Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Biographies & Memoirs

In 1845, runaway slave Frederick Douglass became, almost overnight, the most celebrated African American author in history with the publication of his Narrative. In stark, powerful prose, he conveyed his observations of owners and overseers, the demoralizing effects of slavery on both slave and slaveholder, and his own triumph over oppression. In the latter part of the century, Douglass became a public figure of enormous stature: an orator, a newspaper publisher, and a statesman. But he is perhaps best remembered as America's first major African American writer, a man whose work still makes a powerful impact on both our minds and hearts.For a new perspective on Douglass' narrative, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s, introduction examines its literary and social importance, and considers the issues Douglass raised as the foundation for today's field of African American studies. Gates's illuminating insights, and an extensive bibliography, make this edition essential reading for scholars, historians, and students of African American literature.

Legends of the Middle Ages: The Life and Legacy of Vlad the Impaler

Biographies & Memoirs

*Includes pictures of Vlad and important people and places in his life. *Includes historical accounts that describe Vlad the Impaler and his notorious rule. *Discusses the authenticity of the accounts accusing Vlad of impaling tens of thousands and his other infamous misdeeds *Analyzes Vlad's legacy and his association with Bram Stoker's Dracula. “And then he put many people on spinning wheels and killed them. And he also did many such other inhuman cruelties that were talked about in many countries.” – A German legend about Vlad Dracula Many medieval figures are shrouded in mystery due to the scarcity of available sources and to the difficulties posed by the interpretation of historical narratives dating from this period. And even when there is enough documented evidence to put together a sufficiently coherent biographical account, other sources and accounts may emerge that flagrantly contradict the already established and generally accepted historical narrative. Nowhere is this more evident than in the legacy of Vlad III Dracula, who history has recorded as one of the most notorious and bloodthirsty tyrants of the 15th century. In addition to lending the name Dracula to Bram Stoker’s famous vampire, Vlad is known around the world by the cognomen Vlad the Impaler, due to his reputation for impaling thousands of his enemies. Vlad was reputed to be such a tyrant that his reputation and stories of his deeds spread across Germany and the rest of Europe during his lifetime. However, two very conflicting images emerge when contemporary narratives and chronicles are considered. On the one hand, he is portrayed by a variety of sources as a blood-thirsty tyrant with a penchant for devising unnecessarily cruel punishments. But on the other hand, he appears as a heroic and brave fighter against the Ottoman Empire’s ongoing threat towards Wallachian territorial integrity and autonomy. There are probably grains of truth to both depictions; Vlad did indeed implement an authoritarian internal policy in order to increase his power within the state, while also attempting to defend Wallachian independence in the face of both Hungarian and Ottoman encroachments. The accounts, however, are divergent in almost every other respect, including the specific character of his punishments and the motivations outlining them, the number of victims, and, most significantly, the personality of the ruler himself. Naturally, trying to determine who Vlad was and what he was really like has been made more complex by the subsequent fame he achieved in Europe and beyond, beginning with the dissemination of the German and Slavic 15th century narratives that aided in the construction of a diabolical, mythical-like figure that has been passed down throughout history to today. Bram Stoker’s widely-read novel, as well as its subsequent adaptations, added to the confusion by directly linking the infamous monster of South-Eastern Europe, the wampyr, with the figure of Vlad III Dracula. Even today, for most people Dracula brings to mind Stoker’s character, and only rarely the historical figure itself. Legends of the Middle Ages: The Life and Legacy of Vlad the Impaler chronicles the historic life, reign, and legacy of the notorious leader, but it also examines the controversial legends and tales about him in an attempt to separate fact from fiction. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Vlad the Impaler like you never have before, in no time at all.

How to Make a Spaceship

Biographies & Memoirs

A New York Times bestseller! The historic race that reawakened the promise of manned spaceflightA Finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Alone in a Spartan black cockpit, test pilot Mike Melvill rocketed toward space. He had eighty seconds to exceed the speed of sound and begin the climb to a target no civilian pilot had ever reached. He might not make it back alive. If he did, he would make history as the world’s first commercial astronaut. The spectacle defied reason, the result of a competition dreamed up by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, whose vision for a new race to space required small teams to do what only the world’s largest governments had done before. Peter Diamandis was the son of hardworking immigrants who wanted their science prodigy to make the family proud and become a doctor. But from the age of eight, when he watched Apollo 11 land on the Moon, his singular goal was to get to space. When he realized NASA was winding down manned space flight, Diamandis set out on one of the great entrepreneurial adventure stories of our time. If the government wouldn’t send him to space, he would create a private space flight industry himself. In the 1990s, this idea was the stuff of science fiction. Undaunted, Diamandis found inspiration in an unlikely place: the golden age of aviation. He discovered that Charles Lindbergh made his transatlantic flight to win a $25,000 prize. The flight made Lindbergh the most famous man on earth and galvanized the airline industry. Why, Diamandis thought, couldn’t the same be done for space flight? The story of the bullet-shaped SpaceShipOne, and the other teams in the hunt, is an extraordinary tale of making the impossible possible. It is driven by outsized characters—Burt Rutan, Richard Branson, John Carmack, Paul Allen—and obsessive pursuits. In the end, as Diamandis dreamed, the result wasn’t just a victory for one team; it was the foundation for a new industry and a new age.

Be Useful

Biographies & Memoirs

The seven rules to follow to realize your true purpose in life—distilled by Arnold Schwarzenegger from his own journey of ceaseless reinvention and extraordinary achievement, and available for absolutely anyoneThe world’s greatest bodybuilder. The world’s highest-paid movie star. The leader of the world’s sixth-largest economy. That these are the same person sounds like the setup to a joke, but this is no joke. This is Arnold Schwarzenegger. And this did not happen by accident. Arnold’s stratospheric success happened as part of a process. As the result of clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back. All of it guided by the one lesson Arnold’s father hammered into him above all: be useful. As Arnold conquered every realm he entered, he kept his father’s adage close to his heart. Written with his uniquely earnest, blunt, powerful voice, Be Useful takes readers on an inspirational tour through Arnold’s tool kit for a meaningful life. He shows us how to put those tools to work, in service of whatever fulfilling future we can dream up for ourselves. He brings his insights to vivid life with compelling personal stories, life-changing successes and life-threatening failures alike—some of them famous; some told here for the first time ever. Too many of us struggle to disconnect from our self-pity and connect to our purpose. At an early age, Arnold forged the mental tools to build the ladder out of the poverty and narrow-mindedness of his rural Austrian hometown, tools he used to add rung after rung from there. Now he shares that wisdom with all of us. As he puts it, no one is going to come rescue you—you only have yourself. The good news, it turns out, is that you are all you need.

His Truth Is Marching On

Biographies & Memoirs

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman John Lewis, linking his life to the painful quest for justice in America from the 1950s to the present—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Soul of America NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND COSMOPOLITAN John Lewis, who at age twenty-five marched in Selma, Alabama, and was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, was a visionary and a man of faith. Drawing on decades of wide-ranging interviews with Lewis, Jon Meacham writes of how this great-grandson of a slave and son of an Alabama tenant farmer was inspired by the Bible and his teachers in nonviolence, Reverend James Lawson and Martin Luther King, Jr., to put his life on the line in the service of what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.” From an early age, Lewis learned that nonviolence was not only a tactic but a philosophy, a biblical imperative, and a transforming reality. At the age of four, Lewis, ambitious to become a minister, practiced by preaching to his family’s chickens. When his mother cooked one of the chickens, the boy refused to eat it—his first act, he wryly recalled, of nonviolent protest. Integral to Lewis’s commitment to bettering the nation was his faith in humanity and in God—and an unshakable belief in the power of hope. Meacham calls Lewis “as important to the founding of a modern and multiethnic twentieth- and twenty-first-century America as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and Samuel Adams were to the initial creation of the Republic itself in the eighteenth century.” A believer in the injunction that one should love one's neighbor as oneself, Lewis was arguably a saint in our time, risking limb and life to bear witness for the powerless in the face of the powerful. In many ways he brought a still-evolving nation closer to realizing its ideals, and his story offers inspiration and illumination for Americans today who are working for social and political change.

Leading Actors & Actresses

Biographies & Memoirs

Timeless collection of American actors & actresses biographies. American Biographies Series provides descriptions and stories of people important in the history of the United States. Including the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death, the series also presents highlights of various aspects of his or her life. LEARN ENGLISH AS YOU READ AND LISTEN TO THE DESCRIPTIONS AND STORIES OF PEOPLE IMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ADAPTATIONS ARE WRITTEN AT THE INTERMEDIATE AND UPPER-BEGINNER LEVEL AND ARE READ ONE-THIRD SLOWER THAN REGULAR ENGLISH.

12 Years a Slave

Biographies & Memoirs

The astonishing memoir of a free man who was sold into slavery in Louisiana where he was kept for 12 years—a powerful, riveting condemnation of slavery, and a story soon to be introduced to a new audience through a major film Tricked by two men offering him a job as a musician in New York state in 1841, Solomon Northup was instead drugged and kidnapped. Threatened with death, Northup was forced to assume a new name and fake past. Taken to Louisiana on a disease-ridden plague ship, he was initially sold to a cotton planter. In the 12 years that followed he was sold to many different owners who treated him with varying levels of savagery, including forced labor, scant food, and numerous beatings. Eventually Northup succeeded in contacting Samuel Bass, a white carpenter whom he knew to be sympathetic to the cause of black people. Bass contacted Northup's family and together they gained the necessary paperwork to travel to Louisiana to retrieve him. Northup pressed charges against his captors but in a triumph of irony the case was heard in Washington—meaning that as a black man he could not testify against the accused (in the end they were able to countersue him.) A true-life testament to tremendous courage and tenacity in the face of unfathomable injustice, Northup's account is also of extreme interest due to the meticulous recordings of slave life. Unique in its firsthand nature, the book became a runaway bestseller.

A Vindication of Monsters

Biographies & Memoirs

In 1797 an extraordinary visionary died, leaving behind a grieving husband, a two-year-old daughter, and a newborn. The woman was Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughter Fanny Imlay, and her baby Mary Godwin, who, through many trials and tribulations, grew up to become the remarkable Mary Shelley, creator of one of the most important books in literature: Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. While many books have examined both women's lives, their remarkable similarities, their passions, joys, and their grief, A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft, delves deeper into the stories behind both women, their connections to historical events, society, their philosophies, and their political contributions to their time. These essays and memoirs explore Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, and Shelley's circle of friends, including her husband, the capricious poet Percy Shelley; the libertine Romantic Lord Byron; the first modern vampire author John Polidori; and other contemporary creatives who continue to be inspired by both women today. While the private lives of both trailblazing women were the subject of heated debate and drama, with both fighting against the injustices of their time, the selected sixteen authors explore their lives like never before, including the genesis of Frankenstein, and the powerful literary and feminist legacy they left behind.

Martin Heidegger

Biographies & Memoirs

A rich and evocative study of one of modern history’s most compelling and controversial philosophers by a literary and critical grand master In Martin Heidegger, George Steiner delves into the life and work of the prolific German philosopher. His deft analysis lays bare the intricacies of Heidegger’s work and his influence on modern society, offering a clear and accessible analysis of the philosopher’s more difficult ideas, from the human condition and language to being and the meaning of time. Written with Steiner’s trademark eloquence and precision, Martin Heidegger is the seminal look at the man and his groundbreaking ideas—the perfect study for scholars, Heidegger fanatics, and curious readers alike.

The Story of Helen Keller

Biographies & Memoirs

American Biographies Series provides descriptions and stories of people important in the history of the United States. Including the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death, the series also presents highlights of various aspects of his or her life. Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Her birthplace in West Tuscumbia, Alabama is now a museum and sponsors an annual "Helen Keller Day". Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was authorized at the federal level by presidential proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, the 100th anniversary of her birth. LEARN ENGLISH AS YOU READ AND LISTEN TO THE DESCRIPTIONS AND STORIES OF PEOPLE IMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ADAPTATIONS ARE WRITTEN AT THE INTERMEDIATE AND UPPER-BEGINNER LEVEL AND ARE READ ONE-THIRD SLOWER THAN REGULAR ENGLISH.

The Other Madisons

Biographies & Memoirs

“A Roots for a new generation, rich in storytelling and steeped in history.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“A compelling saga that gives a voice to those that history tried to erase . . . Poignant and eye-opening, this is a must-read.”—Booklist In The Other Madisons, Bettye Kearse—a descendant of an enslaved cook and, according to oral tradition, President James Madison—shares her family story and explores the issues of legacy, race, and the powerful consequences of telling the whole truth. For thousands of years, West African griots (men) and griottes (women) have recited the stories of their people. Without this tradition Bettye Kearse would not have known that she is a descendant of President James Madison and his slave, and half-sister, Coreen. In 1990, Bettye became the eighth-generation griotte for her family. Their credo—“Always remember—you’re a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president”—was intended to be a source of pride, but for her, it echoed with abuses of slavery, including rape and incest. Confronting those abuses, Bettye embarked on a journey of discovery—of her ancestors, the nation, and herself. She learned that wherever African slaves walked, recorded history silenced their voices and buried their footsteps: beside a slave-holding fortress in Ghana; below a federal building in New York City; and under a brick walkway at James Madison’s Virginia plantation. When Bettye tried to confirm the information her ancestors had passed down, she encountered obstacles at every turn. Part personal quest, part testimony, part historical correction, The Other Madisons is the saga of an extraordinary American family told by a griotte in search of the whole story.

Undaunted

Biographies & Memoirs

Undaunted—both the book and movie—chronicles the riveting true story of a young farm boy named Josh who carried unspeakable memories of an alcoholic father and a farmhand’s abuse, causing him to defy God’s existence. Yet God redeemed a horrible situation with his unbelievable grace. Today Josh McDowell is one of the most popular evangelists in the world who defends the reality of Jesus Christ to millions through his presentations and classic book More Than a Carpenter. Undaunted unfolds the dramatic spiritual transformation in Josh’s life when he faces his past head-on and puts everything entirely in God’s hands. The result is an undaunted faith, a gift freely offered to everyone who seeks it.

I, Asimov

Biographies & Memoirs

Arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Isaac Asimov also possessed one of the most brilliant and original minds of our time. His accessible style and far-reaching interests in subjects ranging from science to humor to history earned him the nickname “the Great Explainer.” I. Asimov is his personal story—vivid, open, and honest—as only Asimov himself could tell it. Here is the story of the paradoxical genius who wrote of travel to the stars yet refused to fly in airplanes; who imagined alien universes and vast galactic civilizations while staying home to write; who compulsively authored more than 470 books yet still found the time to share his ideas with some of the great minds of our century. Here are his wide-ranging thoughts and sharp-eyed observations on everything from religion to politics, love and divorce, friendship and Hollywood, fame and mortality. Here, too, is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the varied personalities—Campbell, Ellison, Heinlein, Clarke, del Rey, Silverberg, and others—who along with Asimov helped shape science fiction. As unique and irrepressible as the man himself, I. Asimov is the candid memoir of an incomparable talent who entertained readers for nearly half a century and whose work will surely endure into the future he so vividly envisioned.

Alfred Tennyson

Biographies & Memoirs

Alfred Tennyson was born August 6th, 1809, at Somersby, Lincolnshire, fourth of twelve children of George and Elizabeth (Fytche) Tennyson. The poet's grandfather had violated tradition by making his younger son, Charles, his heir, and arranging for the poet's father to enter the ministry. (See the Tennyson Family Tree. ) The contrast of his own family's relatively straitened circumstances to the great wealth of his aunt Elizabeth Russell and uncle Charles Tennyson (who lived in castles!) made Tennyson feel particularly impoverished and led him to worry about money all his life. He also had a lifelong fear of mental illness, for several men in his family had a mild form of epilepsy, which was then thought a shameful disease. His father and brother Arthur made their cases worse by excessive drinking. His brother Edward had to be confined in a mental institution after 1833, and he himself spent a few weeks under doctors' care in 1843. In the late twenties his father's physical and mental condition worsened, and he became paranoid, abusive, and violent.

A Sketch of the Life and Labors of George Whitefield

Biographies & Memoirs

A hasty sketch of Whitefield's times, Whitefield's life, Whitefield's religion, Whitefield's preaching, and Whitefield's actual work on earth.

Vie de Benjamin Franklin, écrite par lui-même - Tome II

Biographies & Memoirs

La vie, ou plutôt les vies de Benjamin Franklin (imprimeur et journaliste, scientifique et inventeur de génie, philosophe, diplomate et homme d'État. . .) sont un véritable roman dont les femmes et les hommes d'aujourd'hui peuvent encore s'inspirer. Publiés au XVIIIe siècle mais oubliés depuis longtemps, la savoureuse autobiographie de Benjamin Franklin adressée à son fils et une sélection de ses écrits scientifiques (sur l'électricité, l'invention du paratonnerre ou encore les mathématiques. . .) composent cet ouvrage qui lui rend hommage en nous rappelant l'homme extraordinaire qu'il fut. Le lecteur pourra ainsi apprécier la narration extrêmement alerte et enlevée d'une vie particulièrement bien remplie, ainsi que le foisonnement et la richesse de son oeuvre de savant.

Total Recall (Enhanced Edition)

Biographies & Memoirs

This special enhanced edition of Total Recall includes over 150 photos with narration by Arnold Schwarzenegger along with video clips from his careers in bodybuilding, film, and politics.Arnold Schwarzenegger’s story is unique, and uniquely entertaining, and he tells it brilliantly in Total Recall.He was born in a year of famine, in a small Austrian town, the son of an austere police chief. He dreamed of moving to America to become a bodybuilding champion and a movie star. By the age of twenty-one, he was living in Los Angeles and had been crowned Mr. Universe. Within five years, he had learned English and become the greatest bodybuilder in the world.Within ten years, he had earned his college degree and was a millionaire from his business enterprises in real estate, construction, and bodybuilding. He was also the winner of a Golden Globe Award for his debut as a dramatic actor in Stay Hungry. Within twenty years, he was the world’s biggest movie star, the husband of Maria Shriver, and an emerging Republican leader who was part of the Kennedy family.Thirty-six years after coming to America, the man once known by fellow bodybuilders as the Austrian Oak was elected governor of California, the seventh largest economy in the world.He led the state through a budget crisis, natural disasters, and political turmoil, working across party lines for a better environment, election reforms, new infrastructure to rebuild California, and bipartisan solutions.Until now, he has never told the full story of his life, including his greatest successes and his biggest failures, in his own voice. Here is Arnold, with total recall.

Unusual People

Biographies & Memoirs

Timeless collection of unusual americans biographies. American Biographies Series provides descriptions and stories of people important in the history of the United States. Including the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death, the series also presents highlights of various aspects of his or her life. LEARN ENGLISH AS YOU READ AND LISTEN TO THE DESCRIPTIONS AND STORIES OF PEOPLE IMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ADAPTATIONS ARE WRITTEN AT THE INTERMEDIATE AND UPPER-BEGINNER LEVEL AND ARE READ ONE-THIRD SLOWER THAN REGULAR ENGLISH.

American Legends: Jackie Kennedy

Biographies & Memoirs

*Includes pictures of Jackie and important people, places, and events in her life. *Includes a Table of Contents A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. In many ways, the Kennedy First Family was the perfect embodiment of a new young decade. The 1960s began with a sense of idealism, personified by the youthful and handsome new President. In 1961, John F. Kennedy made it seem like anything was possible, and Americans were eager to believe him. The next three years would be fondly and famously labeled “Camelot,” suggesting an almost mythical quality about the young President and his family. The famous label came from John’s fashionable and beautiful wife, Jackie, whose elegance and grace made her the most popular woman in the world. Her popularity threatened to eclipse even her husband’s, who famously quipped on one presidential trip to France that he was “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.” Americans were fascinated by the young First Lady’s style, and the manner in which she glamorously positioned both the First Family and the White House in those years, and Jackie remains one of the country’s most popular First Ladies. But it was in the face of adversity that she truly made her lasting mark, with the country taking its cue from her in the aftermath of the president’s assassination. Having devised and lit the eternal flame at JFK’s tombstone, Jackie also set about securing her husband’s legacy, a time still fondly and mythically remembered as Camelot today, despite his legendary transgressions and infidelities. Jackie continued to fascinate Americans over the next several decades, acting as a living symbol of the Kennedy years and a popular unofficial representative for her country abroad. She famously went on to marry Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, earning her the nickname Jackie O, and she took up a career in publishing beginning in the mid-70s. Until her death in 1994, even in her 60s she continued to be the subject of popular interest and intense tabloid and paparazzi coverage. American Legends: The Life and Legacy of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis details the fame and fashion of the famous First Lady, while also examining her legacy during and after her years in the White House. Along with pictures of Jackie and important people, places, and events in her life, you will learn about Jackie O like you never have before, in no time at all.

Travels

Biographies & Memoirs

From the bestselling author of Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Sphere comes a deeply personal memoir full of fascinating adventures as he travels everywhere from the Mayan pyramids to Kilimanjaro. Fueled by a powerful curiosity—and by a need to see, feel, and hear, firsthand and close-up—Michael Crichton's journeys have carried him into worlds diverse and compelling—swimming with mud sharks in Tahiti, tracking wild animals through the jungle of Rwanda. This is a record of those travels—an exhilarating quest across the familiar and exotic frontiers of the outer world, a determined odyssey into the unfathomable, spiritual depths of the inner world. It is an adventure of risk and rejuvenation, terror and wonder, as exciting as Michael Crichton's many masterful and widely heralded works of fiction.

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