Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Sky Above Kharkiv

Biographies & Memoirs

From Ukraine’s leading writer-activist comes an intimate account of resistance and survival in the earliest months of the Russian-Ukrainian war “A vivid, in-the-trenches report from a Ukrainian city and its ‘injured, yet unbreakable’ citizens.”—Kirkus Reviews When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Serhiy Zhadan took to social media to coordinate a network of resistance workers and send messages of courage to his fellow Ukrainians. What began as a local organizing effort exploded onto the international stage as readers around the globe looked to Zhadan as a key eyewitness documenting Russian atrocities. In this powerful record of the war’s harrowing first four months, Zhadan works day and night in Kharkiv to evacuate children and the elderly from suburbs that have come under fire. He sends lists of life-saving medications to the West in the hopes of procuring them for civilians, coordinates food deliveries, collects money for military equipment, and organizes concerts. He shares photographs of the open sky—grateful for every pause in the shelling—and captures images of beloved institutions reduced to rubble. We’ll restore everything. We’ll rebuild everything, he writes. As the days pass, the city empties. Friends are killed. And when images of the Bucha massacre are released, Zhadan’s own voice falters: I’m speechless. Hang in there, my friends. Tomorrow, we’ll wake up one day closer to our victory. An intimate work of witness literature, this book is at once the testimony of one man entering a new reality and the story of a society fighting for the right to exist.

Menschen hinter den Meisterwerken

Biographies & Memoirs

Die Anthologie 'Menschen hinter den Meisterwerken' offenbart eine facettenreiche Erkundung literarischer Werke und deren Schöpfer aus unterschiedlichen Epochen und Stilrichtungen. Von Stefan Zweigs feinfühligen Porträts bis zu Hanns Heinz Ewers' provokanten Erzählungen, bietet die Sammlung einen reichen Teppich aus Erzähldynamik und stilistischer Vielfalt. Innerhalb dieses Bandes gibt es tiefgreifende biografische Einsichten und kulturelle Reflexionen, die nicht nur die Kunstfertigkeit der Werke selbst, sondern auch die geschichtlichen und gesellschaftlichen Kontexte ihrer Entstehung beleuchten. Die versammelten Autoren repräsentieren ein Kaleidoskop an literarischen Traditionen, von deutschen Romantikern bis hin zu symbolistischen und expressionistischen Vorreitern. Ricarda Huch und Hugo Ball, etwa, verknüpfen historische und philosophische Diskurse mit erzählerischer Gestaltungskraft, während John Forster und Mark Twain die englischsprachige Welt mit ihren Beobachtungen bereichern. Diese Anthologie verdeutlicht, wie vielfältig Literatur als Spiegel ihrer jeweiligen Zeit und Kultur fungieren kann. Die Verbindungen zwischen den Werken und ihren Schöpfern zeigt den intimen Dialog zwischen der Persönlichkeit des Autors und dem kulturellen Erbe, das sie formen. Ein Muss für Literaturbegeisterte, bietet 'Menschen hinter den Meisterwerken' die einzigartige Gelegenheit, in die Tiefen künstlerischen Schaffens einzutauchen. Sie lädt ein, die Vielfalt menschlicher Kreativität und Ausdrucksformen zu erkunden, durchzogen von einem reichhaltigen Spektrum an Perspektiven und Themen. Die Sammlung ist nicht nur eine Quelle des Wissens, sondern auch ein anregender Dialog zwischen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, der das Verständnis für Literatur erweitert und tiefere Einsichten in die Zivilisationen und Kulturen bietet, die sie hervorgebracht haben.

Bűnben születtem

Biographies & Memoirs

A The Daily Show világszerte népszerű műsorvezetőjének elképesztően vicces és szívbemarkoló története. Trevor Noah valószínűtlen úton-módon jutott el a dél-afrikai apartheidből a The Daily Show asztala mögé, és már a születése is bűncselekménynek minősül: fehér svájci apa és fekete xhosza anya gyermekeként jött világra egy olyan időszakban, amikor öt év börtönbüntetéssel sújthatták az ilyen családokat. Szülei vétségének élő bizonyítékaként első éveit zárt ajtók mögött töltötte, mert anyja szélsőséges és nemegyszer abszurd mértékben rejtegette a kormányzat elől, amely egyik pillanatról a másikra elvehette volna tőle. Dél-Afrika fehér zsarnoksága alól felszabadulva pedig Trevor és édesanyja nekivágott a nagy kalandnak, hogy nyíltan, szabadon, a több évszázados viszontagságokon felülkerekedve megragadják új lehetőségeiket. A Bűnben születtem főhőse egy rosszcsont kissrác, aki nyughatatlan fiatalemberré érve keresi magát a világban, ahol a puszta létezését is megkérdőjelezik. A könyv nem csak róla szól, hanem rettenthetetlen, lázadó szellemiségű, mélyen vallásos édesanyjával való kapcsolatáról is. Az asszonyról, aki mindenáron ki akarta menteni fiát a nyomor, az erőszak és bántalmazás körforgásából, amely veszélybe sodorta az életét. A kötetben összegyűjtött tizennyolc személyes vallomás hol fergeteges, hol drámai, de mindvégig nagy hatást gyakorol az olvasóra. Trevor metsző szellemességgel és keresetlen őszinteséggel tárja fel különleges életét, legyen szó arról, hogy hernyót kell ennie az ínséges időkben, emberrablási kísérlet közben kihajítják egy mozgó járműből, vagy megpróbálja ép bőrrel megúszni a gimis csajozás élet-halál harcát. Egy olyan fiú megható, ellenállhatatlanul mulatságos portréja rajzolódik ki az elbeszélésekből, aki veszélyes időkben, egy szétesni készülő közegben tör utat magának, és egyedüli fegyvere az éles humorérzéke, illetve anyja rendhagyó, feltétel nélküli szeretete.

De meteoroloog en de storm

Biographies & Memoirs

Wie had kunnen voorzien dat een storm op zee de geschiedenisboeken in zou gaan als de dodelijkste natuurramp van de Verenigde Staten?Isaac Cline, een van de eerste meteorologen in het begin van de vorige eeuw, registreert op een zomerse dag een zware storm boven de Golf van Mexico. Hij voorziet geen gevaar voor het stadje Galveston in Texas, want dat is immers geen risicogebied voor orkanen. Maar wanneer de storm de kust nadert, realiseert Cline zich dat het menens is en dringt hij er bij de bewoners op aan om alsnog te vertrekken. Helaas is de orkaan sneller en sterker dan de mens en eist het achtduizend mensenlevens.In 'De meteoroloog en de storm' vertelt New York Times-bestsellerauteur Erik Larson op meeslepende wijze het waargebeurde verhaal van de allesverwoestende Galvestonorkaan op basis van Cline's eigen documenten.

The Tomb in Seville

Biographies & Memoirs

An account by “the finest travel writer of the last century” of his journey through 1930s Spain in search of an ancestral tomb (The New Yorker). In the 1930s, Norman Lewis and his brother-in-law, Eugene Corvaja, journeyed to Spain to visit the family’s ancestral tomb in Seville. Seventy years later, with evocative and engrossing prose, Lewis recounts the trip, taken on the brink of the Spanish Civil War. Witnesses to the changing political climate and culture, Lewis and Corvaja travel through the countryside from Madrid to Seville by bus, car, train, and on foot, encountering many surprises along the way. Dodging the skirmishes that will later erupt into war, they immerse themselves in the local culture and landscape, marveling at the many enchantments of Spain during this pivotal time in its history.

Appelez la sage-femme

Biographies & Memoirs

Rien ne prédestinait Jennifer Worth à devenir sage-femme dans les quartiers miséreux des Docklands. Quand à vingt-deux ans elle rejoint les soeurs de Nonnatus House, une maternité qui vient en aide aux plus pauvres, elle s'apprête à vivre l'expérience de sa vie...À la fois bouleversant et bourré d'optimisme, aussi captivant qu'un roman, cet inoubliable témoignage a inspiré la série désormais culte diffusée sur D8, Call the Midwife. « Appelez la sage-femme fait partie de ces livres qui lèvent le voile sur ce que l'on ne connaît pas, et que l'on ne se serait jamais autorisé à imaginer. En cela, il est passionnant. »Agnès Ledig, auteur de Juste avant le bonheur, Prix des Maisons de la Presse

Young Man in a Hurry

Biographies & Memoirs

From California Governor Gavin Newsom comes an intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics “Go slow,” his political elders advised him, but Gavin Newsom has never known such a speed. For Newsom, the California Dream is what lured his father’s family from County Cork, Ireland, six generations ago. His great-great-grandfather, a cop, walked a beat in San Francisco, where almost 150 years later, Newsom would be elected as mayor, running on the values instilled in him by his family history: that California’s open arms must continue to extend to each new generation.Newsom has never lived anywhere but California. Born in San Francisco, his parents divorced at a young age, and his childhood was spent being tugged between two worlds: his mother worked three jobs in order to care for her children while his father, a close friend of the Getty family, brought Newsom into San Francisco society, a world of wealth and connections. The dissonance was frustrating, and made all the more difficult because of undiagnosed dyslexia, but the vantage point was valuable: he inherited his mother’s perseverance and his father’s reverence of California, not only its wildness, but its opportunity.In Young Man in a Hurry, Newsom traces the forces that have defined his ambitions as a politician and have pushed him to outpace the nation on myriad cutting-edge social issues that have since entered the mainstream. As mayor of San Francisco, he made waves when he violated state law in order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, more than ten years before the Supreme Court made such unions legal. He launched bold efforts to counter climate change, improve mental health care, and enhance gun safety, and worked to preserve the California Dream for his constituents. Elected as governor on the eve of unprecedented wildfires and entering office into immediate hyper-partisan headwinds from Washington, DC, Newsom has constantly and consistently stuck his neck out. Here for the first time, he reflects on the long personal journey that ultimately shaped him into one of the most recognizable and accomplished elected officials in America. Filled with intimate family history and written with candor and remarkable personal insight, here is a deeply resilient California story of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics.

Quel che resta di te

Biographies & Memoirs

«Perché un padre, tra l'altro medico, decide di parlare della morte di un figlio? Perché vuole ripercorrere una storia che risveglia dolore e brutti ricordi? Perché vuole rendere pubblica una vicenda sofferta, che forse dovrebbe vivere intima nel silenzio? Non teme giudizi, critiche, considerazioni negative sul suo comportamento? Che diritto ha di mettere in piazza una storia che forse il figlio non ap- proverebbe? Scrivo perché scrivere è, oltre che memoria, un atto liberatorio, che permette di meditare, di "cuocere" nel proprio cuore sentimenti, dolori passati e ancora presenti, ricordi e nostalgie, nel bene e nel male. Non sei uno scrittore, ma un umano mortale che ha vissuto un dramma, ha sofferto e vuole trovare nello scrivere un gesto che lo plachi, lo induca a guardarsi dentro, a "scavare" e forse cercare risposte ai suoi perché, e pensa che la storia possa aiutare anche altri. E credo che Matteo sarebbe contento di questa mia scelta». Giornalista tutto d'un pezzo, reporter infaticabile, amante della vita e della bellezza, Matteo Scanni è morto il 27 gennaio 2022, a soli 51 anni. Il padre Alberto, oncologo di fama internazionale, ripercorre la storia della malattia di Matteo, raccontando il dramma di vedere il proprio figlio morire per un tumore.

Marcel Paul : vie d'un «pitau»

Biographies & Memoirs

« Ah, saura-t-on jamais la vérité vraie ? »... Depuis des décennies, sinon des siècles, cette interrogation exprime le doute populaire face aux vérités successives, vérités officielles dont la seule fonction fut, si souvent, d’enterrer les dossiers brûlants, d’éluder les questions gênantes. Et pourtant, il y avait bien, il y a bien et y a toujours une vérité vraie. La vérité. S’efforcer d’y atteindre, tel est le but, tel est le seul souci des auteurs dont nous réunissons les ouvrages dans une collection au titre volontairement provocant, titre qui se veut aussi une devise : La Vérité Vraie. Vaste ambition, dira-t-on… Sans doute. Mais ambition réalisable quand la rigueur du chercheur, la sagacité du journaliste, la chaleur de l’écrivain, la sincérité de l’homme s’unissent pour aller jusqu’au bout d’un sujet, jusqu’au fond d’un problème. Les difficultés de toute enquête, l’impossibilité parfois d’être vraiment complet nous entendons d’autant moins les dissimuler que les auteurs les font ici partager à leurs lecteurs. Ensemble ils vont. Ensemble ils avancent. Ensemble ils découvrent. Avec Pierre Durand, c’est à lire le récit d’une vie que nous sommes conviés — et quelle vie : celle d’un « pitau » (enfant des hôpitaux, donc de l’Assistance publique) qui devint ministre ; celle d’un leader syndicat qui fut aussi un héros de la Résistance ; celle d’un marin dont le destin fut lié à la fameuse « fée Électricité » ; celle de Marcel Paul, né avec le siècle, mort le jour du 11 novembre 1982. Et pourtant, ce livre n’est pas une biographie. Il est beaucoup plus, beaucoup mieux… Il y a une centaine d’années, Théodore Bachelet et Charles Dezobry écrivaient dans leur « Dictionnaire général des lettres, des beaux-arts et des sciences morales et politiques » : « Certains ouvrages qui sembleraient rentrer dans la classe des vies ou des biographies appartiennent cependant au genre supérieur de l’histoire [...]. La raison en est facile à comprendre : la vie d’un roi est tellement liée à tout ce qui s’est passé sous son règne qu’on ne saurait l’écrire sans retracer l’histoire de la nation elle-même »... Marcel Paul ne fut certes pas roi, mais à part ça… Quant à Pierre Durand, que connaissent déjà notamment les lecteurs attachés à notre collection, c’est Marcel Paul précisément, Marcel Paul lui-même, qui, dans la préface qu’il lui avait donnée pour son livre Les Français à Buchenwald et à Dora, notait : « Un tel récit ne pouvait avoir meilleur auteur. »

La diva geniale

Biographies & Memoirs

Fu la donna dal viso più perfetto che si fosse mai visto.Ma era la sua mente la cosa più straordinaria.Questa storia comincia a Vienna, negli anni Trenta, nella casa di un'agiata famiglia ebrea. Ma prosegue per vie straordinarie almeno quanto la bellezza della sua protagonista, che il mondo avrebbe conosciuto come Hedy Lamarr, una delle più famose attrici della Hollywood anni Quaranta. Sposa di un mercante d'armi austriaco, quando le nubi del nazismo cominciano ad addensarsi sull'Austria, Hedy, ebrea, capisce che suo marito è pronto a tradirla. Così scappa alla volta dell'America, dove diventa, in breve tempo, un'icona di bellezza il cui volto incantevole si dice abbia ispirato quello di Biancaneve.Ma Hedy, appassionata di ingegneria, ha ben altro per la testa. Negli anni americani, infatti, tra un film e l'altro non smetterà mai di lavorare a un'idea, nata ascoltando le conversazioni sulle armi di suo marito e i suoi amici, quando nessuno di loro badava a lei, l'unica donna nella stanza. Un'idea che sarà la sua lotta e la sua missione, un sistema di trasmissione radio che, incredibilmente, si sarebbe rivelato la base per la tecnologia wireless.La diva geniale ripercorre la storia incomparabile di Hedy Lamarr, ed è un romanzo che si legge d'un fiato, bestseller istantaneo in America, avvincente e straordinario come la vita di questa donna che fu molto più che bella.

Wish Granted

Biographies & Memoirs

“Those kids are my heroes and by actively deciding to help them continue their fight with a little more hope, you’re one of my heroes, too.”—Michael Jordan, from the IntroductionPoignant stories from this nation’s best loved athletes include Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, John Cena, Bethany Hamilton, Danica Patrick, Tony Hawk, the New England Patriots, and many more.Imagine a seriously ill child who gets to make one wish . . . and that wish is to meet you. How would you measure up? Wish Granted shows how twenty-five of the most celebrated professional athletes of all time answered this question by sharing what it is like to transform the lives of Make-A-Wish kids. You will find out that these wishes are game changers, not just for the kids . . . for the athletes themselves. Some, like record-breaking gold medalist Michael Phelps, discover the tremendous impact wish kids have had on wish granters’ perspectives, on their understanding of real strength, and on how we all want to live our lives.Sports fans will be thrilled to get an insider’s look into the deeply personal moments of their favorite superstars, and every reader will find inspiration in the amazing gift of human connection.

Bismarck - Vollständige Ausgabe (Band 1-4) 

Biographies & Memoirs

Dieses eBook: "Bismarck - Vollständige Ausgabe (Band 1-4)" ist mit einem detaillierten und dynamischen Inhaltsverzeichnis versehen und wurde sorgfältig korrekturgelesen. “Bismarck” ist ein biographischer Roman von Karl Bleibtreu, erstmals erschienen im Jahre 1915. Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) war ein deutscher Politiker und Staatsmann. Von 1862 bis 1890 - mit einer kurzen Unterbrechung im Jahr 1873 - war er Ministerpräsident von Preußen, von 1867 bis 1871 zugleich Bundeskanzler des Norddeutschen Bundes sowie von 1871 bis 1890 erster Reichskanzler des Deutschen Reiches, dessen Gründung er maßgeblich vorangetrieben hatte. Er setzte außenpolitisch auf einen Ausgleich der Mächte (europäisches Gleichgewicht). Karl August Bleibtreu (1859-1928) war ein deutscher Schriftsteller und Sohn des bekannten Schlachtenmalers Georg Bleibtreu. Bleibtreus Weltbild wurde geprägt durch Heroismus, Nationalismus, Männlichkeitskult und pessimistischen Weltschmerz. Als historischen Stoff sah er die zahlreichen Völkerschlachten sowie die großen historischen Persönlichkeiten wie Napoleon, Bismarck oder Lord Byron.

Mémoire de fille

Biographies & Memoirs

"J’ai voulu l’oublier cette fille. L’oublier vraiment, c’est-à-dire ne plus avoir envie d’écrire sur elle. Ne plus penser que je dois écrire sur elle, son désir, sa folie, son idiotie et son orgueil, sa faim et son sang tari. Je n’y suis jamais parvenue." Annie Ernaux replonge dans l’été 1958, celui de sa première nuit avec un homme, à la colonie de S dans l’Orne. Nuit dont l’onde de choc s’est propagée violemment dans son corps et sur son existence durant deux années. S’appuyant sur des images indélébiles de sa mémoire, des photos et des lettres écrites à ses amies, elle interroge cette fille qu’elle a été dans un va-et-vient entre hier et aujourd’hui.

Before the Big Bang

Biographies & Memoirs

This fiction narrates how the ever slow development of Kadampur, a dusty railway town, which was condemned to remain stagnant, suddenly takes a dive into a cataclysmic event which shook it as nothing did it before. It was the historic wild cat strike by railway workers. Barbarous police torture followed instantly. The Communist Party of India and an ambitious leader emerged out of the ashes of this blast which changed the complexion of this no-hopers' paradise . Kadampur College was the human face of this smoky town. It was a political and cultural barometer of happenings inside the working class zone. This became a platform for mingling of young boys and girls coming from progressive and conservative families which facilitated a new culture. What women could do, if pressed, is incredible. When the information reached them that their menfolk were being mercilessly beaten inside the locked gate of the workshop they could not resist their impulse to rescue them from attackers and rushed to the workshop gate in hundreds with broomsticks and kitchen utensils. They - no Belindas -revealed their ferocity in breaking the gate and fighting the mighty railway armed guards and succeeded in their operation The two protaganists, Harinarayan Mishra and Ratnakar, worked in different fields: Com. Mishra worked among common people, and Ratnakar? Well, he was the moving spirit in the college and a tower of strength to student movements outside.

Mon combat (Tome 6) - Fin de combat

Biographies & Memoirs

"Entre vingt et trente ans, cette décennie effroyable, j’avais essayé de prendre part à la vie autour de moi, à la vie normale, à ce que tout un chacun vivait, mais sans y parvenir, et ce sentiment d’échec était si fort, cet éclair d’indignité si intense que peu à peu, sans en être conscient, je me focalisai sur autre chose, me plongeai plus profondément dans la littérature, sans que cela ait l’air d’une retraite, d’un refuge, mais au contraire d’un élan fort et triomphal, et, avant même de m’en rendre compte, c’était devenu ma vie." Âgé de quarante ans dans ce récit, Knausgaard est à l’aube de sa gloire internationale. Il partage son quotidien entre l’écriture de ce qui sera son grand œuvre et l’éducation de ses trois enfants en bas âge. Sa vie à Malmö est réglée comme du papier à musique. Jusqu’à ce que son oncle s’oppose à la publication de son premier ouvrage autobiographique. Un interdit qui va le plonger dans une grande angoisse et déséquilibrer profondément sa vie d’homme et de père. Fin de combat est une réflexion bouleversante sur les rapports de Knausgaard à son père et à sa famille. De sa voix singulière, il interroge les textes littéraires et politiques les plus emblématiques du XXe siècle, d'À la recherche du temps perdu à Mein Kampf, pour comprendre la relation mystérieuse qu’entretiennent l’écriture et la vie.

Œuvres de d'Alembert

Biographies & Memoirs

Extrait : "D'Alembert n'a rien dans sa figure de remarquable, soit en bien, soit en mal. On prétend (car il ne peut en juger lui-même) que sa physionomie est pour l'ordinaire ironique et maligne. À la vérité, il est très frappé du ridicule, et peut-être a quelque talent pour le saisir. Ainsi, il ne serait pas étonnant que l'impression qu'il en reçoit se peignit souvent sur son visage. Sa conversation est très inégale, tantôt sérieuse, tantôt gaie."À PROPOS DES ÉDITIONS LIGARAN : Les éditions LIGARAN proposent des versions numériques de grands classiques de la littérature ainsi que des livres rares, dans les domaines suivants : • Fiction : roman, poésie, théâtre, jeunesse, policier, libertin. • Non fiction : histoire, essais, biographies, pratiques.

Korea’s Olympic Icon

Biographies & Memoirs

Korea’s Olympic Icon - Kim Un-yong’s Resolute Odyssey shares profound insights into the life of Kim Un-yong, the father of Olympic Taekwondo and a legend of Korean sports administration This biography is of special significance as a work by David Miller, veteran sports journalist and awards winning author from Great Britain, who has spent six decades traveling to sports events around the globe. Miller has covered 24 Olympic Games, attending 45 annual Sessions of the International Olympic Committee, fourteen World Cup football finals and more than thirty sports in 120 countries. Korea's Olympic Icon - Kim Un-yong’s Resolute Odyssey provides profound insights into the exhilarating life of Kim Un-yong, a man whose light shone brightest on the international stage, leaving a huge footprint on sports history not only in South Korea and Asia but across the world. The biography follows a thoroughly researched and considered perspective of Kim's resilient life and career despite challenges and adversities. Whilst the focus of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) publication in 2017, A Big Man Who Embraced the World, Kim Un-Yong, recounted primarily Kim's life and career as national sports hero, this latest work delves into his international impact. Miller and Kim interacted over many years and enjoyed a particular closeness; the author has stated that "there would never have been an Olympics in Seoul had it not been for Kim". Kim Un-yong's global influence was individually responsible for major events being hosted by South Korea, most notably the Seoul Olympics of 1988 and the FIFA World Cup of 2002 jointly with Japan. Further historic moments included the opening and closing ceremonies of Sydney's 2000 Olympics with joint marches of the North and South teams of the Peninsular arranged by Kim. It was also in the 2000 Sydney Olympics that Kim achieved Taekwondo’s inclusion as an Olympic sport for the first time: a hitherto little known domestic leisure sport. As IOC President Samaranch's privately intended successor, Kim's mounting fame and senior appointments, as IOC vice-president and as president of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAISF), attracted envy, both within sport and domestically within politics. Lamentable political revenge at home in the aftermath of Pyeongchang’s unsuccessful first of three Winter Olympic bids in 2003, resulting in a contrived prison sentence challenged by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, but symbiotically mirrored by the IOC Ethics Commission, found Kim toppled from authority, forced to resign his IOC vice-presidency just months after being elected by a substantial majority. Kim would go on to resume his outside activities and sharing his sports administration acumen through a 2006 advisory role on the organising committee for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and a 2010 advisory role on the organising committee for the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju and taking on positions as an advisor to the KSOC and honorary chairman of the Korea Taekwondo Association. He would also share his ideas through lectures and talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various universities, whilst contributing columns to online and printed media. In 2016 he founded the Kimunyong Sport Committee (KUYSC) and launched the Kimunyong Cup International Open Taekwondo Championships (G1) shortly before his unexpected passing in October 2017. Detailing the passionate life story of Kim Un-yong as someone who represented South Korea’s face in the world of global sports - taking on multiple roles over history as a soldier, diplomat, sports administrator, and politician - this critical biography is rich in messages of courage and hope that are worthy of sharing with younger readers. It also offers a practical guide to thinking people of all generations in fields beyond sports administration and marketing, including diplomacy and international business. The book consists of eight chapters: 1. Emergent Phenomenon, 2. Seoul Spectacular, 3. Asian Leadership, 4. Salt Lake Subterfuge, 5. Presidential Turmoil, 6. Pyeongchang Reversal, 7. Symbiotic Convergence, and 8. Squandered Icon. It also includes a foreword and a preface by the IOC Finance Commission chairman, Ng Ser Miang and Honorary IOC member, Vitali Smirnov, respectively. Its 320 pages capture the life of Kim Un-yong devoted to serving Korea and the Olympic Movement, developing and globalising Taekwondo and elevating the stature of Korean sports. About the author David Miller is a British journalist who has covered sports events for 60 years. Educated in history, philosophy, and sports journalism at Cambridge University, Miller has worked as a reporter for such media as the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, and Daily Express. He has established a reputation for his balanced and in-depth reporting and contributions, heading the sports department at the London-based newspaper The Times. Appointed an official IOC historian by former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, he has written official IOC books updated every four years. He continues writing and lecturing today as a freelancer. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOREWORD PREFACE | CHAPTER 1 EMERGENT PHENOMENON | CHAPTER 2 SEOUL SPECTACULAR

North

Biographies & Memoirs

From the author of the bestseller Eat and Run, a thrilling memoir about his grueling, exhilarating, and immensely inspiring 46-day run to break the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. Scott Jurek is one of the world's best known and most beloved ultrarunners. Renowned for his remarkable endurance and speed, accomplished on a vegan diet, he's finished first in nearly all of ultrarunning's elite events over the course of his career. But after two decades of racing, training, speaking, and touring, Jurek felt an urgent need to discover something new about himself. He embarked on a wholly unique challenge, one that would force him to grow as a person and as an athlete: breaking the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. North is the story of the 2,189-mile journey that nearly shattered him. When he set out in the spring of 2015, Jurek anticipated punishing terrain, forbidding weather, and inevitable injuries. He would have to run nearly 50 miles a day, every day, for almost seven weeks. He knew he would be pushing himself to the limit, that comfort and rest would be in short supply -- but he couldn't have imagined the physical and emotional toll the trip would exact, nor the rewards it would offer. With his wife, Jenny, friends, and the kindness of strangers supporting him, Jurek ran, hiked, and stumbled his way north, one white blaze at a time. A stunning narrative of perseverance and personal transformation, North is a portrait of a man stripped bare on the most demanding and transcendent effort of his life. It will inspire runners and non-runners alike to keep striving for their personal best.

Cixí, la emperatriz

Biographies & Memoirs

La monumental biografía de una de las mujeres más poderosas y transgresoras de todos los tiempos, por la autora que cautivó a los lectores con Cisnes salvajes.Uno de los mejores libros de 2013 según The New York Times.A los dieciséis años, Cixí fue elegida una de las numerosas concubinas del emperador. Pasó entonces a vivir en la Ciudad Prohibida de Pekín, rodeada de eunucos -de uno de los cuales se enamoraría más tarde, con consecuencias trágicas-, y su astucia le permitió no sólo sobrevivir en la corte sino también escalar posiciones hasta convertirse, tras el nacimiento de su hijo, en segunda consorte. Cuando el emperador murió en 1861, el hijo de ambos, de cinco años, le sucedió en el trono, y Cixí puso en marcha un golpe de Estado contra los regentes propuestos por su marido y tomó así el mando de China.La emperatriz viuda transformó un imperio medieval dándole los atributos de un Estado moderno: industria, ferrocarril, electricidad y un ejército provisto de lo último en armamento. Abolió castigos tan horribles como la «muerte por mil cortes», puso fin al tradicional vendado de pies y dio los primeros pasos hacia la liberación de la mujer.Apoyándose en fuentes hasta hoy desconocidas, Jung Chang, autora de la aclamada novela Cisnes salvajes, no sólo da cuenta magistralmente del astuto y valiente manejo de la política por parte de Cixí, sino que también traslada al lector a los rincones de su espléndido Palacio de Verano y al harén de la Ciudad Prohibida de Pekín y describe con todo lujo de detalles un mundo, mezcla de tradición y modernidad, que hoy resulta casi increíble.La crítica ha dicho... «Cautivadora. Lo que resulta tan provocador de la lectura de esta nueva biografía son las similitudes entre los desafíos que afrontó la corte Qing hace un siglo y los que afronta hoy el Partido Comunista chino. Una historia tan relevante como evocadora». Orville Schell, The New York Times«Cuando quien escribe es una autora tan completa, competente e inmersa en la cultura china como Chang, tanto los estudiosos como los lectores en general deben tomar nota». Margaret Flanagan, Booklist«Chang es brillante a la hora de desentrañar las intrigas palaciegas y la política de pasillo. Esta biografía, completa y hermosamente narrada, coloca a Cixí en el corazón mismo de la historia moderna de China». Frank Dikotter, The Sunday Times«La autora de Cisnes salvajes restaura la reputación de una mujer que contribuyó a modernizar China, una mujer cuya energía, visión de futuro e implacable pragmatismo transformaron un país». The New Yorker«Chang hace una singular reivindicación para Cixí, resumida en el subtítulo: La concubina que creó la China moderna. Un libro pionero y persuasivo». Jonathan Mirsky, The New York Review of Books«Este libro cosechará los aplausos no sólo de los estudiosos de China, sino de cualquier persona interesada en política mundial y el papel de China en el mundo. Un libro valioso y deslumbrante que no da tregua al lector a pesar del impresionante acopio de detalles históricos complejos pasados por el prisma de Cixí». Jane Haile, New York Journal of Books«Los tiempos en que Cixí gobernó fueron fundamentales para la conformación de la China moderna, un país que tiene mucho en común con la autocracia Qing, salvo por la prensa relativamente libre del imperio y el sufragio, que entonces sí estaba previsto. Hoy los niveles más altos de la política china siguen tan controlados por hombres y tan feroces como siempre, y Cixí sigue siendo un tema fascinante». Isabel Hilton, The Guardian

I Came, I Saw

Biographies & Memoirs

Poignant tales from the renowned travel writer’s formative yearsIn over six decades as a travel writer, Norman Lewis earned acclaim for his vivid chronicles of life around the globe. In I Came, I Saw,Lewis turns his pen on his own life in an affecting, comical, and always-thoughtful autobiography.He starts with his youth, when, at nine years old, he moved in with his eccentric aunts and his grandfather—a widower whose ambition was to turn him into a proper Welshman. Lewis recounts his grammar-school adventures, explores his relationship with his father, and recalls his introduction to his first wife, Ernestina, with whom he traveled extensively through Europe, Cuba, and America. He describes his time in the British Intelligence Corps during wartime—which allowed him further travels and honed his world perspective—as well as his experiences of fatherhood and life in Italy, which honed it further. I Came, I Saw is a masterwork of self-reflection by one of the most insightful writers of the twentieth century.

Biographies & Memoirs Books