Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Johnson at 10

Biographies & Memoirs

***THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*** *A FINANCIAL TIMES, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN AND TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR* ***A WATERSTONES BEST POLITICS BOOK OF 2023*** After his dramatic rise to power in the summer of 2019 amid the Brexit deadlock, Boris Johnson presided over the most turbulent period of British history in living memory. Beginning with the controversial prorogation of Parliament in August and the historic landslide election victory later that year, Johnson was barely through the door of No. 10 when Britain was engulfed by a series of crises that will define its place in the world for decades to come. From the agonising upheaval of Brexit and the devastating Covid-19 pandemic to the nerve-shredding crisis in Afghanistan, the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the Partygate scandal, Johnson's government ultimately unravelled after just three years. This gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history maps Johnson's time in power from start to finish and sheds new light on the most divisive premiership, the shockwaves of which are still felt today.

Hume

Biographies & Memoirs

This series of English Men of Letter written about the David Hume life's and Include the some part in as a Hume’s life, Hume’s philosophy his born, in Edinburgh on the 26th of April (O.S.), 1711. His parents were then residing in the parish of the Tron church, apparently on a visit to the Scottish capital, as the small estate which his father Joseph Hume, or Home, inherited, lay in Berwickshire, on the banks of the Whitadder or Whitewater, a few miles from the border, and within sight of English ground. The paternal mansion was little more than a very modest farmhouse, and the property derived its name of Ninewells from a considerable spring, which breaks out on the slope in front of the house, and falls into the Whitadder.

90 minutter i himmelen

Biographies & Memoirs

På vei hjem fra en konferanse, ble Don Pipers bil knust av en trailer som krysset kjørebanen hans. Ambulansepersonalet sa han døde momentant. Men mens kroppen lå livløs inne i bilvraket, fikk Piper oppleve en bit av himmelens herlighet, dens musikk og skjønnhet. Nitti minutter etter krasjet, mens en pastor ba for ham, kom Piper mirakuløst tilbake til livet på jorden, med kun minnet om en ubeskrivelig himmelsk lykke. Hans tro på Gud ble likevel satt på store prøver, da han nå sto overfor en uviss og smertefull rekonvalesens. Boken gir oss et glimt av en svært reell dimensjon av Guds virkelighet, og gir deg visshet om at Gud er trofast.

Learning from Experience

Biographies & Memoirs

George P. Shultz recounts a lifetime of experiences in government, business, and academia and describes how those experiences have shaped the way he thinks about the world. In his plainspoken manner, he provides the reader with keys to understanding how he helped bring the nuclear disarmament movement into the mainstream of American policy discussions, why he urges his Republican Party colleagues to adopt measures to address climate change as an insurance policy for the future, why leaders must learn to govern over diversity, and more. Far more than a simple biography, Learning from Experience makes a unique contribution to political, social, and economic thought, offering the author's reflections on experiences that have influenced his worldview. Ranging far beyond the realm of diplomacy, Shultz's account illuminates America's race relations, defines a down-to-earth economic philosophy built on free markets and fair treatment of labor, and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of presidential leadership as observed during his government service, including four cabinet posts, in the Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan administrations.

Ce que la vie m'a appris

Biographies & Memoirs

En juin 2000, dans une série d’entretiens filmés, Georges Séguy, avec une singulière liberté de ton, se remémore sa traversée du XXe siècle.Figure majeure du syndicalisme français, décédé en août 2016, il a dirigé la Confédération générale du travail (CGT) de 1967 à 1982.Georges Séguy a vécu, comme homme et comme militant, les remous, les tempêtes mais aussi les espoirs de son temps. Résistant, il est déporté à Mauthausen alors qu’il n’a que seize ans. Cheminot à Toulouse, il s’engage dans le syndicalisme, exerce à vingt ans des premières responsabilités puis devient, au fil du temps, une figure de proue du syndicalisme français, accédant en 1967 à la fonction de secrétaire général de la CGT. Il prend une part active aux événements de Mai 68 et affronte les mutations économiques et sociales des années 1970.Mais par-delà le militant, que sait-on aujourd’hui de l’homme ? Comment a-t-il vécu les principales étapes de son parcours ? Quel regard rétrospectif a-t-il porté sur ses rencontres, ses prises de responsabilité, ses victoires et ses échecs ?Ce livre est la retranscription de ces entretiens. Un document inédit qui conserve les « blancs », et dans lequel on perçoit toute la malice de Georges Séguy, son sens de la formule, ses rires... Un témoignage rare d’une vie d’engagement.

Lettres inédites d'Ernest Renan à ses éditeurs Michel & Calmann-Lévy

Biographies & Memoirs

Pendant trente-six ans, de ses débuts dans le métier d'écrivain à sa mort, Ernest Renan est demeuré fidèle aux éditeurs qui lui avaient fait confiance, Michel et Calmann Lévy. Cette correspondance inédite comprend 549 lettres et restitue les années de collaboration, d'amitié puis d'intimité entre l'un des plus grands penseurs du xixe siècle et une famille d'éditeurs. Le scandale que représentera la publication de la Vie de Jésus retentit dans cette correspondance, tout comme les réactions de l'historien des Origines du Christianisme, préparant minutieusement le succès de ses livres, sûr d'être un écrivain de talent, s'attachant ensuite à poursuivre une oeuvre qui laisserait des traces indélébiles. A côté du penseur, de l'historien, on devine le spécialiste des métiers de la communication, l'intellectuel qui masque ses véritables rapports au monde de l'argent, engendrant un mythe durable, celui de l'homme de lettres sans attaches avec l'univers matériel.Les lieux et les êtres défilent au long de ces années 1856-1892. Les voyages en Orient, en Italie, en Bretagne suscitent des commentaires à chaud. Taine, Michelet, George Sand, le général Boulanger, le Prince Napoléon apparaissent sous un éclairage inhabituel. Tout un pan de la société du xixe siècle se découvre dans cette suite de lettres retraçant une aventure humaine dans un milieu fascinant, celui de l'édition.

De seringenboom

Biographies & Memoirs

Toon Tellegen: 'Iedereen bewonderde mijn broer, maar ik het meest van iedereen.' Als kleine jongen keek Toon Tellegen op tegen zijn zes jaar oudere broer, die onverzettelijk was, alle regels aan zijn laars lapte en zijn eigen weg ging. To en die broer in 2016 overleed, begon hij zijn herinneringen op te schrijven aan de tijd dat ze allebei nog thuis woonden. Zijn grote broer kon alles, hij durfde alles en vaak liep dat uit de hand. Maar al berusten Tellegens kleurrijke herinneringen voor een groot deel op waarheid, zijn fantasie geeft de stoere heldendaden een nog absurdistischere wending. Moeten we al die heldendaden geloven? Ja, want als het niet echt gebeurd is, had het wel zo kúnnen gebeuren! Net als in Een vorig leven roept Tellegen in De seringenboom de wereld van zijn jeugd op, en wekt hij die voorbije tijd tot leven in mooie, ontroerende en grappige verhalen.

La vie privée de J.-J. Rousseau

Biographies & Memoirs

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d’un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d’origine.

Ungesagtem lauschen

Biographies & Memoirs

Diesen Erinnerungen hat der Autor in einer Vorbemerkung eine Berufung auf ein Wort von Alexander von Humboldt von „dem Selbstbeobachteten, dem Selbsterlebten“ vorangestellt. Und genau darum geht es in diesen hier zum ersten Mal veröffentlichten persönlichen Erlebnissen und Erfahrungen, die zur Wende von 1989/1990 hinführen, von ihr herkommen und heutige Umstände zeigen zur Zeit der Erstveröffentlichung im Jahre 2005. Gelegentlich habe er dafür die Form des Gestern und Heute verbindenden Essays gewählt, so der Autor. Erklärtes Ziel dieser 50 Textseiten von Uwe Berger ist es, „ein Licht auf deutsche Irrwege und Wege in unserer Zeit zu werfen und anderen zu helfen, sich zurechtzufinden“. Und so reichen diese sehr persönlichen und politischen Erinnerungen vom zweiten Weltkrieg, als der Vierzehnjährige 1943 als aus Berlin evakuiertes Kind erstmals polnischen Boden betrat und dort faschistisches Lagerleben kennenlernte, über eine viel spätere Reise mit einer DDR-Kulturdelegation nach Polen sowie über Begegnungen und die Freundschaft mit dem estnischen Schriftsteller, Filmemacher und Politiker Lennart Meri bis zu einem Volksfest im Verbannungsort des großen russischen Dichters Puschkin im Jahre 1971. Aber auch manch andere Erinnerung an Menschen und Zeiten kommt zur Sprache, die die Lage in der früheren DDR erhellen. Manchmal ist da auch von der Kritik am kleinkarierten Denken in DDR-Köpfen die Rede. Das gab es aber offenbar auch anderswo. Denn mit dem damaligen Botschafter der UdSSR in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Wjatscheslaw Kotschemassow, verstand er sich offensichtlich nicht: „Wir hatten uns nichts zu sagen.“ Ein besonderes Stück deutscher und DDR-Geschichte – nicht zuletzt im Widersteit zwischen Anpassung und Abwendung von der sowjetischen Führung. Spannende Details von einem, der manchmal dicht dran war an der großen Politik des kleinen Landes. Und nicht zuletzt ist „Pfade hinaus“ eine spannende kulturelle Bildungsreise, die es anzutreten lohnt.

Paul Patoff

Biographies & Memoirs

If places could speak, they would describe people far better than people can describe places. No two men agree together in giving an account of a country, of natural scenery, or of a city; and though we may read the most accurate descriptions of a place, and vividly picture to ourselves what we have never seen, yet, when we are at last upon the spot, we realize that we have known nothing about it, and we loudly blame the author, whose word-painting is so palpably false. People will always think of places as being full of poetry if they are in love, as being beautiful if they are well, hideous if they are ill, wearisome if they are bored, and gay if they are making money.

Adult Braces

Biographies & Memoirs

In bestselling author Lindy West’s most ambitious book yet, she takes readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage in the process. Through Shrill, the book and then the Hulu series, Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to a narrow set of societal norms—thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change. In ADULT BRACES, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom, and of the solo cross-country road trip she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster tourist traps and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life.

Da qui fino all'ignoto

Biographies & Memoirs

Alla fine del 2022, Lisa Marie Presley chiese alla figlia Riley di aiutarla a terminare il suo libro di memorie, da tempo lasciato in sospeso. Un mese dopo, Lisa era morta. Il mondo non avrebbe mai conosciuto la sua versione della storia, ma soprattutto non avrebbe mai conosciuto la donna appassionata, premurosa e complicata che Riley amava.Spinta da questa consapevolezza, Riley prese i nastri che la madre aveva già registrato per il libro e la ascoltò raccontare un aneddoto dopo l'altro: quando distruggeva i golf-cart nei cortili di Graceland, l'amore incondizionato che provava per suo padre e il legame che li univa; come era stata trascinata a forza fuori dal bagno mentre cercava di correre verso il corpo di Elvis steso sul pavimento; quando, trasferitasi a Los Angeles con la madre Priscilla, veniva cacciata da ogni scuola, incapace di stare lontana dai guai; la sua singolare relazione con Danny Keough, durata tutta la vita; il matrimonio con Michael Jackson, ciò che avevano in comune. La maternità. Le dipendenze. Il dolore che non passava mai. Riley capì allora di dover esaudire il desiderio della madre di condividere quei ricordi, toccanti e dolorosi, con il mondo. Così che tutti avrebbero saputo chi era davvero.Questo libro straordinario è narrato sia dalla voce di Lisa Marie che da quella di Riley, una madre e una figlia che sembrano comunicare tra loro da un mondo all'altro, tentando di guarirsi a vicenda. Un memoir imperdibile che, svelando retroscena inediti, coinvolge e commuove profondamente, regalandoci le ultime parole dell'unica figlia di una delle più grandi leggende americane.

Im Namen der Bäume

Biographies & Memoirs

Nachdem ihre Eltern früh versterben, wird Diana Beresford-Kroeger von einer Familie aufgenommen, die seit Jahrhunderten alte keltische Traditionen pflegt. Im Laufe von drei Sommern wird Diana in der keltischen Triade von Geist, Körper und Seele unterrichtet, einer Philosophie, deren Weisheiten und Fähigkeiten Wälder als überlebenswichtig für das physische und spirituelle Überleben ansehen. Die Verwurzelung in dieser ganzheitlichen Naturauffassung lässt Diana zu einer führenden Wissenschaftlerin werden, die alte, geheime Lehren mit eigenen Beobachtungen verbindet: die Entdeckung der Mutterbäume im Herzen des Waldes oder jene, dass Bäume nicht nur mithilfe einer chemischen Sprache kommunizieren, sondern sogar über heilende natürliche Antibiotika verfügen. Dieses Buch schildert nicht nur den Werdegang einer eindrucksvollen Wissenschaftlerin, sondern bündelt auch ihr gesamtes Wissen über die komplexen Zusammenhänge zwischen dem globalen Wald und dem Wohlergehen aller Lebewesen. Nicht zuletzt bietet Im Namen der Bäume eine so fundierte wie ermutigende Handreichung dafür, dass das Pflanzen und das Verstehen von Bäumen eine praktikable Lösung darstellen, um die Folgen unseres selbstzerstörerischen Verhaltens – allen voran die des Klimawandels – in den Griff zu bekommen.

Jeg er Malala

Biographies & Memoirs

Tirsdag den 9. oktober 2012 trængte Taliban op i en skolebus og skød den 15-årige pakistanske pige Malala Yousafzai på klods hold. Hun overlevede det brutale attentat, og hendes historie gav genlyd over hele verden. Fra den ene dag til den anden blev hun et globalt symbol på fredelig protest og kravet om uddannelse til alle børn. Verden hørte første gang om Malala, da hun skrev en anonym blog om en skolepiges hverdag i en pakistansk by, hvor Taliban har sat sig tungt på magten. Bloggen blev modtaget som en sensation, og Malala og hendes far blev hovedpersoner i en amerikansk dokumentarfilm. Til sidst kunne deres identitet ikke længere holdes hemmelig, og de havnede på Talibans dødsliste. Nu fortæller Malala for første gang sin bemærkelsesværdige historie. 'JEG ER MALALA' er en inspirerende og gribende historie om en piges modige kamp og beslutning om ikke at lade sig intimidere af ekstremister. Efter skudattentatet og en nærmest mirakuløs overlevelse har Malala modtaget talrige priser. FN's generalsekretær har udnævnt 10. november til Malala Dag, og der er etableret en international Malala Fond, som skal støtte pigers uddannelse. Malala er modtager af Nobels Fredspris 2014. Nyt forord efteråret 2014.

Precinct 19

Biographies & Memoirs

A “fast-moving” true account of life in a New York City police station with “a rare understanding of officers involved in extreme situations” (San Diego Sun). Manhattan’s 19th precinct includes more than three dozen foreign consulates and the homes of some of the city’s richest and most powerful citizens, including Gracie Mansion—yet even these wealthy and sophisticated environs aren’t immune to bloodshed, brutality, and various dark dealings. In this book, a police reporter and Edgar Award-winning crime writer describes the day-to-day life of the law enforcement officers who patrol this Upper East Side neighborhood—and know the truth about what goes on behind the facades. “Fast-paced and dramatic . . . an effort that the famous chronicler of police life Joseph Wambaugh might envy.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Moving . . . revealing . . . excellent.” —Newsday

Path Lit by Lightning

Biographies & Memoirs

A biography of America’s greatest all-around athlete that “goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe’s life, using extensive research, historical nuance, and bittersweet honesty” (Los Angeles Times), by the bestselling author of the classic biography When Pride Still Mattered.Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind.But despite his awesome talent, Thorpe’s life was a struggle against the odds. At Carlisle, he faced the racist assimilationist philosophy “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.” His gold medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball, and his supposed allies turned away from him when their own reputations were at risk. His later life was troubled by alcohol, broken marriages, and financial distress. He roamed from state to state and took bit parts in Hollywood, but even the film of his own life failed to improve his fortunes. But for all his travails, Thorpe survived, determined to shape his own destiny, his perseverance becoming another mark of his mythic stature.Path Lit by Lightning “[reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss” (The Wall Street Journal).

Circus of Dreams

Biographies & Memoirs

Something extraordinary happened to the UK literary scene in the 1980s. In the space of eight years, a generation of young British writers took the literary novel into new realms of setting, subject matter and style, challenging - and almost eclipsing - the Establishment writers of the 1950s. It began with two names - Martin Amis and Ian McEwan - and became a flood: Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Graham Swift, Salman Rushdie, Jeanette Winterson and Pat Barker among them. The rise of the newcomers coincided with astonishing changes in the way books were published - and the ways in which readers bought them and interacted with their authors. Suddenly, authors of serious fiction were like rock stars, fashionable, sexy creatures, shrewdly marketed and feted in public. The yearly bunfight of the Booker Prize became a matter of keen public interest. Tim Waterstone established the first of a chain of revolutionary bookshops. London publishing houses became the playground of exciting, visionary entrepreneurs who introduced new forms of fiction - magical realist, feminist, post-colonial, gay - to modern readers. Independent houses began to spend ostentatious sums on author advances and glamorous book launches. It was nothing short of a watershed in literary culture. And its climax was the issuing of a death sentence by a fundamentalist leader whose hostility to Western ideas of free speech made him, literally, the world's most lethal critic. Through this exciting, hectic period, the journalist and author John Walsh played many parts: literary editor, reviewer, interviewer, prize judge and TV pundit. He met and interviewed numerous literary stars, attended the best launch parties and digested all the gossip and scandal of the time. In Circus of Dreams he reports on what he found, first with wide-eyed delight and then with a keen eye on what drove this glorious era. The result is a unique hybrid of personal memoir, oral history, literary investigation and elegy for a golden age.

Boswell's Life of Johnson

Biographies & Memoirs

Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson is widely considered to be the greatest English-language biography ever written. Some think that Boswell, in his Life of Johnson, did not sufficiently realize his duty of self-effacement.

Jeremy

Biographies & Memoirs

Another classic converted by eBooksLib.com.About thirty years ago there was at the top of the right-hand side of Orange Street, in Polchester, a large stone house. I say was; the shell of it is still there, and the people who now live in it are quite unaware, I suppose, that anything has happened to the inside of it, except that they are certainly assured that their furniture is vastly superior to the furniture of their predecessors

Une vie oubliée

Biographies & Memoirs

Et si, un matin, vous aviez de nouveau 15 ans ? Comment reprendre le contrôle de sa vie quand on se réveille un jour et qu'on a 15 ans au lieu de 32 ? C'est l'expérience hallucinante qu'a vécue Naomi Jacobs un matin de 2008, en découvrant une adulte dans son miroir et un jeune garçon qui s'obstine à l'appeler " maman ". C'est un cauchemar. Elle ne reconnaît pas la maison où elle habite, ne sait pas ce qu'est Internet ou un Smartphone... ni comment s'occuper de son fils.Les médecins vont finir par découvrir que Naomi souffre d'une forme d'amnésie très rare. Aidée par son entourage, elle va dès lors entamer une longue démarche de réintégration. Mais le plus difficile est de constater à quel point sa vie d'adulte est un échec. Chômage, dépression, amours désastreuses, dépendances... Alors pour comprendre comment elle en est arrivée là, elle décide d'écrire un journal.Naomi Jacobs vit aujourd'hui à Manchester avec son fils Leo. Son histoire a été publiée en feuilleton dans The Guardian avant de faire le tour du monde.Traduit de l'anglais par Thierry Arson

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