Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Louis XIV

Biographies & Memoirs

"Now, in the hour of death, O my God, come to my aid."These were his last words. He sank back insensible upon his pillow. A few hours of painful breathing passed away, and at eight o'clock in the morning of the 1st of September, 1715, he expired, in the seventy-seventh year of his age and the seventy-second of his reign. It was the longest reign in the annals of France. Had he been governed through this period by enlightened Christian principle, how many millions might have been made happy whom his crimes doomed to life-long woe!An immense concourse was assembled in the court-yard at Versailles, anticipating the announcement of his death. The moment he breathed his last sigh, the captain of the body-guard approached the great balcony, threw open the massive windows, and, looking down upon the multitude below, raised his truncheon above his head, broke it in the centre, threw the fragments down into the court-yard, and cried sadly, "The king is dead!"Then, instantly seizing another staff from the hands of an attendant, he waved it joyfully above his head, and shouted triumphantly, "Long live the king, Louis XV.!" A huzza burst from the lips of the assembled thousands almost loud enough to pierce the ear of the king, now palsied in death.There were few to mourn the departed monarch. As his remains were hurried to the vaults of St. Denis, those vaults which he had so much dreaded, the populace shouted execrations and pelted his coffin with mud. Not the slightest regard was paid to his will. The Duke of Orleans assumed the regency with absolute power. His reign was execrable, followed by the still more infamous reign of Louis XV. Then came the Revolution, as the sceptre of utterly despotic sway passed into the hands of the feeble Louis XVI. The storm, which had been gathering for ages, burst with fury which appalled the world. A more tremendous event has not occurred in the history of our race. The story has too often been told by those who were in sympathy with the kings and the nobles. The time will come when the people's side of the story will be received, and the terrible drama will be better understood.

Buďte užitoční

Biographies & Memoirs

Zoznámte sa so siedmimi zásadami, ktoré vám pomôžu naplniť skutočný účel vášho života. Arnold Schwarzenegger ich všetky vyvodil z vlastnej životnej cesty plnej neustálej inovácie a mimoriadnych úspechov – dostupné sú však úplne každému. Najslávnejší kulturista na svete. Najlepšie platená filmová hviezda. Líder štátu so šiestou najväčšou ekonomikou na svete. Fakt, že ide o tú istú osobu, znie ako vtip, ale vtip to zďaleka nie je. Toto všetko je Arnold Schwarzenegger. A nič z toho sa nestalo náhodou. Arnoldov gigantický úspech je výsledkom procesu, ktorého súčasťou bola jasná vízia, ambiciózne myslenie, tvrdá práca, priama komunikácia, flexibilné riešenie problémov, bezhraničná zvedavosť a ochota pomáhať. A to všetko sa riadilo jednou radou, ktorú Arnoldovi vštepoval jeho otec viac než hocičo iné: „Buď užitočný!“ Arnold si vzal túto radu k srdcu a držal sa jej pri zdolávaní každej oblasti, do ktorej sa pustil. Kniha je napísaná Arnoldovým jedinečne úprimným, priamym a silným hlasom a čitateľa prevedie súborom jeho nástrojov pre zmysluplný život. Ako hovorí, každý z nás sa musí zachrániť sám, ale dobrá správa je, že nič iné okrem seba na to nepotrebujeme.

Douze mois et moi

Biographies & Memoirs

Voici mon journal secret, écrit Philippe Bouvard en tête de son nouveau livre. Pendant des années, et dans plusieurs œuvres (Carnets mondains - Un oursin dans le caviar - Du vinaigre sur les huiles - Et si je disais tout), j'ai cité les bons mots de mes clients les plus célèbres. C'est très récemment, que je me suis avisé que, dans ces différents livres, j'avais pratiqué l'auto-censure. Pas à l'égard de mes clients, sur lesquels je disais à peu près tout, mais à mon propre endroit. Voici donc, avec Douze mois et moi arrivé le moment où l'oursin entrouve ses piquants pour nous livrer un peu de lui-même. Simple plaisir d'introspection ? Ce serait mal connaître la nature de cet animal qui ne se complaît guère dans la contemplation de soi. Ses piquants sont faits pour piquer. Et s'il refuse aujourd'hui l'auto-censure, c'est qu'il veut atteindre - en se connaissant mieux - une plus grande lucidité à l'égard des autres : mieux se voir pour mieux juger autrui. C'est dire que - sincère cette fois jusqu'au bout - Philippe Bouvard - avec Douze mois et moi - n'épargne plus personne au fil de son journal. Voici, dans le désordre de son carnet de rendez-vous fort chargé, Piem, Michel d'Ornano, Maurice Druon, Alex Joffo, Alain Peyrefitte, Edmond de Rotchschild, Jacques Chancel, Pierre Douglas, Madame Alexandre Debray, Michel Guerard, le maréchal Tito, Alexandre Sanguinetti, Roger Gicquel, Dominique Jamet, Jean Dutourd, Jean Lefèvre, le baron Empain... et tant d'autres. 1er avril 1977 - 28 mars 1978, douze mois bien remplis pour Philippe Bouvard. Vivez à nouveau avec lui ces 365 jours qui viennent de s'achever, et qui furent si fertiles en événements.

Sous le développement, le genre

Biographies & Memoirs

Ignorée, invisible, la question du genre reste cachée sous le développement. Et pourtant, comprendre le développement n’est pas possible sans une perspective de genre. Cet ouvrage, didactique, montre en quoi et comment le concept de genre permet de revisiter les études de développement. Le genre permet de comprendre la construction historique, sociale et culturelle des différences et des inégalités. Il offre des outils pour une analyse critique du système capitaliste globalisé. Le genre, inscrit dans le féminisme, permet aux catégories dominées et marginalisées, en particulier les femmes mais pas seulement, de faire entendre leurs voix. Dans le contexte actuel de crise globale et d’accroissement des inégalités, il propose des pistes pour renouveler la pensée sur le développement, mais aussi pour agir autrement. Combinant diverses disciplines et thématiques, cet ouvrage montre que la portée heuristique du genre ne se limite pas aux domaines habituellement considérés comme féminins (l’éducation, la famille, le social, la santé de la reproduction, etc.) mais s’étend à tous les domaines (le politique, le droit, la sécurité, la diplomatie, l'économie, etc.). Ce livre met aussi en évidence la diversité et l’enrichissement mutuel des diverses traditions de recherche entre le monde francophone, anglophone et hispanophone. Il s’adresse particulièrement aux étudiant-es, chercheur-es et enseignant-es, militant-es, chargé-es de programme dans des organisations de coopération et représentant-es des pouvoirs publics au Nord et au Sud.

Renegades - Born in the USA (suomenkielinen)

Biographies & Memoirs

New York Times -bestseller nyt myös suomeksi!Renegades – Born in the USA on vilpitön, paljastava ja viihdyttävä presidentti Barack Obaman ja legendaarisen muusikko Bruce Springsteenin vuoropuhelu. Kirjassa kolutaan kaikkea heidän alkuperätarinoistaan ja uraa määrittävistä hetkistään Yhdysvaltojen polarisoituneeseen politiikkaan ja siihen, miten amerikkalainen unelma ja amerikkalainen todellisuus etääntyvät yhä kauemmaksi toisistaan. Runsaan kuvituksen ja harvinaisen arkistoaineiston täydentämä teos on vangitseva ja silmää hivelevä muotokuva kahdesta epäsovinnaisesta Yhdysvaltain lähihistorian merkkihenkilöstä, jotka miettivät keinoa yhdistää omakohtaiset merkityksen, identiteetin ja yhteisöllisyyden etsintänsä itse Amerikan tarinaan.Obama ja Springsteen tapaavat äänitysstudiossa, jossa on kymmeniä kitaroita, ja käyvät ainakin kerran kruisailemassa avo-Corvettella. He keskustelevat avioliitosta ja isyydestä, rotukysymyksestä ja maskuliinisuudesta, houkutuksesta lähteä tien päälle ja vastaavasti kotiinpaluun vetovoimasta. He vertailevat mieluisimpia protestilaulujaan, kaikkien aikojen inspiroivimpia amerikkalaisia sankareitaan ja paljon muuta. Keskusteluissa he paljastavat myös kautta uransa kokemansa voimakkaan halun – ja sen ajoittain vaatiman hinnan – kertoa isompaa ja todempaa Amerikan tarinaa ja tutkailevat sitä, miten heidän pirstoutunut maansa voisi löytää tiensä takaisin yhtenäisyyteen ja globaaliin johtajuuteen.Barack Obama oli Yhdysvaltojen 44. presidentti. Hänet valittiin vuonna 2008 ja hän palveli kaksi virkakautta. Hän on kirjoittanut kolme New York Times -bestselleriä, Unelmia isältäni, Rohkeus toivoa ja Luvattu maa. Presidentti Obamalle myönnettiin Nobelin rauhanpalkinto vuonna 2009. Hän asuu Washingtonissa vaimonsa Michellen kanssa. Heillä on kaksi tytärtä, Malia ja Sasha.Bruce Springsteen on nimetty Rock and Roll Hall of Fameen ja Songwriters Hall of Fameen. Hän on voittanut 20 Grammya, parhaan laulun Oscarin, Tony-palkinnon ja Kennedy Center Honorin. Springsteen on kirjoittanut New York Times -bestsellerin Born to Run ja sai 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedomin. Hän asuu perheensä kanssa New Jerseyssä.

Daniel Boone

Biographies & Memoirs

The little fleet of three small vessels, with which Columbus left Palos in Spain, in search of a new world, had been sixty-seven days at sea. They had traversed nearly three thousand miles of ocean, and yet there was nothing but a wide expanse of waters spread out before them. The despairing crew were loud in their murmurs, demanding that the expedition should be abandoned and that the ships should return to Spain. The morning of the 11th of October, 1492, had come. During the day Columbus, whose heart had been very heavily oppressed with anxiety, had been cheered by some indications that they were approaching land. Fresh seaweed was occasionally seen and a branch of a shrub with leaves and berries upon it, and a piece of wood curiously carved had been picked up.The devout commander was so animated by these indications, that he gathered his crew around him and returned heartfelt thanks to God, for this prospect that their voyage would prove successful. It was a beautiful night, the moon shone brilliantly and a delicious tropical breeze swept the ocean. At ten o'clock Columbus stood upon the bows of his ship earnestly gazing upon the western horizon, hoping that the long-looked-for land would rise before him. Suddenly he was startled by the distinct gleam of a torch far off in the distance. For a moment it beamed forth with a clear and indisputable flame and then disappeared. The agitation of Columbus no words can describe. Was it a meteor? Was it an optical illusion? Was it light from the land?Suddenly the torch, like a star, again shone forth with distinct though faint gleam. Columbus called some of his companions to his side and they also saw the light clearly. But again it disappeared. At two o'clock in the morning a sailor at the look out on the mast head shouted, "Land! land! land!" In a few moments all beheld, but a few miles distant from them, the distinct outline of towering mountains piercing the skies. A new world was discovered. Cautiously the vessels hove to and waited for the light of the morning. The dawn of day presented to the eyes of Columbus and his companions a spectacle of beauty which the garden of Eden could hardly have rivalled. It was a morning of the tropics, calm, serene and lovely. But two miles before them there emerged from the sea an island of mountains and valleys, luxuriant with every variety of tropical vegetation. The voyagers, weary of gazing for many weeks on the wide waste of waters, were so enchanted with the fairy scene which then met the eye, that they seemed really to believe that they had reached the realms of the blest.

El refugio de la memoria

Biographies & Memoirs

La autobiografía del intelectual de los intelectuales.Cada capítulo evoca un recuerdo del pasado a través del filtro de la prodigiosa mente de Judt. Durante sus últimos meses de vida, escribir estas pequeñas piezas le permitió en cierto modo escapar de su enfermedad degenerativa, una prisión que se iba estrechando, y estas han pasado a ser el contrapunto personal de su obra maestra, Postguerra.Amores, vivencias, imágenes y olores hace tiempo perdidos... todos compiten por la atención de Judt y lo llevan a inesperadas y lúcidas reflexiones sobre la historia, la política y la sociedad hasta formar un elegante arco de análisis. Todo tan simple y hermosamente dispuesto como una casita suiza, un reconfortante e inalterable refugio perdido en las montañas de la memoria.La crítica ha dicho... «Hermoso y conmovedor. A pesar de que Judt falleció demasiado pronto, esta obra póstuma es más reconfortante que triste.» John Banville, TheGuardian«La bellísima, impávida, heterodoxa confesión memorial de una persona que pone plazos a su irremediable sentencia volcándose en elinterior de su cabeza (lo único intocado por el mal) y sacando de ella las armas de repudio de la muerte» Vicente Molina Foix, El País«El refugio de la memoriamuestra al hombre sabio, ingenioso, sutil y, sobre todo, civilizado que hemos perdido.»Evening Standard

The Civil War Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

Biographies & Memoirs

From the Western frontier to the battlefields of Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Franklin, Petersburg, and Richmond, Grant saw the war from the front lines and made the decisions that affected lives on a day-to-day basis. His writings provide a revealing look into the life of the commander in chief of the Union army as well as the seminal eyewitness account of the War between the States.The Civil War Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is a popular abridgment of his two-volume Personal Memoirs, which he arranged to have published to provide for his family after his death. (It was a huge bestseller and broke all records in American publishing at the time.) He died less than one week after completing its writing.This abridgment covers Grant's experiences in the Civil War, from the first shot at Sumter to Appomattox, giving the reader a front-line seat next to the greatest Union general of the war.Highlights Include:- General William Tecumseh Sherman on his infamous march through Georgia- General George B. McClellan on the battle of Antietam and the legendary lost order that should have tipped him off to Lee's plans- General George Armstrong Custer's experience of going straight from studying at West Point to the battlefield- General (CSA) James Longstreet on serving under Robert E. Lee- General (CSA) G. Moxley Sorrel on serving under James Longstreet- Major (CSA) J.S.Mosby on the South's Guerilla campaign- General (CSA) Jubal Earley's memoir of the last year of the war.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Le Goût du pouvoir

Biographies & Memoirs

Voici douze récits "vrais", mi-graves mi-joyeux, qui se déroulent dans le champ clos des ambitions politiques locales. Tous racontent, à travers des situations variées, ponctuelles, ou sur la durée d'une vie, "ce qui se passe" derrière les portes matelassées des cabinets et des antichambres où règne le "goût du pouvoir".

The Narrative of Sojourner Truth

Biographies & Memoirs

An Apple Books Classics edition.The Narrative of Sojourner Truth was first published in 1850—a dozen years before the Emancipation Proclamation. At the time, this rare, first-person account of the horrors of slavery was a revelation for readers. Truth’s unsentimental descriptions of her experiences, including the beatings she suffered and the time her toddler-aged brother hid under a bed when he learned he’d been sold from his parents, forced people to contemplate Truth’s simple, penetrating question: “What a way is this of treating human beings?”The book goes on to chronicle Truth’s trailblazing life. After she escaped enslavement, she toured the country, speaking to abolitionists and calling out those that didn’t include women’s rights in their fight for equality. Truth successfully sued a white man for her son’s freedom, escaped persecution from a cult, and, long before Rosa Parks took her famous bus ride, climbed aboard a whites-only streetcar. Sojourner Truth was born an enslaved person, but she died a freedom fighter. Her story deserves to be read, shared, and absorbed.

A történetmondó

Biographies & Memoirs

Dave Grohl önéletrajza megkapóan őszinte és rendkívül inspiráló olvasmány, egy világhírű zenész közvetlen hangú beszámolója karrierjéről és magánéletéről. A nagy rock and roll sztorikon túl meglepő módon Grohl komolyabb, önelemző arcát is megmutatja, szívszorító őszinteséggel mesél félelmeiről, fájdalmairól, veszteségeiről. Élete legfontosabb pillanatait felvillantva ismerhetjük meg egy megszállott zeneőrült történetét, aki az amerikai álmot valóra váltva baráti kapcsolatba került hőseivel, de még elnökökkel is, miközben füstös kocsmák színpadairól indulva ő maga is stadionkoncertek bálványává vált. Dave Grohl nemzetközi hírnevét a Nirvana dobosaként alapozta meg, aki az együttes áttörést hozó, 1991-ben megjelent Nevermind című albumától játszott a zenekarban. Kurt Cobain tragikus halála után, 1994-ben alapította meg a Foo Fighterst, ahol már gitáros-énekesként állt a csapat élére. Együttese a rockzene igazi nagyágyúja lett, számos elismerése és díja közül eddig tizenötször nyerte el a Grammy-díjat. 2013-tól filmrendezőként és producerként is dolgozik - tevékenységéért kétszer kapta meg az Emmy-díjat. Feleségével és három lányával Los Angelesben él. ,,A második refrén után Kurt gitárral a kezében beugrott a közönségbe, és a zsíros hajakból és tetovált végtagokból álló közönségen szörfözve szólózott. Visszazuhant a színpadra, és önkívületben fetrengett és rángatózott, majd ráesett a biztonsági őrre, akit azért állítottak oda, hogy távol tartsa a srácokat a színpadtól. A férfi minden erejével azon volt, hogy Kurtöt lelökje magáról. Nyers erővel nekifeszült a nála sokkal kisebb Kurtnek, Kurt pedig egy védekező >>küzdj vagy menekülj

Quando il respiro si fa aria

Biographies & Memoirs

La lezione di vita di un medico che si è trovato ad affrontare in prima persona la malattia. A 36 anni, appena conclusa la scuola di specializzazione in neurochirurgia e con una brillante carriera davanti a sé, Paul Kalanithi scopre di avere un cancro ai polmoni in stato avanzato. Improvvisamente, da medico che si prende cura degli altri, Paul si ritrova, in una posizione diametralmente opposta, a lottare per la propria vita. Il futuro che lui e sua moglie avevano immaginato insieme evapora in un istante. Questo struggente memoir è la cronaca della trasformazione di Kalanithi da giovane studente di medicina, alla continua ricerca di cosa renda una vita piena di significato, a neurochirurgo di Stanford che si occupa di cervello, a paziente che deve affrontare una malattia mortale. Cosa rende la vita degna di essere vissuta quando ci si confronta con la morte? Cosa fare quando il futuro davanti a noi si appiattisce in un eterno presente? Cosa significa avere un figlio, nutrire una nuova esistenza mentre la propria svanisce? Sono solo alcune delle domande che Kalanithi si pone in questo memoir intenso e di grande scrittura. Paul è scomparso il 15 marzo 2015 mentre stava lavorando a questo libro, ma le sue parole sopravvivono: una riflessione indimenticabile sulle sfide che la morte ci obbliga ad affrontare e sulla relazione tra medico e paziente, da un brillante scrittore che è stato entrambe le cose.

San Francisco de Asís

Biographies & Memoirs

Un ensayo sobre San Francisco de Asís escrito en 1923 por el polémicoescritor convertido al cristianismo G. K. Chesterton.G. K. Chesterton pertenece, junto a Graham Greene y Evelyn Waugh, a esaexquisita tradición de escritores ingleses del siglo XX atravesados porun hecho excepcional en sus vidas: una conmovedora conversión alcristianismo en la adultez. Pero a diferencia de sus dos colegas,atenazados por la culpa y las disquisiciones morales, Chesterton abrazósu fe con absoluta alegría. Por eso no es casual que la primera figurasobre la que quiso escribir tras su primera comunión, a los 48 años,fuera San Francisco de Asís.El escritor que decía haber nacido para iniciar "la aventura suprema"llega al cristianismo después de haberse dedicado a comprender sucarácter único en la historia e indaga en la vida de il poverellod#Assisi a partir de las encrucijadas que se le plantean al hombremoderno. Enhebrando con fluidez, agudeza y sensibilidad la biografía, elensayo, los relatos y la historia, Chesterton pareciera proponersedemostrar que la vida de un santo puede ser mucho más romántica que lamejor de las novelas.Publicado originalmente en 1923 y de asombrosa actualidad, en laspáginas de este libro uno de los más agudos defensores de la cristiandadlogra llegar al corazón del hombre que predicó el amor a la naturaleza,intentó terminar con las cruzadas acercándose a los sarracenos, vivió desobras y refundó con su ejemplo la Iglesia de Cristo.Lejos de dirigirse al lector complaciente, Chesterton escribe para elhombre común, simpatizante pero escéptico. San Francisco de Asís es unalectura estimulante para cualquiera que busque inspiración ante eldesafío de "caminar en la oscuridad con el corazón contento".«La paz franciscana no es un sentimiento almibarado. Ese San Franciscono existe. Y ni siquiera es una especie de armonía panteísta con lasenergías del cosmos. La paz de San Francisco es la de Cristo y laencuentra quien carga con su yugo, es decir, con su mandamiento: Ámenselos unos a los otros como yo los he amado.» El papa Francisco en Asís,octubre de 2013«Había en Chesterton una gran sabiduría. Los católicos lo exaltan, loslibrepensadores lo niegan. Como todo escritor que profesa un credo,Chesterton es juzgado, reprobado o aclamado por él.» Jorge Luis Borges

The Son of Man

Biographies & Memoirs

This book deals with “Jesus,” and has not a word to say about “Christ.” The author does not meddle with theology; that arose later, and he does not pretend to understand it. He tells the story as if the tremendous consequences of the life he describes were unknown to him—as they were unknown to Jesus, and unwilled. The book, therefore, ignores the interpolations in the gospels, whether made retrospectively to show the confirmation of ancient prophecies, or prospectively to provide support for the still youthful Church. Much has been omitted because modern research has rejected it as spurious. If the reader misses some text endeared to him from childhood, let him remember that libraries are filled with discussions as to the genuineness of such passages. Since in these days most persons derive their impressions of the story of Jesus from pictures of a comparatively recent date rather than from the gospels, a good deal escapes their notice. They fail, for instance, to observe that neither in Mark nor in Matthew are we told that Jesus visited the temple when he was a child, and that only one of the four evangelists says that Mary and John were present when he died on the cross.

All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes

Biographies & Memoirs

In 1962 the poet, musician, and performer Maya Angelou claimed another piece of her identity by moving to Ghana, joining a community of "Revolutionist Returnees" inspired by the promise of pan-Africanism. All God's Children Need Walking Shoes is her lyrical and acutely perceptive exploration of what it means to be an African American on the mother continent, where color no longer matters but where American-ness keeps asserting itself in ways both puzzling and heartbreaking. As it builds on the personal narrative of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name, this book confirms Maya Angelou’s stature as one of the most gifted autobiographers of our time.

Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee

Biographies & Memoirs

General Lee was a prolific writer, seemingly writing letters almost every day of his life, although he never really wrote his own memoirs. This book presents an extraordinary historical account, which allows us to learn the personality of the great Confederate leader through his everyday actions, like walking with his favorite dog or talking with his family members.

No Other Time Like This One

Biographies & Memoirs

A small, West Texas town, a graduating class, and a vanished, magical era in history Ever wondered what became of the person voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in your high-school graduating class? Does the girl once named "Most Beautiful" still turn heads? And did that cute, high-school sweetheart duo go on to have a marriage made in heaven? Ed Jackson determined to answer these questions and others about his Class of 1947 in the small, West Texas town of Cisco. His sentimental journey to locate and learn what the intervening 60 years held for his classmates turned the pages back to an innocent, almost magical time to grow up--when no home's front door ever was locked, when couples dated eight to the car, when the Band Banquet and box suppers were the biggest social events around. As Ed traces his colleagues' becoming of age in the immediate post-World War II era, he examines their joys and sorrows up to the present day. His captivating vignettes well may prompt others to reconnect with high-school friends of long ago and to recall their own matchless yesterdays. The book is endorsed by some of Texas' leading educators and politicians. Among them are Dr. Robert B. Sloan, Jr., chancellor of Baylor University; Charles Matthews, chancellor of the Texaas State University System; and John Muller, president of Cisco Junior College. Author Ed Jackson is a fitness fanatic, community volunteer, and retired electronics execuive who at age 75 still looks ahead to the best years of his life. He has been a naval officer, space engineer, senior corporate executive, and volunteer missionary for the Southern Baptist Convention. He and his wife, Re, live in Garland, Texas.

Cartas 1937-1954 (Tomo 1)

Biographies & Memoirs

Primer volumen de la compilación de la correspondencia del autor de Rayuela. Unas cartas que pueden leerse como diario personal, autobiografía o cuaderno de bitácora de sus libros.«Odio las cartas literarias, cuidadosamente preparadas, copiadas y vueltas a copiar; yo me siento a la máquina y dejo correr el vasto río de los pensamientos y los afectos», escribió Julio Cortázar en 1942: una declaración de principios que mantuvo siempre. Con curiosidad permanente, Cortázar da cuenta de todos los aspectos de su actividad como escritor, de sus desvelos políticos y sus vaivenes personales, hace el balance del día, opina sobre lo que lee, lo que escucha y lo que ve, relata sus andanzas como traductor, como militante revolucionario o como defensor de los derechos humanos. Nada queda afuera: la Argentina de provincias, Buenos Aires, París, Cuba, Nicaragua, el boom de la literatura latinoamericana, la amistad, el amor, la muerte. El autor no cesa de asombrarnos con su humor, su lucidez y una inusual coherencia entre vida y obra. Organizada en cinco volúmenes que abarcan un período comprendido entre 1937 y 1984, la presente edición de la correspondencia cortazariana presenta más de mil cartas inéditas, recupera los fragmentos suprimidos en ediciones anteriores e incluye índices de obras del autor y de personas citadas. Una colección que parece estar escribiendo ahora, a nuestro lado «un hombre que jamás se aburrió un solo segundo a lo largo de toda su vida».

Purgatory

Biographies & Memoirs

Purgatory: A Prison Diary, Volume 2, is Jeffrey Archer's frank, shocking, sometimes humorous, sometimes horrifying account of his incarceration. On August 9, 2001, 22 days after Archer--now known as Prisoner FF8282--was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury, he was transferred from a maximum security prison in London to HMP Wayland, a medium security prison in Norfolk. For the next 67 days, as he waited to be reclassified for an "open," minimum security prison, he encountered not only the daily degradations of a dangerously overstretched prison system but also the spirit and courage of his fellow inmates.

The Last King of America

Biographies & Memoirs

From the New York Times bestselling author of Churchill and NapoleonThe last king of America, George III, has been ridiculed as a complete disaster who frittered away the colonies and went mad in his old age. The truth is much more nuanced and fascinating--and will completely change the way readers and historians view his reign and legacy.Most Americans dismiss George III as a buffoon--a heartless and terrible monarch with few, if any, redeeming qualities. The best-known modern interpretation of him is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting, and pompous take in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of eighteenth-century revolutionaries like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who needed to make the king appear evil in order to achieve their own political aims. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth: George III was in fact a wise, humane, and even enlightened monarch who was beset by talented enemies, debilitating mental illness, incompetent ministers, and disastrous luck.In The Last King of America, Roberts paints a deft and nuanced portrait of the much-maligned monarch and outlines his accomplishments, which have been almost universally forgotten. Two hundred and forty-five years after the end of George III's American rule, it is time for Americans to look back on their last king with greater understanding: to see him as he was and to come to terms with the last time they were ruled by a monarch.

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