big business, big mobsters and big politicians, from the famous to the infamous, the cast of characters almost defies the imagination.'

'Looking back on his tumultuous life, Bela Csidei, the accidental gangster, recalls a story that takes him from a childhood spent fishing with explosives and a little freelance arms dealing to holding a promissory note for $250 million dollars. From his survival of war-torn Europe to two contracts on his life, Bela emerges as a genuinely colourful character and an optimistic, loveable rogue. In spite of multi-million dollar business deals gone wrong, a drug bust, a stint as a diplomat and an espionage agent for foreign governments, an explorer for minerals, a banker, a womaniser, a shark hunter and a Mafia conduit for Australian big business, Bela has lived to spin a great yarn. As he says, With this book a few less people will die wondering...'

Source : publication summary