Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Nel laboratorio di Marie Curie

Biographies & Memoirs

«Ancora oggi, a quasi un secolo dalla sua morte, Marie Curie rimane l'unica scienziata donna che la maggior parte delle persone sa nominare» scrive Dava Sobel all'inizio di questa luminosa biografia. Nelle foto di gruppo scattate ai maggiori convegni scientifici internazionali, per decenni quello di Marie Curie è stato il solo volto femminile. È stata la prima donna a ricevere un Nobel (per la Fisica, vinto con il marito Pierre nel 1903) e la prima persona in assoluto a vincerne due (nel 1911 le fu assegnato quello per la Chimica). La strada per giungere fino a lì, però, non è stata certo agevole per Maria Salomea Skłodowska, sin da quando fu costretta a lasciare la nativa Varsavia per trasferirsi in Francia e potersi iscrivere all'università. A Parigi conobbe il grande amore, il fisico e matematico Pierre Curie, con cui per tanti anni condivise ricerche e traguardi. E, dopo la sua prematura scomparsa, prese il suo posto come docente di Fisica alla Sorbona e come direttrice del laboratorio Curie. Crebbe da sola due figlie brillanti, strinse un'amicizia speciale con Albert Einstein e altri luminari della fisica del Ventesimo secolo e, durante la Prima guerra mondiale, si adoperò come radiologa al fronte, pattugliando i campi di battaglia a bordo di vetture speciali dotate di apparecchiature a raggi X, soprannominate petites Curie. Una mente così prodigiosa non poteva non attirare numerose giovani donne di talento, aspiranti chimiche e fisiche provenienti dall'Europa orientale, dalla Scandinavia, dalla Russia, dalla Gran Bretagna e persino dal Canada: a tutte loro, Marie insegnò a credere nelle proprie capacità e a dedicarsi con determinazione alla carriera scientifica. Con il talento narrativo che la contraddistingue, Dava Sobel racconta Marie Curie attraverso una lente unica, quella delle donne che in qualche modo sono diventate la sua eredità: dalla francese Marguerite Perey, che ha scoperto l'elemento francio, alla norvegese Ellen Gleditsch, fino a Irène, figlia maggiore di Marie e Pierre, vincitrice del premio Nobel per la Chimica nel 1935.

The Idea of Progress An inguiry into its origin and growth

Biographies & Memoirs

The Idea of Progress An inguiry into its origin and growth by J. B. Burylibreka classics – These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience. Immerse yourself in well-known and popular titles!

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE – Astounding Life of One Incredible Man (3 Autobiographies in One Volume)

Biographies & Memoirs

This carefully crafted ebook: "FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE – Astounding Life of One Incredible Man (3 Autobiographies in One Volume)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845) 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. My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) shows the inspiring manner in which Frederick Douglass transforms himself from slave to fugitive to one of the most powerful voices to emerge from the American civil rights movement, leaving behind a legacy of social, intellectual, and political thought. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1892) is the only one of Douglass' autobiographies to discuss his life during and after the Civil War, including his encounters with American presidents such as Lincoln and Garfield and his service as the United States Marshall of the District of Columbia. Excerpt: "I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday." (The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass) Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings.

The Diary of a Young Girl

Biographies & Memoirs

The Diary of a Young Girl, also known as The Diary of Anne Frank, is a book of the writings from the Dutch language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was apprehended in 1944, and Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. The diary was retrieved by Miep Gies, who gave it to Anne's father, Otto Frank, the family's only known survivor, just after the war was over. The diary has since been published in more than 60 languages. Annelies Marie Anne Frank (12 June 1929 – February or March 1945) was a German-born diarist. One of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, she gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl (originally Het Achterhuis; English: The Secret Annex), in which she documents her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. It is one of the world's most widely known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.

A Arte de Viajar

Biographies & Memoirs

Poucas atividades estão tão associadas à busca da felicidade quanto o desejo de viajar para lugares distantes. Embora não faltem publicações que recomendam variados destinos, é raro encontrar na literatura uma reflexão sobre as motivações que levam o viajante a abandonar o conforto do lar e a enfrentar o desconhecido. O escritor Alain de Botton preenche essa lacuna em A arte de viajar, na boa companhia de nomes como Flaubert, Edward Hopper e Van Gogh. Em seu passeio pelo universo das viagens, ele se desloca por Barbados, Amsterdã, Madri e o deserto do Sinai, examinando o sublime e o comezinho, descobrindo o lado exótico dos aeroportos estrangeiros e o discreto charme dos postos de gasolina de beira de estrada. E assim Alain fornece a bagagem imprescindível para o pensamento e dá sua contribuição para que as jornadas sejam, acima de tudo, mais felizes.

Voyages Through Life: The Story of John Dunlop Allison

Biographies & Memoirs

John Dunlop Allison was a mariner from the final era of sail into the early days of steam.The hand-written account of his adventures was discovered in an attic in England a hundred years after he wrote it. His story describes extraordinary events, of wars and wives, of gold fever and greed, of death and disease, of storms and shipwrecks all over the world.This is the authentic voice of a spirited and adventurous man, written as he was approaching "the allotted span of man, three score and ten". Beginning with his birth in 1842 and fiery youth in Scotland, his story moves through four decades of global voyages. He was also, at various times, a prizefighter, a smuggler, a gold prospector and a warrior in Egypt. He once escaped a violent dispute over his alleged complicity in murder, during which thirteen people were killed. Whilst on the run he joined up as a soldier in the Maori Wars, where after his final battle he was discovered by a search party, unconscious under a pile of bodies - 48 of the 50 soldiers involved had been killed.A man of amazing resilience and stoicism, John Dunlop Allison was twice shipwrecked, and miraculously survived a cyclone off Mauritius in which most of his crew mutinied and his ship very nearly sank. When his wife died suddenly in Calcutta he wrote home to Scotland for a replacement… "and we were quietly married the following Monday".That which was commonplace at the time he wrote his story is extraordinary to someone reading it a century later, so short accounts of the various conflicts and circumstances have been included for historical context and background.This story brings to life the astonishing differences in the way some of our recent ancestors lived, and the maritime perils which were endured to shape the modern world.~‘Life like the waveYou see it pass and not a spark remainsAnother comes to fill the placeAnd so will end the human race.’Some make a greater noise and splash on the shores of eternity than others,and some die out before they reach it.— John Dunlop Allison

Ma guerre du pacifique

Biographies & Memoirs

Janvier 1942, Robert Leckie s’engage dans les marines. Quelques mois d’entrainement suffiront à lui faire rejoindre les rangs de la Première Division des Marines qui sera plongée, plus qu’aucune autre, dans l’enfer de la guerre du Pacifique duquel elle tirera sa légende.De l’effroyable solitude des nuits passées sur l’île de Guadalcanal aux pluies torrentielles du Cap Gloucester jusqu’à l’abominable bataille de Peleliu, Robert Leckie dresse un portrait purement humain dans lequel l’esprit sardonique, l’humour et l’autodérision des hommes se dressent comme un rempart face aux ennemis du Pacifique. Un portait original strié par des éclairs de lucidité qui transportent le lecteur dans les moments les plus durs de la Guerre du Pacifique : l’homme-soldat aux prises avec l’ennemi japonais, la mort, la jungle, la boue, la maladie, les officiers et bien d’autres épreuves.Des mémoires au style à la fois poétique, original et poignant, écrites « avec les tripes » dont la plupart des lignes seront adaptées par Steven Spielberg et Tom Hanks dans la série Band of Brothers : The Pacific (2005).Helmet for my pillow (Random House, 1957) est le premier livre de Robert Leckie. Il a reçu le prix du Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association. Il a eu l’idée d’écrire ses mémoires après être allé voir un film sur la guerre du Pacifique au cinéma, peu représentatif de ce que lui et ses camarades avaient vécu.

The Life of Jesus

Biographies & Memoirs

Written by French philosopher and writer Ernest Renan, this was one of the earliest works to approach the study of the life of Jesus Christ in the same way that one would approach the study of any other historical figure.

The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Biographies & Memoirs

The Story of My Experiments with Truth is the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. Starting with his birth and parentage, Gandhi has given reminiscences of childhood, child marriage, relation with his wife and parents, experiences at the school, his study tour to London, efforts to be like the English gentleman, experiments in dietetics, his going to South Africa, his experiences of colour prejudice, his quest for dharma, social work in Africa, return to India, his slow and steady work for political awakening and social activities.

MARC MÁRQUEZ: LA HISTORIA DE UN SUEÑO

Biographies & Memoirs

LA VERDADERA HISTORIA DE SUPERACIÓN DEL PILOTO QUE HA BATIDO TODOS LOS RÉCORDS DE MOTOGP. Marc Márquez ha revolucionado el deporte de motociclismo, consiguiendo 4 títulos mundiales con solo 21 años y conquistando multitud de récords con una personalidad alegre y espontánea que le han valido la admiración de aficionados de todo el mundo. Ahora, por vez primera en forma de cómic, descubrimos la trayectoria del carismático piloto de Cervera, desde que sus padres le regalan su primera moto de gasolina con 4 años, hasta lograr su primer título mundial de MotoGP. Una inspiradora historia real contada por sus propios protagonistas, llena de sacrificio, pasión y superación, que entusiasmará a los seguidores del piloto y a los aficionados del motociclismo. La dibujante Belén Ortega (Pájaro Indiano) firma un trabajo espectacular que recrea con veracidad el ambiente del Mundial de Motociclismo.

MARC MÁRQUEZ: LA HISTÒRIA D'UN SOMNI

Biographies & Memoirs

LA VERITABLE HISTÒRIA DE SUPERACIÓ DEL PILOT QUE HA BATUT TOTS ELS RÈCORDS DE MOTOGP Marc Márquez ha revolucionat l´esport del motociclisme, aconseguint 4 títols mundials amb només 21 anys i conquerint multitud de rècords amb una personalitat alegre i espontània que li han valgut l´admiració d´aficionats de tot el món. Ara, per primera vegada en forma de còmic, descobrim la trajectòria del carismàtic pilot de Cervera, des de que els seus pares li regalen la seva primera moto de gasolina amb 4 anys, fins a assolir el seu primer títol mundial de MotoGP. Una inspiradora història real contada pels seus propis protagonistes, plena de sacrifici, passió i superació, que entusiasmarà als seguidors del pilot i als aficionats del motociclisme. La dibuixant Belén Ortega (Pájaro Indiano) signa un treball espectacular que recrea amb veracitat l´ambient del Mundial de Motociclisme.

Elisabeth von England: Biografie

Biographies & Memoirs

Gertrude Aretz' Buch 'Elisabeth von England: Biografie' bietet dem Leser einen faszinierenden Einblick in das Leben und Wirken von Königin Elisabeth I. von England. Aretz präsentiert eine detailreiche Darstellung der Königin, die für ihre kluge Politik, ihren Einfluss auf die Kunst und Literatur ihrer Zeit und ihre geschickte Diplomatie bekannt ist. Der literarische Stil des Buches ist informativ und gleichzeitig fesselnd, wodurch der Leser in die Welt des elisabethanischen Zeitalters eintauchen kann. Aretz' Werk ist ein wichtiger Beitrag zur Biografie von Elisabeth I. und beleuchtet sowohl ihr öffentliches als auch ihr privates Leben auf anschauliche Weise.

Før jeg forsvinder

Biographies & Memoirs

En dybt bevægende erindringsbog af en ung neurokirurg, som står ansigt til ansigt med en terminal kræftdiagnose og prøver at finde svar på spørgsmålet: Hvad gør livet værd at leve, når døden pludselig banker på? Paul Kalanithi var 36 år og på nippet til at afslutte ti års uddannelse som neurokirurg, da han fik konstateret lungecancer i stadie 4. Den ene dag var han en læge, der behandlede de døende, den næste var han en patient, der kæmpede for sit liv. Paul Kalanithi døde i marts 2015, mens han skrev på denne bog. Hans efterladte hustru har skrevet bogens efterskrift.

The House of Hidden Meanings

Biographies & Memoirs

From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date—a brutally honest, surprisingly poignant, and deeply intimate memoir of growing up Black, poor, and queer in a broken home to discovering the power of performance, found family, and self-acceptance. A profound introspection of his life, relationships, and identity, The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the legendary icon on the road to global fame and changing the way the world thinks about drag.Central to RuPaul’s success has been his chameleonic adaptability. From drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world’s largest television franchises, RuPaul’s ever-shifting nature has always been part of his brand as both supermodel and supermogul.Yet that adaptability has made him enigmatic to the public. In this memoir, his most intimate and detailed book yet, RuPaul makes himself truly known.Stripping away all artifice, RuPaul recounts the story of his life with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating complex relationships with his absent father and temperamental mother, to forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York, to finding enduring love with his husband Georges LeBar and self-acceptance in sobriety, RuPaul excavates his own biography, uncovering new truths and insights in his personal history.Here in RuPaul’s singular and extraordinary story is a manual for living—a personal philosophy that testifies to the value of chosen family, the importance of harnessing what makes you different, and the transformational power of facing yourself fearlessly.If we’re all born naked and the rest is drag, then this is RuPaul totally out of drag. This is RuPaul stripped bare.

Summary of Joseph Campbell's The Heros Journey

Biographies & Memoirs

Get the Summary of Joseph Campbell's The Heros Journey in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey" delves into his lifelong exploration of mythology, influenced by his Irish heritage, early mentorship, and academic pursuits. He emphasizes the cyclical nature of life, the importance of aligning with nature, and the role of sacred places. Campbell discusses symbols and mythic motifs that connect humanity to the earth and the unconscious...

Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

Biographies & Memoirs

In this third self-contained volume of her autobiography, which began with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou moves into the adult world, and the white world as well, as she marries, enters show business, and tours Europe and Africa in Porgy and Bess.As the book opens, Maya, in order to support herself and her young son, gets a job in a record shop run by a white woman. Suspicious of almost any kindness shown her, she is particularly confused by the special attentions of a young white customer. Soon the relationship grows into love and then marriage, and Maya believes a permanent relationship is finally possible. But it is not to be, and she is again forced to look for work.This time she finds a job as a dancer in a sleazy San Francisco bar. Her remarkable talent, however, soon brings her attention of a different kind, and before long she is singing in one of the most popular nightclubs on the coast. From there, she is called to New York to join the cast of Porgy and Bess, which is just about to begin another tour abroad.The troupe’s joyous and dramatic adventure through Italy, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Egypt becomes the centerpiece of Singin’ and Swingin’. This remarkable portrayal of one of the most exciting and talented casts ever put together, and of the encounters between these larger-than-life personalities and audiences who had rarely seen black people before, makes a hilarious and poignant story. The excitement of the journey—full of camaraderie, love affairs, and memorable personalities—is dampened only by Maya's nagging guilt that she has once again abandoned the person she loves most in life, her son.Back home, and driven close to suicide by her guilt and concern, she takes her son with her to Hawaii, where she discovers that devotion and love, in spite of forced absence, have the power to heal and sustain.As always, Maya Angelou’s writing is charged with that remarkable sense of life and love and unique celebration of the human condition that have won her such a loyal following.

A Song Flung Up to Heaven

Biographies & Memoirs

The culmination of a unique achievement in modern American literature: the six volumes of autobiography that began more than thirty years ago with the appearance of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.A Song Flung Up to Heaven opens as Maya Angelou returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X. But first she has to journey to California to be reunited with her mother and brother. No sooner does she arrive there than she learns that Malcolm X has been assassinated.Devastated, she tries to put her life back together, working on the stage in local theaters and even conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts. Then Watts explodes in violence, a riot she describes firsthand.Subsequently, on a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King, Jr., who asks her to become his coordinator in the North, and she visits black churches all over America to help support King’s Poor People’s March.But once again tragedy strikes. King is assassinated, and this time Angelou completely withdraws from the world, unable to deal with this horrible event. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party—where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heavenends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird.

Lebensgeschichten & Lebensweisheiten der größten Herrscher

Biographies & Memoirs

Die Anthologie ‚Lebensgeschichten & Lebensweisheiten der größten Herrscher‘ entführt den Leser in die faszinierende Welt historischer Führungsfiguren und ihrer bewegenden Lebenswege. Durch eine fesselnde Mischung aus biographischen Skizzen und tiefsinnigen Betrachtungen vereint diese Sammlung eine Vielzahl literarischer Stile und Epochen, von antiken Philosophiestücken bis hin zu modernen literarischen Essays. Stücke wie jene von Marc Aurel verknüpfen stoische Maximen mit dem pragmatischen Ideal eines Philosophen-Kaisers, während Stefan Zweigs Erzählkunst die Menschlichkeit in den Entscheidungen historischer Führer offenlegt. Die versammelten Autoren und Herausgeber, darunter Historiker wie Johann Gustav Droysen und Leopold von Ranke, bieten durch ihre tiefgründigen Analysen und Erzählungen einen umfassenden Einblick in die historischen und kulturellen Kontexte der abgebildeten Herrscher. Diese geschichtlichen und literarischen Werke spiegeln die Vielseitigkeit und Komplexität der Epochen wider, in denen sie entstanden sind. Autoren wie Karel Čapek und Max Nordau erweitern das Verständnis durch ihre kritischen Betrachtungen gesellschaftspolitischer Entwicklungen. Dadurch wird eine Brücke zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart geschlagen, die es dem Leser ermöglicht, die Auswirkungen historischer Entscheidungen auf heutige gesellschaftliche Strukturen zu reflektieren. Für den Leser stellt dieses Buch eine einzigartige Gelegenheit dar, in die unterschiedlichen Lebensphilosophien und Regierungsstile der porträtierten Persönlichkeiten einzutauchen und dabei die Bandbreite kultureller und intellektueller Hintergründe zu entdecken. Es lädt dazu ein, sich auf die inspirierende Reise dieser Herrscher einzulassen und aus ihren Lebensgeschichten vielfältige Erkenntnisse und Weisheiten zu schöpfen. Diese Anthologie ist ein wertvolles Kompendium für jeden, der sich für historische, philosophische und literarische Entdeckungen begeistert, und bietet einen fundierten Dialog zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, der zu neuen Einsichten und Reflexionen anregt.

An Honest Woman

Biographies & Memoirs

Through the lens of her years spent as a sex worker, Charlotte Shane offers a “rigorous and compulsively readable memoir” (New York magazine) exploring what it means to be a heterosexual woman and a feminist in a misogynistic society.“A memoir of sex work that is also a poignant love story” —The Washington PostIn her early twenties, Charlotte Shane quit her women’s studies graduate program to devote herself to sex work because it was a way to devote herself to men. Her lifelong curiosity about male lust, love, selfishness, and social capital dovetailed with her own insatiable desire for intimacy to sustain a long career in escorting, with unexpectedly poignant results.Shane uses her “unsparing honestly” (The New York Times Book Review) and her personal and professional history to examine how men and women struggle in their attempts at a romantic and sexual bonding, no matter how true their intentions. As she takes stock of her relationships—with clients, with her father, with friends, with married men, and later, with her own husband—she tells a candid and haunting tale of love, marriage, and (in)fidelity, as seen through the eyes of the perpetual “other woman.”Braiding the personal and the universal, An Honest Woman is a merciless and moving love letter to men and an indictment of habitual dishonesty, a condemnation of every social constraint acting on heterosexual unions, and a hopeful affirmation of the possibility for true connection between men and women.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African

Biographies & Memoirs

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. The book describes Equiano's time spent in slavery, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual conversion to Christianity.Olaudah Equiano (1745–1797) also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He was enslaved as a child, purchased his freedom, and worked as an author, merchant, and explorer in South America, the Caribbean, the Arctic, the American colonies, and the United Kingdom, where he settled by 1792. His autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, depicts the horrors of slavery and influenced the enactment of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.

Biographies & Memoirs Books