Most of the books I receive for review from Pen & Sword, a fine British publisher, are set a little further back in history. This one, obviously much more contemporary in nature, has a title harkening to the lurid covers of any number of supermarket tabloids.

I don't typically read such blather, but for some reason I decided to give this a look. And, I enjoyed it.

Author Nigel Blundell isn't dealing in whispers and rumors here, but more than a dozen well-documented scandals that rocked the entertainment industry over the years. (Many more are mentioned in his introduction but are given only a sentence or two.) And these are pretty big names: Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Jean Harlow, Errol Flynn, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Elvis Presley, Roman Polanski, Joan Crawford, Rock Hudson, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and Woody Allen.

You'd think we'd be jaded by now -- sex scandals are fairly common in Hollywood, after all -- but Blundell reveals details that are still pretty shocking. Some of these idols were callous or cruel with their spouses and lovers, others were victims of unconscionable abuse or ill treatment at the hands of parents, partners and trusted friends.

And if these stars are counted among your favorites, prepare to have their image tarnished. Here are some excerpts:

Chaplin's life was increasingly dissected and devoured by a scandal-hungry press. The tramp, it seems, had penchants for threesomes, fellatio and performing intercourse in front of spectators. Above all, he liked sex with schoolgirls.

An autopsy showed that her full bladder had burst, an injury that may have occurred when Arbuckle threw his bulk on top of her. The newspapers immediately spoke of him as a sex fiend who held orgies as a matter of course and was guilty of rape.

Jean had received a terrible shock on her wedding night when she discovered that her new husband was extraordinarily under-endowed and was probably impotent. She may have laughed at his sexual inadequacy or he may have been ashamed at his own attempts at lovemaking but the result was a beating for Jean.

Her frustration led to Grace becoming, in Lacey's words, "a libertine who continued to indulge her sensuality to the full," in the knowledge that her husband was also enjoying extra-marital flings.

The unlikely pair became lovers, and the star allowed the crook to move into her mansion. There he bullied her, abused her, took her money and spent it on gambling. They fought interminably but Lana Turner appeared not to be able to live without him.

Rumours swept Hollywood about her affairs with Jack Kennedy and his brother Robert. It was suggested that Marilyn was planning to reveal the truth about both relationships.

Most celebrities try to disguise their scandalous activities. The improbably pneumatic Jayne Mansfield gloried in them. There was nothing admirable about her weird lifestyle, however, and what had once seemed mere showbiz razzmatazz and glamorous eccentricity ended up as drug-fuelled madness, leading to the most horrific of deaths.

Elvis took drugs to wake up, to sleep, to go to the toilet, to leave the toilet and to go on stage. The results were obvious to all but his most devoted fans; he was incoherent and often forgot the words to the songs that had made him famous.

This fresh allegation sparked one of the most vitriolic and longest-running domestic battles in Hollywood history: a very public fight between two very private people, during which the weird world of Woody Allen was laid bare.

It's lurid stuff, and much of it is quite sad. Some, infuriating. A lot of it is simply bewildering.

I'm not one to browse the tabloids, and the private lives of celebrities aren't really my thing. Even so, Blundell presents his facts concisely and interestingly, and these stories are sure to enthrall anyone with a passion for scandals of the rich and famous.

Given the many names dropped in Blundell's introduction, I wouldn't be surprised if he's working on a second volume.