In the Summer of 1916, a series of shark attacks along the New Jersey shore would send shockwaves across its otherwise peaceful beach towns. Spanning a terrifying two weeks, including the deaths of nearly five people, these attacks would officially cement an innate fear of sharks that humans have felt since the beginning of time. Although initially kept under wraps by the tourism industry, these attacks would ultimately plaster the front pages of newspapers across the United States and even overseas. As the news spread, the line between fact and fiction blurred, reshaping our cultural and scientific understanding of the beasts of the ocean. It was the 1916 shark attacks that would establish our modern-day misconstrued perception of sharks as evil, man-eating monsters, and would later inspire the film Jaws, which would perpetuate the same harmful narrative. The Real Jaws takes an in-depth look at each one of the attacks and how they instilled a centuries-long fear of the ocean's apex predator. It explores the various theories explaining why these attacks may have occurred and the probability of something like this happening again. And finally, it analyses the way the harmful misconceptions derived from films like Jaws have redefined humanity's relationship with sharks, leading humans to become the predators and sharks to become the prey. AUTHOR: Rachel Lee Perez is an independent historian and author. She has authored two fiction novels and a children's book, as well as contributed several articles to history magazines and online forums. Rachel holds a bachelor's degree in History and is the founder and host of the Hashtag History podcast which delves into history's greatest stories of controversy, conspiracy, and corruption. Rachel is also a board member for the Remedial Herstory Project and the host of their podcast, US Herstory. Rachel lives in Elk Grove, California, with her husband Alex, and their twin daughters, Charlotte and Olivia. 32 b/w illustrations
