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Film historian and author Michael G. Ankerich, whose most recent book, Dangerous Curves Atop Hollywood Heels, was named one of the top 10 silent film books of 2010 wrote this review on my new book Hollywood Royalty - a Family in Films. It will be published by Bearmanor Media mid 2017. 

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"Just when I think no more books can be written about early Hollywood and its beginning from a personal and intimate perspective, along comes Hollywood Royalty. The author has taken personal letters written from the hand of a true Hollywood pioneer to his son and woven them into an illuminating view inside one of early Hollywood's most influential families.

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The letters between Jesse Lasky Sr. and Jesse Lasky Jr., father and son, provide a rare and unique perspective of a man who shaped the film industry. There are intimate details about the Lasky family; Lasky's complex relationship with his wife; day-to-day interactions with Adolph Zukor, Samuel Goldwyn, Cecil B. DeMille; behind-the-scenes negotiations and development of some of Hollywood's finest classics; and perhaps most interesting, fatherly advice Lasky gives his son about life in general and his son's career in films.

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The beauty of the book is Silver-Lasky's use of personal letters between Jesse Sr. and Jesse Jr. and to set the context, her own personal recollections and anecdotes provided her by husband Jesse Jr. 

Hollywood Royalty will be of wide appeal to fans of classic cinema in these special areas: Beginnings of Hollywood and the film industry, silent films, Cecil B. DeMille, Adolph Zukor, transition to sound films, day-to-day development of a film (from adaptation to premiere).

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The book should appeal to general readers other than film buffs and historians, as the author explores the intricate dynamics of a family who gains wealth and prestige and how they coped when studio politics and the Depression rocked their lavish lifestyle.

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The photos for the book are especially interesting, as many are from Lasky's personal collection."