Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux

Biographies & Memoirs

“Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.” - Saint Therese of Lisieux Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) is considered the most popular of the modern saints in the Catholic Church. She was beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925. Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux also includes her letters, poetry, and prayers. A table of contents is included for easier navigation.

The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau — Volume 09

Biographies & Memoirs

The book is being addressed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau himself. My impatience to inhabit the Hermitage not permitting me to wait until the return of fine weather, the moment my lodging was prepared I hastened to take possession of it, to the great amusement of the 'Coterie Holbachaque', which publicly predicted I should not be able to support solitude for three months, and that I should unsuccessfully return to Paris, and live there as they did. For my part, having for fifteen years been out of my element, finding myself upon the eve of returning to it, I paid no attention to their pleasantries. Since contrary to my inclinations, I have again entered the world, I have incessantly regretted my dear Charmettes, and the agreeable life I led there.

Dødelighed

Biographies & Memoirs

Den 8. juni 2010 faldt Christopher Hitchens om på sit hotelværelse i New York med stærke smerter. Med ét så han sig selv blive bragt fra ”de raskes verden over den skarpt optrukne grænse til sygdommens land”. I løbet af de følgende 18 måneder, frem til sin død af kræft i spiserøret den 15. december 2011, skrev han om sine oplevelser i de døendes rige.Under hele forløbet insisterer Hitchens på at modsætte sig religionens trøst og møde døden med åbne øjne. I DØDELIGHED beskriver han sygdommens plager, diskuterer dens tabuer og undersøger, hvordan sygdom ændrer vores forhold til omverdenen. I takt med at kræften invaderer Hitchens krop – han opdager pludselig, at han ikke har en krop, men er en krop – tvinges han til at tage livtag med dødens gåde.DØDELIGHED er en både personlig og filosofisk bog om til det sidste at insistere på fornuften.”Hvad håber jeg på? Hvis ikke en kur, så i hvert fald en lindring. Og hvad vil jeg have tilbage? Med den smukkest tænkelige sammenstilling af to af de enkleste ord i vores sprog: talefriheden.” - fra bogen

Forgotten Fatherland

Biographies & Memoirs

“A fascinating, provocative, and highly eccentric volume” (The New York Times) exploring the true story of Elisabeth Nietzsche’s maniacal attempt to found a utopian colony in the jungles of Paraguay in the late nineteenth century—from the bestselling author of Prisoners of the Castle.In 1886, Elisabeth Nietzsche, the bigoted, imperious sister of the famous philosopher, founded a “racially pure” colony in Paraguay with her husband, anti-Semitic agitator Bernhard Förster, and a band of fair-skinned fellow Germans. More than a century later, Ben Macintyre tracked down the survivors of Nueva Germania to discover the remains of this bizarre colony, and found a strange, tight-lipped people, still interbreeding to the point of genetic deterioration. Digging into recently opened German archives, Macintyre unfolds how Elisabeth, who returned to Germany in 1893, grafted her anti-Semitic, nationalist ideas onto her brother’s philosophy, building a mythic cult around him, and how she later became a mentor to Hitler—her stately funeral in 1935 attended by a tearful Führer. Laced with mordant irony, Macintyre’s brilliant piece of investigative journalism explores how the Nazis perverted Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas to justify their evil deeds, and unearths a rich and disturbing vein of the twentieth century’s dark history.

Clanlands in New Zealand

Biographies & Memoirs

Buckle up, grab a dram, and get ready for another unforgettable wild ride.They're back! Stars of Outlander, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish are no strangers to the rugged beauty of Scotland. But this time they're setting their sights on a new horizon: New Zealand.Join our intrepid Scotsmen on their latest epic adventure across The Land of the Long White Cloud in this thrilling follow-up to Clanlands. Setting out to explore a country that Graham calls home, and that Sam has longed to visit, these sturdy friends immerse themselves in all that New Zealand has to offer: stunning landscapes, rich history, world-class food and drink, and - much to Graham's mounting anxiety and Sam's deep satisfaction - famously adrenaline-fuelled activities! As ever there's not nearly enough space in their trusty camper van and with plenty of good-natured competition and tormenting to go around, Sam and Graham's friendship is put to the test once again. Along the way we learn about the length and breadth of this jewel of the Southern Seas, exploring the fascinating story of its people while testing the very limits of Graham's sanity.Like the very best buddy movie sequel, this latest instalment is full of unforgettable experiences and loveable characters and promises to be an even more memorable ride with two of the most entertaining travel companions around.So, say goodbye to your inhibitions and kia ora to New Zealand like you've never seen it before.

Sports Gods: The Playboy Interview

Biographies & Memoirs

About the Series: In mid-1962, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was given a partial transcript of an interview with Miles Davis. It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the past half century.To celebrate the interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have assembled 13 compilations of the magazine’s most (in)famous interviews—from big mouths and wild men to sports gods and literary mavericks. Here is our collection of 12 interviews with the most booed and beloved athletes.

The Life and Public Service of General Zachary Taylor: An Address

Biographies & Memoirs

THE discovery of an unknown address by Abraham Lincoln is an event of literary and historical significance. Various attempts have been made to recover his "Lost Speech," delivered in Bloomington, in 1856.

Lettere a Theo

Biographies & Memoirs

«Le lettere di Vincent Van Gogh al fratello Theo sono uno dei più bei momenti dell'arte epistolare del Diciannovesimo secolo, e una chiave per conoscere il pittore.»Le Monde«Per Van Gogh la scrittura è parte essenziale del dipingere»la Repubblica«La prova della lucidità intellettuale dell'artista olandese è racchiusa nelle sue lettere.»La Stampa«Caro Theo...»: dall’agosto 1872 fino al 27 luglio 1890, due giorni prima di morire, Vincent Van Gogh scrisse al fratello con una costanza che trova il solo termine di paragone nell’amore che egli nutriva per lui. Da sempre interlocutore privilegiato dell’artista, nonché il primo a riconoscerne la grandezza, per lungo tempo Theo fu l’unico a cui Vincent confidò le pene della mente e del cuore. «Se non avessi Theo» scriveva, «mi sarebbe impossibile dedicarmi al mio lavoro; ma poiché mi è amico farò ancora progressi e continuerò.» Queste lettere ci permettono di seguire, quasi quotidianamente, la vicenda artistica e umana del grande pittore e costituiscono, ancora oggi, il miglior viatico per un approccio alla sua incredibile produzione. Un’altissima testimonianza morale, una professione di credo estetico forse senza eguali in tutta la storia dell’arte.

The Essentials: The Playboy Interview

Biographies & Memoirs

About the Series: In mid-1962, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was given a partial transcript of an interview with Miles Davis. It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the past half century. To celebrate the interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have assembled 13 compilations of the magazine’s most (in)famous interviews—from big mouths and wild men to sports gods and literary mavericks. Here is our collection of the 50 most essential interviews.

Reasons to Stay Alive

Biographies & Memoirs

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library."Destined to become a modern classic." —Entertainment WeeklyWHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE?At the age of 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again.A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth."I wrote this book because the oldest clichés remain the truest. Time heals. The bottom of the valley never provides the clearest view. The tunnel does have light at the end of it, even if we haven't been able to see it . . . Words, just sometimes, really can set you free."

O gesto que salva

Biographies & Memoirs

Talvez você não tenha se dado conta, mas aconteceu uma inovação que mudou sua vida. Friccionando as mãos com um gel hidroalcoólico, você se protege das doenças. Esta é a história de um produto revolucionário que nunca foi patenteado, um presente que o professor Didier Pittet e sua equipe dos Hospitais Universitários de Genebra ofereceram à humanidade. Hoje, tanto aquele que pratica a medicina em plena selva quanto os laboratórios farmacêuticos podem fabricar essa solução que garante mais segurança na assistência à saúde, permitindo salvar milhões de vida. Acompanhar a aventura médica de Didier Pittet é descobrir que outra humanidade é possível, aquela que nos leva de uma economia da predação a uma economia da paz. ‘‘A OMS teve sorte quando Didier Pittet respondeu ao seu chamado. Numerosas são as lições que podemos tirar da história magnificamente contada neste livro.’’ Dra. Margaret Chan, diretora-geral da OMS. Blogueiro e ensaísta, Thierry Crouzet se interessa pela convergência entre tecnologia, política, e literatura. Ex-jornalista, publicou, entre outros: Le Peuple des connecteurs (O povo dos conectadores), uma reflexão premonitória sobre a sociedade das redes; J’ai débranché (Eu me desliguei), a historia de um burn-out numérico; La Quatrième théorie (A quarta teoria), um tecno-triller de ficção política.

The Negro Problem. ILLUSTRATED.

Biographies & Memoirs

Table of Contents: I Industrial Education for the Negro Booker T. WashingtonII The Talented Tenth W.E. Burghardt DuBoisIII The Disfranchisement of the Negro Charles W. ChesnuttIV The Negro and the Law Wilford H. SmithV The Characteristics of the Negro People H.T. KealingVI Representative American Negroes Paul Laurence DunbarVII The Negro's Place in American Life at the Present Day T. Thomas Fortune Booker T. Washington Biography

Meditations

Biographies & Memoirs

Meditations is a series of personal reflections by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161–180 CE, written over a series of years in far-flung places as he led the Romans in military campaigns, quashed revolts, and dealt with the other tribulations of governing the Empire. It is best described as a spiritual journal, containing a record of the emperor's philosophical exercises. He covers topics as diverse as the question of virtue, human rationality, the nature of the gods, and his own emotions, spanning from doubt and despair to conviction and exaltation. Aurelius also sets forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.

The Man Who Would Be King

Biographies & Memoirs

The untold story of the nineteenth-century American Quaker who tried to build a kingdom in Afghanistan: “A thrilling real-life yarn.” —BooklistIn the year 1838, a young adventurer, surrounded by his native troops and mounted on an elephant, raised the American flag on the summit of the Hindu Kush in the mountainous wilds of Afghanistan. He declared himself Prince of Ghor, Lord of the Hazarahs, spiritual and military heir to Alexander the Great.The true story of Josiah Harlan, a Pennsylvania Quaker and the first American ever to enter Afghanistan, has never been told before, yet the life and writings of this extraordinary man echo down the centuries. This “riveting, scrupulously researched” book reveals the full history behind the renowned Rudyard Kipling short story and John Huston’s film classic (The New York Times Book Review).“One of the most remarkable discoveries in the history of biography.” —The New York Review of Books“Macintyre recounts Harlan’s travels with dispatch, and draws on unpublished journals to let his subject’s voice seep through.” —The New Yorker“Here is a writer who seems as taken as I am with crackpottery, delusion, grandiosity, chicanery, and impersonation, but who manages to write about it all with amused restraint, without, that is, the air of the ogler.” —The Boston Globe“Macintyre gives readers both Harlan’s story and a thought-provoking perspective on the history of superpower intervention in Afghanistan . . . Harlan’s story alone is fascinating, but its resonance with modern-day struggles—Harlan urging the British to try ‘fiscal diplomacy’ (i.e., gold) instead of ‘invading and subjugating an unoffending people’—makes it compelling.” —Publishers Weekly

The Greatest Works of Thomas More

Biographies & Memoirs

This meticulously edited Thomas More collection is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: "Sir Thomas More" by Henri Brémond "The Life of Thomas More" by William Roper Collected Letters of Thomas More Books: Utopia The History of King Richard the Third The Four Last Things Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation The Sadness of Christ (De Tristitia Christi) The Life of Pico della Mirandola (Translated by Thomas More) Tractates and Prayers: A Godly Instruction A Godly Meditation Prayer of Thomas More A Devout Prayer Poems: A Rueful Lamentation The Words of Fortune to the People A Merry Jest To Them Who Trust in Fortune To Them Who Seek Fortune

An Unfinished Love Story

Biographies & Memoirs

The #1 New York Times bestseller from “America’s historian-in-chief” (New York magazine) An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested.Their expedition gave Dick’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.

FitzRoy

Biographies & Memoirs

The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather ForecastThe name of Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle, is forever linked with that of his most famous passenger, Charles Darwin. This exceptionally interesting biography brings FitzRoy out of Darwin's shadow for the first time, revealing a man who experienced high adventure, suffered tragic disappointments, and—as the inventor of weather forecasting—saved the lives of countless fellow mariners.John and Mary Gribbin draw a detailed portrait of FitzRoy, recounting the wide range of his accomplishments and exploring the motivations that drove him. As a very young and successful commander in the British navy, FitzRoy's life was in the mold of a Patrick O'Brian novel. This biography focuses well-deserved attention on FitzRoy's status as a master scientist and seaman.

Will

Biographies & Memoirs

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller! “It's the best memoir I've ever read.” —Oprah Winfrey“Will Smith isn't holding back in his bravely inspiring new memoir . . . An ultimately heartwarming read, Will provides a humane glimpse of the man behind the actor, producer and musician, as he bares all his insecurities and trauma.” —USA TodayWinner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Achievement One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.Will Smith’s transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale—but it’s only half the story. Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn't see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn't signed up for. It turned out Will Smith's education wasn't nearly over. This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world's biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.

The Story of My Life (The Complete Memoirs of Giacomo Casanova, Volume 1 of 12)

Biographies & Memoirs

A Venetian adventurer, author, and lifelong womanizer, the name of Casanova has become interchangeable with the art of seduction since the 18th century. In his most notable book, "Story of My Life," Casanova narrates countless tales of the people with whom he interacted: lovers, European royalty, clergymen, and artists such as Goethe, Voltaire, and Mozart. His writing demonstrates his talent for dialogue, while his life seems an inadvertent testament to skill in plot development. Casanova gambled, spied, translated, dueled, schemed, traveled, and observed people of all levels of society, having been born of two actors and becoming a self-made gentleman. He writes of his life without regret, recalling his adventures, from necromancy to imprisonment, with general honesty and the occasional embellishment, and always with a good humor. In this remarkable celebration of the senses, Casanova proves his talent for storytelling by revealing a refreshingly authentic view of the customs and everyday life of social 18th century Europeans, ultimately proving his claim that "I can say I have lived." In this edition you will find the first of twelve volumes of "The Complete Memoirs."

Geständnisse eines Küchenchefs

Biographies & Memoirs

Montags keine Meeresfrüchte! Das ist noch eine der harmloseren Gefahren, auf die Anthony Bourdain in seinen gnadenlosen, abgründig witzigen Memoiren hinweist. Von der Strandkneipe bis zum Nobelrestaurant hat er alles durchlebt, was diese wahrhaft heiße Szene zu bieten hat. Ein unvergesslicher Blick hinter die Küchentür und eine abenteuerliche Reise in die dunklen Gefilde der kulinarischen Welt.

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