Biographies & Memoirs Books

The Heart of a Woman

The Heart of a Woman

Biographies & Memoirs

Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired  countless readers with the first three volumes of  her autobiography, one of the most remarkable  personal narratives of our age. Now, in her fourth  volume, The Heart of a Woman, her  turbulent life breaks wide open with joy as the  singer-dancer enters the razzle-dazzle of fabulous  New York City. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild,  her love for writing blazes anew. Her  compassion and commitment lead her to respond to the  fiery times by becoming the northern coordinator  of Martin Luther King's history-making quest. A  tempestuous, earthy woman, she promises her heart to  one man only to have it stolen, virtually on her  weding day, by a passionate African freedom  fighter. Filled with unforgettable vignettes of  famous characters, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm  X, The Heart of a Woman sings  with Maya Angelou's eloquent prose -- her fondest  dreams, deepest disappointments, and her dramatically  tender relationship with her rebellious teenage  son. Vulnerable, humorous, tough, Maya speaks with  an intimate awareness of the heart within all of  us.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Biographies & Memoirs

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir and treatise on abolition written by famous orator and former slave, Frederick Douglass. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass encompasses eleven chapters that recount Douglass' life as a slave and his ambition to become a free.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Biographies & Memoirs

An Apple Books Classic edition.Self-educated speaker and author. 1872 vice-presidential nominee. The 19th century’s most photographed man. Frederick Douglass, an enslaved man, went on to become one of the most celebrated freedom fighters in U.S. history. His autobiography, published in 1845, maps out his life story in vivid, often heartbreaking detail.After learning the alphabet from a slaveholder’s wife, Douglass covertly learned to read with the help of some white children in town. Once he was sold to a slaveholder known for his cruelty, Douglass risked his life to escape north, disguised as a free Black sailor. Ten years later, that daring escape was almost for naught when the release of his book brought him attention that could have led to his recapture. Douglass initially fled the country, but returned when his supporters raised the funds to secure his status as a free man. For the rest of his life, Douglass continued to speak out against slavery, becoming famous for his impassioned speeches and incredible life story.

Nós, mulheres

Nós, mulheres

Biographies & Memoirs

Um livro fundamental à reivindicação do papel feminino nos principais avanços da humanidade através da biografia de suas protagonistas. Grandes e célebres figuras estão presentes, de Agatha Christie a Simone de Beauvoir. Mas não só. Mulheres menos conhecidas também são retratadas, como Mary Anning, primeira paleontóloga da História, e Juana Azurduy, que liderou exércitos contra os espanhóis.

The Grand Slam

The Grand Slam

Biographies & Memoirs

This Los Angeles Times bestseller takes a riveting look at the life and times of depression-era golf legend Bobby Jones. In the wake of the stock market crash and the dawn of the Great Depression, a ray of light emerged from the world of sports in the summer of 1930. Bobby Jones, a 28-year-old amateur golfer, mounted a campaign against the record books. In four months, he conquered the British Amateur Championship, the British Open, the United States Open, and finally the United States Amateur Championship, an achievement so extraordinary that writers dubbed it the Grand Slam. No one has ever repeated it. Mark Frost uses a wealth of original research to provide an unprecedented intimate portrait of golf great Bobby Jones. In the tradition of The Greatest Game Ever Played, The Grand Slam blends social history with sports biography, captivating the imagination and engaging the reader. The Grand Slam is a biography not to be missed.

Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave

Biographies & Memoirs

The harrowing true story that inspired the critically acclaimed film The son of a freed slave, Solomon Northup lived the first thirty years of his life as a free man in upstate New York. In the spring of 1841, he was offered a job: a short-term, lucrative engagement as a violinist in a traveling circus. It was a trap. In Washington, DC, Northup was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years on plantations in Louisiana, enduring backbreaking labor, unimaginable violence, and inhumane treatment at the hands of cruel masters, until a kind stranger helped to win his release. His account of those years is a shocking, unforgettable portrait of America’s most insidious historical institution as told by a man who experienced it firsthand. Published shortly after Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist classic Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Northup’s memoir became a bestseller in 1853. With its eloquent depiction of life before and after bondage, Twelve Years a Slave was a unique and effective entry into the national debate over slavery. Rediscovered in the 1960s and now the inspiration for a major motion picture, Northup’s poignant narrative gives readers an invaluable glimpse into a shameful chapter of American history. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices. 

Imminent

Imminent

Biographies & Memoirs

The former head of the Pentagon program responsible for the investigation of UFOs—now known as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)—reveals long-hidden secrets with profound implications for not only national security but our understanding of the universe.Luis “Lue” Elizondo is a former senior intelligence official and special agent who was recruited into strange and highly sensitive US government program to investigate UAP. To accomplish his mission, Elizondo had to rely on decades of experience gained working some of America’s most classified programs. Even then, he was not prepared for what he would learn, including the truth about the government’s long shadowy involvement in UAP investigations, and the lengths officials would take to keep it a secret.For years, Elizondo and his colleagues found themselves on the front lines of what may be the greatest mystery and cover-up in history. Unidentified craft that seem to defy our knowledge of physics—within air, water, and space—have been operating with complete impunity since at least World War II. The military, the CIA, and even past presidents have known the truth that humanity is, in fact, not the only intelligent life in the universe. The nonhuman intelligence controlling these UAP are actively conducting surveillance on our most sensitive military installations, and have interfered with ongoing military and nuclear operations. US service members and intelligence officers who have encountered UAP have sustained serious medical injuries. And all of this is happening worldwide.The stakes could not be higher. Imminent is a first-hand, revelatory account inside the Pentagon’s most closely guarded secret and a call to action to confront humanity’s greatest existential questions.  

Walking Each Other Home

Walking Each Other Home

Biographies & Memoirs

An intimate dialogue between two friends and luminaries on love, death, and the spiritual path, with guidance for the end-of-life journey We all sit on the edge of a mystery. We have only known this life, so dying scares us—and we are all dying. But what if dying is perfectly safe? What would it look like if you could approach dying with curiosity and love, in service of other beings? What if dying is the ultimate spiritual practice? Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush began their friendship more than four decades ago at the foot of their guru, Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji. He transmitted to them a simple philosophy: love everyone, tell the truth, and give up attachment to material things. A year before Ram Dass passed, he reunited with Bush for an intimate dialogue—which became Walking Each Other Home. In this extraordinary book, you’ll hear from two beloved teachers about the spiritual opportunities within the dying process. They generously share intimate personal experiences and timeless practices with courage, humor, and heart, gently exploring every aspect of this journey. Here you’ll learn about guidelines for being a “loving rock” for the dying, how to grieve fully and authentically, how to transform a fear of death, leaving a spiritual legacy, creating a sacred space for dying, and much more. “Everybody you have ever loved is a part of the fabric of your being now,” says Ram Dass. The body may die, but the soul remains. Death is an invitation to a new kind of relationship, in the place where we are all One. Join these two lifelong friends and spiritual luminaries as they explore what it means to live and die consciously, remember who we really are, and illuminate the path we walk together. 

Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave

Biographies & Memoirs

An Apple Books Classic edition.In 1841, Solomon Northup was a free, educated Black man living in Saratoga Springs, New York—until the day that two men kidnapped him and sold him into slavery in Louisiana. This is Northup’s account of those years, when he learned about “the measure of ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’” Northup endured unconscionable mental and physical abuse, but he never lost hope that his family would rescue him…if he could just find a way to contact them.Twelve Years a Slave was published as abolitionists throughout the U.S. were campaigning to end slavery, and it has stood the test of time as a blistering indictment of slavery. In 2013, Northup’s story was adapted into an award-winning movie. Northup’s story remains important—and the question he addresses to us readers continues to resonate: “What difference is there in the color of the soul?”

My Bondage and My Freedom

My Bondage and My Freedom

Biographies & Memoirs

“My Bondage and My Freedom,” writes John Stauffer in his Foreword, “[is] a deep meditation on the meaning of slavery, race, and freedom, and on the power of faith and literacy, as well as a portrait of an individual and a nation a few years before the Civil War.” As his narrative unfolds, Frederick Douglass—abolitionist, journalist, orator, and one of the most powerful voices to emerge from the American civil rights movement—transforms himself from slave to fugitive to reformer, leaving behind a legacy of social, intellectual, and political thought. Set from the text of the 1855 first edition, this Modern Library Paperback Classic includes Douglass’s original Appendix, composed of excerpts from the author’s speeches as well as a letter he wrote to his former master.

Seneca's Letters from a Stoic

Seneca's Letters from a Stoic

Biographies & Memoirs

Navigate Life's Seas with Ancient Wisdom!" Embark on a transformative journey with Seneca, one of history's most profound Stoic philosophers. Discover the joy, surprise, and comfort embedded in letters filled with unparalleled insight and enduring truths. ???? "A guiding beacon in turbulent times. Seneca's teachings resonate even today!" – [Famous Philosophical Thinker] Highlights Within: ???? Delve deep into personal ethics, virtues, and the art of living with purpose. ???? Glimpse the power of Stoicism to confront challenges, manage emotions, and achieve serenity. ???? Embrace time-tested wisdom that transcends eras, cultures, and civilizations. Seneca's letters are more than just historic documents; they are a beacon for souls seeking clarity, peace, and direction. Experience the timeless advice that has been a cornerstone for thinkers, leaders, and seekers for centuries. ???? Limited Release: Journey with Seneca and arm yourself with tools for a life of meaning, tranquility, and resilience. Dive into ancient wisdom tailored for today. Secure your timeless companion now!

Oath and Honor

Oath and Honor

Biographies & Memoirs

A gripping first-hand account of the January 6th, 2021, insurrection from inside the halls of Congress, from origins to aftermath, as Donald Trump and his enablers betrayed the American people and the Constitution—by the House Republican leader who dared to stand up to it.   In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump and many around him, including certain other elected Republican officials, intentionally breached their oath to the Constitution: they ignored the rulings of dozens of courts, plotted to overturn a lawful election, and provoked a violent attack on our Capitol.   Liz Cheney, one of the few Republican officials to take a stand against these efforts, witnessed the attack first-hand, and then helped lead the Congressional Select Committee investigation into how it happened. In Oath and Honor, she tells the story of this perilous moment in our history, those who helped Trump spread the stolen election lie, those whose actions preserved our constitutional framework, and the risks we still face.  

Rage

Rage

Biographies & Memoirs

Rage is an unprecedented and intimate tour de force of new reporting on the Trump presidency facing a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest.Woodward, the #1 international bestselling author of Fear: Trump in the White House, has uncovered the precise moment the president was warned that the Covid-19 epidemic would be the biggest national security threat to his presidency. In dramatic detail, Woodward takes readers into the Oval Office as Trump’s head pops up when he is told in January 2020 that the pandemic could reach the scale of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 675,000 Americans.In 17 on-the-record interviews with Woodward over seven volatile months—an utterly vivid window into Trump’s mind—the president provides a self-portrait that is part denial and part combative interchange mixed with surprising moments of doubt as he glimpses the perils in the presidency and what he calls the “dynamite behind every door.”At key decision points, Rage shows how Trump’s responses to the crises of 2020 were rooted in the instincts, habits and style he developed during his first three years as president.Revisiting the earliest days of the Trump presidency, Rage reveals how Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats struggled to keep the country safe as the president dismantled any semblance of collegial national security decision making.Rage draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand witnesses as well as participants’ notes, emails, diaries, calendars and confidential documents.Woodward obtained 25 never-seen personal letters exchanged between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who describes the bond between the two leaders as out of a “fantasy film.”Trump insists to Woodward he will triumph over Covid-19 and the economic calamity. “Don’t worry about it, Bob. Okay?” Trump told the author in July. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get to do another book. You’ll find I was right.”

Twelve Years a Slave

Twelve Years a Slave

Biographies & Memoirs

The shocking first-hand account of one man’s remarkable fight for freedom; now an award-winning motion picture.‘Why had I not died in my young years – before God had given me children to love and live for? What unhappiness and suffering and sorrow it would have prevented. I sighed for liberty; but the bondsman's chain was round me, and could not be shaken off.’1841: Solomon Northup is a successful violinist when he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Taken from his family in New York State – with no hope of ever seeing them again – and forced to work on the cotton plantations in the Deep South, he spends the next twelve years in captivity until his eventual escape in 1853.First published in 1853, this extraordinary true story proved to be a powerful voice in the debate over slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. It is a true-life testament of one man’s courage and conviction in the face of unfathomable injustice and brutality: its influence on the course of American history cannot be overstated.Reviews‘The most remarkable book ever issued from the American press.’ Detroit Tribune‘For sheer drama, few accounts of slavery match Solomon Northup's tale of abduction from freedom and forcible enslavement.’ Ira BerlinAbout the authorSolomon Northup was born a free man in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1808. He lived as such until 1841 when, attracted by a job offer, he travelled to Washington, DC, where he was drugged and sold into slavery by his supposed employers. Northup was enslaved for twelve years before he regained his freedom and returned to New York. There, he became an advocate for abolitionism and in the 1860s began helping fugitive slaves via the Underground Railroad. Northup is believed to have died between 1863 and 1875, but both the date and circumstances of his death are unknown.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass + FREE Audiobook Included

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass + FREE Audiobook Included

Biographies & Memoirs

FEATURES: • Includes beautiful artworks and illustrations • INCLUDES AN EMBEDDED AUDIOBOOK • Active Table of Contents for an easy navigation within the book • Manually coded and crafted by professionals for highest formatting quality and standards Check out ngims Publishing's other illustrated literary classics. The vast majority of our books have original illustrations, embedded audiobook, navigable Table of Contents, and are fully formatted. Browse our library collection by typing in ngims plus the title you're looking for, e.g. ngims Gulliver's Travels. Ebooks on the web are not organized for easy reading, littered with text errors and often have missing contents. You will not find another beautifully formatted classic literature ebook that is well-designed with amazing artworks and illustrations and an embedded audiobook like this one. Our ebooks are hand-coded by professional formatters and programmers. Ebook development and design are the core of what our engineers do. Our ebooks are not the cheap flat text kind, but are built from the ground up with emphasis on proper text formatting and integrity. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a memoir and treatise on abolition written by famous orator and former slave, Frederick Douglass. It is generally held to be the most famous of a number of narratives written by former slaves during the same period. In factual detail, the text describes the events of his life and is considered to be one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century in the United States. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass encompasses eleven chapters that recount Douglass' life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. (Wikipedia)

Plutarch’s Lives: Life of Julius Caesar

Plutarch’s Lives: Life of Julius Caesar

Biographies & Memoirs

*Illustrated *Includes Table of Contents Plutarch, later named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. Plutarch lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and his duties as the senior of the two priests of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi (where he was responsible for interpreting the auguries of the Pythia) apparently occupied little of his time. He led an active social and civic life while producing an extensive body of writing, much of which survived. By his writings and lectures Plutarch became a celebrity in the Roman Empire. At his country estate, guests from all over the empire congregated for serious conversation, presided over by Plutarch in his marble chair. Many of these dialogues were recorded and published, and the 78 essays and other works which have survived are now known collectively as the Moralia. Plutarch's best-known work is the Parallel Lives, a series of biographies of famous Greeks and Romans, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues and vices. The surviving Lives contain 23 pairs, each with one Greek Life and one Roman Life, as well as four unpaired single Lives. Some of the Lives, such as those of Heracles, Philip II of Macedon and Scipio Africanus, no longer exist; many of the remaining Lives are truncated, contain obvious lacunae or have been tampered with by later writers. Extant Lives include those on Aristides, Pericles, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Cato the Younger, Mark Antony, and Marcus Junius Brutus. This edition of Plutarch’s Life of Caesar is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and is illustrated with over a dozen illustrations.   

Presidential Lottery

Presidential Lottery

Biographies & Memoirs

In this eye-opening nonfiction account, world-renowned author James A. Michener details the reckless gamble U.S. voters make every four years: trusting the electoral college. In 1968, Michener served as a presidential elector in Pennsylvania. What he witnessed that fall disturbed him so much that he felt compelled to expose the very real potential in this system for a grave injustice with history-altering consequences. Incorporating the wide-ranging insight and universal compassion of Michener’s bestselling novels, Presidential Lottery is essential reading for every American concerned about the ever-growing rift between the people and the political process. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from James A. Michener's Hawaii.   Praise for Presidential Lottery   “Clear, concise, and sensible . . . a thoughtful book on how Americans choose their President.”—The New York Times   “An urgent appeal.”—Kirkus Reviews

My Bondage and My Freedom

My Bondage and My Freedom

Biographies & Memoirs

My Bondage and My Freedom is an autobiographical slave narrative written by Frederick Douglass and published in 1855. It is the second of three autobiographies written by Douglass, and is mainly an expansion of his first (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass), discussing in greater detail his transition from bondage to liberty. Following his liberation, Douglass, a former slave, went on to become a prominent abolitionist, speaker, author, and publisher.