Biographies & Memoirs - Books

The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated, Paradise, Volume 3

Biographies & Memoirs

It is is biographical book. Astounded, to the guardian of my steps I turned me, like the chill, who always runs Thither for succour, where he trusteth most, And she was like the mother, who her son Beholding pale and breathless, with her voice Soothes him, and he is cheered; for thus she spake, Soothing me: 'Know not thou, thou art in heaven? And knowest not thou, whatever is in heaven, Is holy, and that nothing there is done. But is done zealously and well? Deem now, What change in thee the song, and what my smile had wrought, since thus the shout had power to move thee. In which could thou have understood their prayers, The vengeance were already known to thee, Which thou must witness ere thy mortal hour, The sword of heaven is not in haste to smite, Nor yet doth linger, save unto his seeming, Who in desire or fear doth look for it.

GIGN, le temps d'un secret

Biographies & Memoirs

Découvrez l'univers du Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale avec cette nouvelle édition revue et augmentée !Michel Bernard, membre du corps d'élite de la gendarmerie nationale, revient sur l'ensemble de sa carrière et retrace par le détail ses missions au Pays Basque, à Ouvéa, en ex-Yougoslavie... Tout est décrit avec discernement, simplicité et humilité, sentiment étouffant de la peur, du devoir à accomplir. Blessures, disparition des frères d'armes, manque de moyens, dysfonctionnements d'ordre politique.Dans un style précis, imagé, inventif, l'auteur nous fait découvrir les coulisses du « Groupe » : un univers de camaraderie où les actions spectaculaires se succèdent sans relâche, où courage, abnégation et respect de la vie sont les valeurs fondamentales. Michel Bernard se révèle un tempérament atypique et attachant. Plein d'humour et de curiosité, il a le goût de la liberté et de la beauté des choses du monde.GIGN, le temps d'un secret est le témoignage d'un « gendarme pas comme les autres », un homme d'action et de réflexion, un chevalier des temps modernes.CE QU'EN PENSE LA CRITIQUE"Au fil des pages et des "campagnes" se dessinent les fêlures sous l'uniforme, jusqu'à la cassure. [...] [L'auteur] nous fait justement pénétrer dans le combat grâce à une belle plume." - Éric Pelletier, L'Express"Émouvant, touchant, captivant. Se lit comme un roman. Michel Bernard rend un hommage à ces hommes de l'ombre, ce "groupe", uni et solidaire, qui veille sur notre sécurité." - Critiques libresÀ PROPOS DE L'AUTEURAprès sept années passées au sein de l’Escadron Parachutiste de la Gendarmerie Nationale (EPIGN), Michel Bernard intègre le GIGN, où il restera plus de onze ans. Il est aujourd’hui responsable de missions de sécurité au sein d’une grande entreprise privée.

Mi filosofía

Biographies & Memoirs

Stéphane Hessel entrevistado por Nicolas Truong. Deportado ya entrado en años a los campos de Buchenwald, Rottleberode y Dora, Stéphane Hessel fue antiguo alumno de la Escuela Normale Superior enamorado de la poesía, capaz de recitar entero "El barco ebrio" de Rimbaud o "El Orfeo" de Rilke. Contrario al filósofo alemán Theodor W. Adorno, Stéphane Hessel consideró que era posible escribir poesía después de Auschwitz. De esta manera Hessel afirma que la poesía se escribió a sí misma. En efecto, para él la poesía hacia las veces de la filosofía. Ese arte de la brevedad era, según el, pensamiento encarnado; los fragmentos aprendidos de memoria moldeaban su espíritu, es decir su cuerpo. Espíritu y cuerpo, dos entidades habitualmente separadas, estaban unidas en el monismo de Hessel. Stèphane Hessel se permitió incluso tener esperanza en una humanidad nueva. Texto de Nicolas Truong

Königin Luise

Biographies & Memoirs

Königin Luise von Preußen – Die Seele einer NationLuise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie, Herzogin zu Mecklenburg, geboren am 10. März 1776, war weit mehr als Ehefrau von König Friedrich Wilhelm III., Königin von Preußen und beliebte Monarchin. Sie wurde zur Symbolfigur des Widerstands gegen Napoleon Bonaparte und zur Hoffnungsträgerin ihres Volkes in Zeiten größter Not. Ihre Güte, ihr Charisma und ihre politische Klugheit machten sie zu einer der bewunderten Persönlichkeiten ihrer Zeit. Sie wurde zum Symbol für den Wiederaufstieg Preußens und für die Entwicklung hin zum Deutschen Kaiserreich.Gertrude Aretz schildert in dieser Biografie das bewegte Leben von Luise – von ihren glücklichen Jahren als schöne und junge Königin mit ungezwungenen Umgangsformen, bis zu ihrem tapferen Einsatz für Preußen inmitten von Krieg und Unterdrückung. Dabei zeigt sie vor allem auch eine Frau, die mit ihrer Menschlichkeit und ihrem Mut Geschichte schrieb und nach Ihrem Tod mit nur 34 Jahren ein bleibendes Erbe hinterließ.Ein bewegendes Porträt einer Königin, die zur Legende wurde – für alle, die starke Frauen und große Geschichten lieben!Gertrude Aretz bei nexx classics – WELTLITERATUR NEU INSPIRIERT

Jeg ved hvorfor fuglen synger i sit bur

Biographies & Memoirs

Maya Angelous gribende erindringsbog om at vokse op som sort pige i 1930'ernes amerikanske sydstater i et stærkt raceopdelt miljø, hvor de sorte udsættes for had og ydmygelser. Om en barndom med skiftende hjem og med forældre uden kræfter til at være forældre. Om at gå gennem uretfærdigheder og overgreb, men alligevel rejse sig og finde styrke til at gøre sig fri af sin sociale arv. Bogen lå på bestsellerlisterne i to år efter udgivelsen i 1969 og er stadig en elsket klassiker over hele verden. Den usminkede skildring vakte stor forargelse i visse kredse og er en af de bøger, der hyppigst er ønsket fjernet fra bibliotekshylderne. Den er ikke tidligere udgivet på dansk.Pressen skriver:»Borgerrettighedsikonet Maya Angelous 50 år gamle selvbiografi introduceres på dansk. Med god grund … værket er uomgængeligt - et vidnesbyrd om en tid, der som ringe i vandet strækker sig helt ind i dagens Amerika, en ihukommelse om aldrig at acceptere undertrykkelse, ligegyldigt hvilken form den antager.«– Weekendavisen»Jeg ved hvorfor fuglene synger i sit bur har i dag opnået klassikerstatus, og dens litterære kvaliteter er for længst slået fast… helt særlig er (den) - også på dansk i Nanna Gyldenkærnes oversættelse.«– Information

Le Quartet d'Oxford. Quand Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley et Iris Murdoch réinventaient la philosophie

Biographies & Memoirs

Elizabeth Anscombe : brillante, grande fumeuse, catholique en pantalon, mère de sept enfants. Philippa Foot : petite-fille d’un président américain, discrètement rebelle. Mary Midgley : érudite pleine d’esprit et observatrice attentive des hommes et des animaux. Iris Murdoch : romancière en devenir qui a le pouvoir de séduire (presque) tout le monde. Toutes sont devenues philosophes à la veille de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Brillantes étudiantes, bientôt amies inséparables, elles entrent à l’université d’Oxford au moment où les hommes partent au front. Cette passionnante biographie croisée nous plonge dans la vie tumultueuse de quatre femmes qui ont profondément renouvelé la philosophie. Dans les temps troublés qui voient Oxford accueillir les rescapés du nazisme de toute l’Europe, elles partagent lectures, cigarettes et peines de cœur, et ne cessent de réfléchir au monde qui les entoure. Plus qu’un refuge, la philosophie est pour elles une nécessité absolue. Comment penser l’action humaine ? Qu’est-ce qu’une vie bonne ? L’homme est-il un animal comme les autres ? S’opposant à un certain formalisme de la tradition philosophique britannique, elles développent chacune à leur manière une philosophie morale d’une étonnante modernité à l’heure où, de l’autre côté du Channel, l’existentialisme bat son plein.

Maria Antoinette

Biographies & Memoirs

In the year 1740, Charles VI., emperor of Austria, died. He left a daughter twenty-three years of age, Maria Theresa, to inherit the crown of that powerful empire. She had been married about four years to Francis, duke of Lorraine. The day after the death of Charles, Maria Theresa ascended the throne. The treasury of Austria was empty. A general feeling of discontent pervaded the kingdom. Several claimants to the throne rose to dispute the succession with Maria; and France, Spain, Prussia, and Bavaria took advantage of the new reign, and of the embarrassments which surrounded the youthful queen, to enlarge their own borders by wresting territory from Austria.The young queen, harassed by dissensions at home and by the combined armies of her powerful foes, beheld, with anguish which her proud and imperious spirit could hardly endure, her troops defeated and scattered in every direction, and the victorious armies of her enemies marching almost unimpeded toward her capital. The exulting invaders, intoxicated with unanticipated success, now contemplated the entire division of the spoil. They decided to blot Austria from the map of Europe, and to partition out the conglomerated nations composing the empire among the conquerors.

Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe (English Edition)

Biographies & Memoirs

A complete and unabridged translation into English by A. S. Kline. Annotated with a fully hyperlinked index of 4450 footnotes to the Memoirs. Illustrated with 604 images of the people, places and events of Chateaubriand's life. Chateaubriand’s Mémoires d’outre-tombe, his Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, is at once sublime literature, brilliant history seen by a fiercely intelligent eye-witness, and a self-portrait of a remarkable and complex man. Chateaubriand is one of that worldly, intellectually-restless literary set, including Goethe and Byron, who may be said to have founded and developed the wider European Romantic movement, granting it social relevance and gaining it an extensive European and North American audience. Chateaubriand’s long life saw him take on the roles of soldier, traveller, literary giant, politician and diplomat. But it is the humane, charming, fallible, private individual who endears himself to the reader in these pages. His many loves and friendships, his admiration for the brilliant women he knew, his warm interpretation of religion, and his conciliatory politics, all add to the vision of a great human being, in the French humanist tradition of Montaigne. Living through the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Empire, the Bourbon Restoration, and the subsequent July Monarchy, dying during the Revolution of 1848, he was witness to an endlessly dramatic and fiercely contested period of history. His interpretation of that history is as a man of faith and a staunch proponent of constitutional Monarchy, yet with visible Republican sympathies and, for his time, a remarkable lack of bigotry. His autobiography here is a valuable corrective to a dogmatic view of that history often propounded by pro-Republican or pro-Napoleonic writings. His travels in North America, Europe and the Middle-East also qualify him as the first intellectual ‘tourist’, and his narrative allows him to demonstrate his wide interest in nature, scenery, the arts, and humanity. The length and resonant complexity of the Memoirs allows us to enter fully into his world, and his literary legacy can be detected in writers such as Baudelaire and Proust, where his feeling for life’s transience, the profound echoes of time past, and the moral dimensions of human existence are further developed and extended. Once encountered Chateaubriand is unforgettable, and the Memoirs deserve much wider literary and historical recognition. They have suffered from an unmerited neglect, due to their extent, and the previous lack of a complete English translation, a lack which is here remedied, the work being further enriched by over six hundred illustrations, and a fully detailed index. This and other texts available from Poetry in Translation (www.poetryintranslation.com).

Perfectly Wounded

Biographies & Memoirs

The incredible true story of former Navy SEAL Mike Day, who survived being shot twenty-seven times while deployed in Iraq.On the night of April 6, 2007, in Iraq's Anbar Province, Senior Chief Mike Day, his team of Navy SEALs, and a group of Iraqi scouts were on the hunt for a high-level al Qaeda cell. Day was the first to enter a 12x12 room where four terrorist leaders were waiting in ambush. When the gunfight was over, he took out all four terrorists in the room, but not before being shot twenty-seven times and hit with grenade shrapnel. Miraculously, Day cleared the rest of the house and rescued six women and children before walking out on his own to an awaiting helicopter, which flew him to safety.While in the hospital, the Navy SEAL lost fifty-five pounds in two weeks. It took almost two years for Day to physically recover from his injuries, although he still deals with pain. Like so many veterans, doctors diagnosed Day with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury -- the invisible wounds of war.Perfectly Wounded is the remarkable story of an American hero whose incredible survival defies explanation, and whose blessed life of service continues in the face of unimaginable odds.

A Roomful of Hovings and Other Profiles

Biographies & Memoirs

In this unique book, John McPhee takes us into the world of several fascinating people. His inimitable style reveals the intricate details of his characters' lives.1. Thomas P. F. Hoving2. Euell Gibbons3. M.I.T. Fellows in Africa4. Robert Twynam, of Wimbledon5. Temple Fielding

An Alphabet of Celebrities

Biographies & Memoirs

It is a biographical book. Albert Edward, well meaning but flighty, Who invited King Arthur, the blameless and mighty, To meet Alcibiades and Aphrodite. Is for Bernhardt, who fails to awaken Much feeling in Bismarck, Barabbas, and Bacon. Columbus, who tries to explain How to balance an egg—to the utter disdain Of Confucius, Carlyle, Cleopatra, and Cain.

Churchill

Biographies & Memoirs

Esta es, sin duda, la mejor biografía de Winston Churchill que se haya publicado. Andrew Roberts, considerado como el mejor historiador militar británico, ha podido utilizar para su trabajo una gran cantidad de documentos que ningún biógrafo había podido consultar con anterioridad, incluídos los diarios privados del rey Jorge VI, que se reunía regularmente con Churchill durante la guerra. La riqueza de la documentación que maneja permite a Roberts ahondar en la realidad humana del personaje, siguiendo su vida desde su infancia y la conflictiva relación con su padre hasta su declive, lo cual hace que el lector pueda «ver la segunda guerra mundial a través del prisma del resto de su vida».

Elizabeth et Margaret

Biographies & Memoirs

Andrew Morton, qui avait déjà reçu les confessions exclusives de la princesse Diana, offre une vision inédite et intimiste d'une famille hors du commun.Elles furent les soeurs les plus proches qui soient. En décembre 1936, lorsque leur oncle, le roi Edward VIII, décide d'abdiquer, la relation liant Elizabeth à Margaret est bouleversée. Cette dernière n'aura d'autre choix que de s'incliner face à sa soeur aînée " Lilibet ", 10 ans, désormais première dans l'ordre de succession au trône britannique.La difficulté qu'a éprouvée Margaret à trouver sa place, ses caprices, ses frasques de princesse du " Swinging London ", puis ses excès auront été une permanente source de tensions, jusqu'à sa mort en 2002.Pourtant, les deux soeurs s'appelaient chaque jour et Margaret était la seule personne à qui Elizabeth pouvait tout confier.Jeunesse protégée, années de guerre, mariage d'amour d'Elizabeth avec Philip Mountbatten, avant son accession au trône, mariage avec le photographe Tony Armstrong-Jones, tabagisme, alcoolisme de Margaret... Cet ouvrage explore l'évolution du rapport entre ces deux soeurs unies aux tempéraments opposés.Un regard inédit et intime sur une relation douloureuse.

Les Caractères

Biographies & Memoirs

«Les Caractères» sont la réflexion de toute une vie. Si La Bruyère semble parfois absent, c'est parce qu'il s'est retiré en spectateur. Il observe, et de là en tire une série de fragments, de maximes et de portraits qui démêlent le rapport complexe entre la nature humaine et ses mœurs. Qu'en est-il de l'argent? De l'amour? Ou de la religion? «Les Caractères» c'est aussi l'emblème du débat entre les Anciens et les Modernes. La Bruyère, avec cette traduction anonyme d'un auteur grec, Théophraste, s'inscrit dans la lignée des Anciens. Pourtant, il évoque aussi le Moderne — l'œuvre annonce le vent de contestation qui s'exprimera au XVIIIe siècle.

The End of Empire

Biographies & Memoirs

Martin Bell, the former BBC was reporter and Independent MP, served as a soldier in the Suffolk Regiment during the Cyprus emergency between 1957 and 1959. In a chocolate box in the attic many years later he found more than 100 letters that he had sent home to his family. He was not a journalist then, but the letters give a vivid impression of what it was like to be a conscript on active service during the EOKA rebellion against British rule. They describe road blocks and cordons and searches, murders and explosions and riots and a strategy of armed repression that ultimately failed. From this beginning he has written The End of Empire.His narrative is a powerful and personal account of the violent process of decolonization, of the character of the British Army at the time and the impact of National Service on young men who were not much more than kids in uniform. It also gives a graphic insight into the ultimate futility of the use of force in wars among people and it reveals the true story of the insurgency and the campaign to defeat it.By drawing on recently declassified documents, he shows that Cyprus in the late 1950s was run not by the governor but by a military junta. The army commanders were looking for the knockout blow that would deliver victory, but their misguided tactics served only to strengthen support for their enemy.So The End Of Empire is much more than a personal reminiscence. It is an absorbing account of the experience of army life from the perspective of a private soldier, and it is the inside story of how Britain tried to crush a violent rebellion sixty years ago.

Thrown Away Children: Sky's Story

Biographies & Memoirs

When Sky and her older sister Avril were taken into care, the social workers knew this was a case like no other. Raised by unhinged parents who hoarded compulsively, creating horrific conditions no child should live in, the two girls arrived at foster carer Louise's home, neglected, malnourished, and indoctrinated. Louise had to draw on all of her experience as one of Britain's leading foster carers to rehabilitate and change the course of their lives.But with constant attempts to thwart her work, Louise ends up under siege in her own home. Will she succeed or is their fate sealed forever?

J'ai recommencé à vivre !

Biographies & Memoirs

Tout a commencé par un petit verre de vin occasionnel en attendant le retour des enfants de l’école. Et puis, sans qu’elle s’en soit vraiment rendu compte, Clare est passée à plus d’une bouteille par jour. Un moyen de fuir sa solitude de mère au foyer et son quotidien trop monotone.Dans ce livre, Clare retrace sa descente aux enfers, mais surtout la manière dont elle a réussi à s’en sortir. Du jour au lendemain, elle a décidé qu’il n’y aurait plus aucun déjeuner bien arrosé, plus d’apéritifs solitaires… Une tâche semblant insurmontable tant la boisson a pris une grande place dans sa vie.En guise de soutien, la jeune femme raconte par écrit son combat quotidien et saupoudre ses journées d'une bonne dose d'humour et d'auto-dérision. Ce sera sa recette magique – et un formidable message d’espoir – pour briser le cercle vicieux de la dépendance. Et, enfin, réapprendre à vivre.Optimiste et positif : un livre-thérapie pour sortir de la dépendance.

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Biographies & Memoirs

Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this bestselling spiritual classic. This is Maya Angelou talking from the heart, down to earth and real, but also inspiring. This is a book to be treasured, a book about being in all ways a woman, about living well, about the power of the word, and about the power of spirituality to move and shape your life. Passionate, lively, and lyrical, Maya Angelou’s latest unforgettable work offers a gem of truth on every page.Maya Angelou speaks out . . . On Faith: “I'm taken aback when people walk up to me and tell me they are Christians. My first response is the question 'Already?' It seems to me a lifelong endeavor to try to live the life of a Christian. It is in the search itself that one finds ecstasy.”On Racism: “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter their color.”On Taking Time for Ourselves: “Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. A day away acts as a spring tonic. It can dispel rancor, transform indecision, and renew the spirit.”On Death and Grieving: “When I sense myself filling with rage at the absence of a beloved, I try as soon as possible to remember that my concerns should be focused on what I can learn from my departed love. What legacy was left which can help me in the art of living a good life?”On Style: “Style is as unique and nontransferable and perfectly personal as a fingerprint. It is wise to take the time to develop one's own way of being, increasing those things one does well and eliminating the elements in one's character which can hinder and diminish the good personality.”

Nunca te pares

Biographies & Memoirs

La historia jamás contada detrás de Nike, la marca deportiva más icónica del mundo, narrada por su creador.Uno de los libros favoritos de Bill Gates de 2016.Phil Knight, director general de Nike, nos cuenta por primera vez la auténtica historia detrás de la empresa que fundó en 1962, que hoy en día factura más de 30.000 millones de dólares al año, y cuyo logo ha llegado a ser un símbolo global, el icono más ubicuo y reconocido en todo el mundo.Todo comenzó con 50 dólares y una idea sencilla: importar calzado deportivo económico y de gran calidad desde Japón. Vendiendo esas zapatillas de deporte en el maletero de su coche consiguió facturar 8.000 dólares durante el primer año. Progresivamente, este pequeño negocio se convirtió en una start-uprompedora que revolucionó el mercado, creó una marca universal e innovadora y evolucionó hasta convertirse en el gigante actual.En estas memorias sinceras y viscerales, Phil Knight relata los numerosos riesgos asumidos, los reveses sufridos y los incipientes éxitos, pero sobre todo la relación con sus primeros colaboradores y empleados, un grupo de inconformistas y luchadores que acabaron sintiéndose como hermanos. Juntos, animados por la fuerza de un objetivocomún y una fe profunda en el espíritu del deporte, construyeron una marca que transformó todos los cánones establecidos.Reseñas:«Estas memorias, por el co-fundador de Nike, es un recordatorio refrescante y honesto de lo que realmente es el camino hacia el éxito empresarial: desordenado, precario y lleno de errores. [...] No creo que Knight se proponga enseñar nada al lector. En sulugar, logra algo mejor. Él cuenta su historia con la mayor honestidad posible. Es una historia increíble.»Bill Gates«Una conmovedora y entretenida aventura, una auténtica odisea con mucho que enseñar sobre innovación y creatividad. Phil Knight nos lleva hasta los inicios de la marca Nike y recuerda cómo tuvo que suplicar para conseguir dinero de unos bancos muy reacios y cómo tuvieron que trabajar juntos para construir algo único y revolucionario. Una inspiración para quienes tengan sueños poco convencionales.»Michael Spence, Premio Nobel de Economía

Citizen

Biographies & Memoirs

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful, candid, and richly detailed memoir from an American icon, revealing what life looks like after the presidency: triumphs, tribulations, and all.On January 20, 2001, after nearly thirty years in politics—eight of them as president of the United States—Bill Clinton was suddenly a private citizen. Only fifty-four years old, full of energy and ideas, he wanted to make meaningful use of his skills, his relationships with world leaders, and all he’d learned in a lifetime of politics, but how? Just days after leaving the White House, the call came to aid victims of a devastating earthquake in India, and Clinton hit the ground running. Over the next two decades, he would create an enduring legacy of public service and advocacy work, from Indonesia to Louisiana, Northern Ireland to South Africa, and in the process reimagine philanthropy and redefine the impact a former president could have on the world. Citizen is Clinton’s front-row, first-person chronicle of his postpresidential years and the most significant events of the twenty-first century, including 9/11 and the runup to the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, the Great Recession, the January 6 insurrection, and the enduring culture wars of our times. With clarity and compassion, he also weighs in on the unprecedented challenges brought on by a global pandemic, ongoing income inequality, a steadily warming planet, and authoritarian forces dedicated to weakening democracy. Yet Citizen is more than a political memoir. These pages capture Clinton in a rare and unforgettable light: not only as a celebrated former president and a foundation leader, but as a father, grandfather, and husband. He recounts his support for Hillary Clinton during her time as senator, secretary of state, and presidential candidate, and shares the frustration and pain of the 2016 election. In this landmark publication, the highly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling My Life, Clinton pens an illuminating account of American democracy on a global stage, offering a frank reflection on the past and, with it, a fearless embrace of our future. Citizen is a self-portrait of equal parts eloquence, insight, and candor, a testament to one man’s unwavering commitment to family and nation.

Biographies & Memoirs Books