Non-Fiction Books

Comedian Richard Belzer promises that he can turn anyone into a stand-up comedian. Here he makes good on that promise and provides a generous helping of laughs in the process. This irreverents and informative book prepares wannabe comedians with tips and inside information from a seasoned veteran. Photographs.

The distinguished statesman of stand-up comedy tackles some of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups this side of Roswell. “A must-read . . . You gotta love the Belz. . . . His sharp sense of humor doesn’t allow him to miss an opportunity for laughs.”— Playboy I’m not asking you to believe every single conspiracy theory you find in this book. . . . I didn’t write this book to give you all the answers. I wrote this book to inspire you to do what the powers that be wish you wouldn’t: question authority . . . and to keep an eye out for Elvis Just what is it that they don’t want you to know about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Area 51, and what the American astronauts really found on the moon? The unexplained crash at Roswell and the mysterious “face” on Mars? The link between the Nazis and the U.S. space program? Evidence of extraterrestrial experimentation? Finally, one lone “nut” exposes the conspiracy to keep conspiracies a dirty little secret, standing up to the shadowy forces that would have us believe that Oswald acted alone, those lights in the sky are weather balloons, and fluoridated water is good for you (yeah, right). “Some of the smartest people I know . . . find it easier—and certainly more comforting—to believe that America is the only country on earth with no conspiracies at all.” Just remember: do not ask on whom The Belz has told—he’s told on them.

For years, the government has put out hits on people that they found “expendable,” or who they felt were “talking too much,” covering up their assassinations with drug overdoses and mysterious suicides. In Dead Wrong , a study of the scientific and forensic facts of various Government cover-ups, Richard Belzer and David Wayne argue that Marilyn Monroe was murdered, that the person who shot Martin Luther King Jr. was ordered to do so by the government, and examines many other terrifying lies we've been told throughout our country’s history. The extensive research shows how our government has taken matters into its own hands, plotting murder whenever it saw fit. Belzer and Wayne also examine the deaths of White House Counsel Vincent Foster, U.N. Weapons Inspector Dr. David C. Kelly, and bio-weapons expert Dr. Frank Olson, as well as the cases of two murders directly linked Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States. “Big Brother” is watching you—through the scope of a sniper rifle. Dead Wrong will give you the straight facts on some of the most controversial and famous deaths this country has ever seen. The harsh reality is that our government only tells us what we want to hear, as they look out for their own best interests and eliminate anyone who gets in their way.

Richard Belzer and David Wayne are back to set the record straight after Dead Wrong ; this time they’re going to uncover the truth about the many witness deaths tied to the JFK assassination. For decades, government pundits have dismissed these “coincidental” deaths, even regarding them as “myths” as “urban legends.” Like most people, Richard and David were initially unsure about what to make of these ‘coincidences’. After all, events don’t “consult the odds” prior to happening; they simply happen . Then someone comes along later and figures out what the odds of it happening were. Some of the deaths seemed purely coincidental; heart attacks, hunting accidents. Others clearly seemed noteworthy; witnesses who did seem to know something and did seem to die mysteriously. Hit List is a fair examination of the evidence of each case, leading to (necessarily) different conclusions. The findings were absolutely staggering; as some cases were clearly linked to a “clean-up operation” after the murder of President Kennedy, while others were the result of ‘other forces’. The impeccable research and writing of Richard Belzer and David Wayne show that if the government is trying to hide anything, they’re the duo who will uncover it.

There’s a lot we haven’t heard about the murder of Princess Diana! Belzer & Wayne are back, and with a big conspiracy and cover-up too. Did you know that: Diana specifically predicted that she would be assassinated. This book documents it very clearly in Diana’s exact words.. Stories that the driver was drunk were fabricated; he was not. Contrary to the official explanation, Diana’s car was not closely followed by photographers and that was not the cause of the crash. And she was not pinned in the vehicle, but it took emergency crews an incredibly long 1 hour, 40 minutes to get Diana to a nearby hospital; and that’s why she bled to death as a result. The evidence trail and eyewitness interviews prove that the Mercedes was diverted into the tunnel by vehicles that blocked its exit. That the Mercedes had been stolen and had its computer chip changed out. The crash-scene analysis is indicative of an assassination technique that is detailed specifically. Diana always wore her seat belt, but hers was defective on the night of the crash. And in yet another “coincidence,” the regular traffic cameras in the tunnel were not functioning at the time of the crash, so there was no recording of it as there would normally be. Diana’s body was immediately embalmed—even though that was illegal—which made it impossible to determine if she was pregnant. This book documents all the factual evidence like it’s never been done before.

In Conversations with Jerry Lewis , Hollywood’s legendary, beloved, and polarizing comedian talks extensively about his life and work with comedian and actor Richard Belzer, best known for his roles on TV’s Law & Order and Homicide . This extraordinary book includes a preface by Lewis himself, as well as dozens of his own personal photographs and memora­bilia. The eighty-six-year-old icon discusses his life and career, the current generation of comics (We’ve got some marvelous people out there. But then we have a breed of young comic that I wanna smack in the mouth”); the craft of comedy (We’re supposed to be nuts, and we better be”); Dean Martin (The greatest straight man that ever lived”); the genesis of his muscular dystrophy telethon; and his many technical achievements in film (includ­ing the invention of the digital assist camera, which became an industry standard); all with the humor, earnestness, and unfil­tered wisdom that audiences have grown to expect from one of the all-time masters of entertainment. Through his personal relationship with Lewis, Belzer is able to deliver the definitive almanac of the man behind the icon. The book is a must-read for fans of Jerry Lewis, of comedy, and of the history of film.

A year after the disappearance and commencement of the international search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, no sign of the plane has been found—no debris, no bodies, no sign of the much-talked-about black box. Richard Belzer, George Noory, and David Wayne want to know why. Scrutinizing the theories the media and politicians claim are the “most likely” reasons the plane crashed, Belzer, Noory, and Wayne argue that if a year after a huge Boeing 777 has gone missing, and there’s still no sign of it whatsoever, it’s time to think outside the box. The public needs to stop being misled. If a plane and its passengers went "missing" once, what's to stop it from happening again? Some of the theories the authors consider seem implausible on the surface, but the thorough research they've done and the continual failure of politicians, aviation authorities, and military members around the world to give any indication they're wrong makes their arguments as good—if not better—than the more widely shared ones. The title of this thought-provoking volume, Someone is Hiding Something , is a line spoken by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad—perhaps the only government official to publicly acknowledge the true reason that neither Flight 370 nor the 239 people onboard have been found.

From New York Times bestselling authors Richard Belzer and David Wayne comes a hard look at the wrongs done to us all by big business in America. Here is an explosive account of wrongful acts perpetrated, and the ensuing cover-ups inflicted upon us, by American corporations. The bestselling author team of Richard Belzer and David Wayne exposes the ways that the capitalist regime has got us under their thumbs—from the mainstream media and its control over us, to the trillions stolen by big banks and mortgage companies during the mortgage crisis, to the scams perpetrated by Big Oil and Big Pharma. The one common victim of all that corruption is the American public, and Corporate Conspiracies wants to do something about it. Corporate Conspiracies takes dead aim at those who take advantage of us little guys. Probably most disturbing is the book's examination of politics and capitalism teaming up against us—how politicians and lobbyists all have their hands in each other's pockets while stabbing us in the back, and how the well-established energy lobby—which is petroleum, natural gas, and coal—has played a dominant role in the shaping of US foreign policy for decades. Did you know that companies at times know that their products will kill people, but they do nothing, because it is actually cheaper to compensate the victims than it is to correct the problem? And did you know that the Pentagon is sending $1.5 trillion of our tax dollars to their corporate buddies for a new fighter jet that is already superfluous? This book is guaranteed to make us all think twice about being enslaved and cheated by corporate America. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.