Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Garing

Biographies & Memoirs

Bill Garing joined the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) as a Cadet at the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1929. He made his first flight as a pilot at Point Cook two years later in 1931 in a DH60X Moth. Over the next 15 years as pilot in command he flew almost every type of trainer, fighter, bomber and seaplane used by the RAAF close to 50 different types of aircraft in all. This book includes every flight Bill made from January 1931 until December 1946, with details of aircraft type and serial number, names of crew, and reason for the flight. Bill also flew in aircraft operated by the RAF including in 1935 the giant six engine biplane flying boat the Sarafand and later the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber. He flew aircraft operated by the USAAF including the B17, B18, A24, P38, P39, P40, P47, P51B, P63 and also the Boeing B29 Superfortress in 1945.

Madhouse at the End of the Earth

Biographies & Memoirs

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing” (The New York Times) true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry—with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter“The energy of the narrative never flags. . . . Sancton has produced a thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness.In Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton unfolds an epic story of adventure and horror for the ages. As the Belgica’s men teetered on the brink, de Gerlache relied increasingly on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity: the expedition’s lone American, Dr. Frederick Cook—half genius, half con man—whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship’s first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, even in his youth the storybook picture of a sailor. Together, they would plan a last-ditch, nearly certain-to-fail escape from the ice—one that would either etch their names in history or doom them to a terrible fate at the ocean’s bottom.Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica’s crew and with exclusive access to the ship’s logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is an unforgettable journey into the deep.

The Memoirs of Victor Hugo

Biographies & Memoirs

This volume of memoirs has a double character - historical and intimate. The life of a period, the XIX Century, is bound up in the life of a man, VICTOR HUGO. As we follow the events set forth we get the impression they made upon the mind of the extraordinary man who recounts them; and of all the personages he brings before us he himself is assuredly not the least interesting. In portraits from the brushes of Rembrandts there are always two portraits, that of the model and that of the painter.

Grass

Biographies & Memoirs

Grass is the incredible story of Phil Sparrowhawk, a working-class boy with gambling in his blood. Like most punters, he enjoyed an incredible run of luck, but finally rolled the dice once too often.Before he had come of age, Phil had accumulated a small fortune from street trading. He then staked his entire capital on Njinsky in the 1970 Derby - and won. With his now large capital base, he launched a business importing clothes. Enter Howard Marks (aka Mr Nice), who was enthused by Phil's Far East connections and introduced him to the far more lucrative world of the 'movement of beneficial herbs' - or drug smuggling, as it is known to the authorities. Phil struck out on his own and from his new base in Thailand became involved in many large-scale cannabis deals, whilst at the same time developing highly successful legitimate businesses. Read of his encounters with Greenpeace, Mother Teresa, gangsters and leading politicians, Lord Moynihan, religious cults, former pop singers and many other diverse characters as his life became more and more surreal. The winning streak came to an end in 1988 when the US Drug Enforcement Agency closed in. Phil's £30m fortune was promptly confiscated and he spent the next four years in two of Thailand's most notorious jails before being extradited to the US, where he served further time in a series of penitentiaries. Grass details the life of an ordinary young man with a taste for adventure, who ended up on the most extraordinary journey. Sit back, take a deep breath and enjoy.

Moguls: 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 lucrative executives.

And Then I Cried

Biographies & Memoirs

"And Then I Cried: Stories of a Mortuary NCO" is the first work from Justin Jordan. Jordan details life as an Air Force Mortuary Non Commissioned Officer. In his stunning debut Jordan forces the reader to walk beside him on his journey in this gruesome world. Jordan holds nothing back, and shares in graphic detail how he honored Americas heroes, both at deployed locations and stateside. This book will pry your eyes wide open as you gasp from the sheer horror he faced daily, from dealing with the families of the fallen, to witnessing the embalming and preparations of the deceased. Jordan also shares how this job taxed his mental well being, as he suffered in silence, longing not to care. Jordan is still serving on Active Duty and suffers from the crippling effects of PTSD, his story will enlighten you, it will touch you, and yes, you will cry.

Spion og forræder

Biographies & Memoirs

Spion og forræder er en vanvittig spennende spionthriller fra virkeligheten. Den sovjetiske KGB-spionen Oleg Gordijevskij jobbet i det skjulte for britiske MI6. Som en av den kalde krigens viktigste dobbeltagenter lekket han informasjon som førte til arrestasjonen av de norske spionene Gunvor Galtung Hovig og Arne Treholt. Livet hans er som spionroman: oppvokst i en KGB-familie var spionasje hans naturlige karrierevalg. Som dyktig KGB-mann på overflaten ble han KGBs fremste mann i London, samtidig som han lekket til britene i det skjulte. Et dobbeltspill varer sjelden evig, og snart brant det under føttene hans. Kunne han klare å hoppe av til Vesten før arrestasjon og en sikker død ventet ham?

Waypoints

Biographies & Memoirs

Journey deep into the Scottish Highlands in the first memoir by #1 New York Times bestselling author and award-winning star of Outlander, Sam Heughan—exploring his life and reflecting on the waypoints that define him"I had to believe, because frankly, I had come so far there could be no turning back." In this intimate journey of self-discovery, Sam sets out along Scotland's rugged ninety-six-mile West Highland Way to map out the moments that shaped his views on dreams and ambition, family, friendship, love, and life. The result is a love letter to the wild landscape that means so much to him, full of charming, funny, wise, and searching insights into the world through his eyes. Waypoints is a deeply personal journey that reveals as much about Sam to himself as it does to his readers.

Hidden Valley Road

Biographies & Memoirs

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF GQ's TOP 50 BOOKS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY • The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease. "Reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness." —Oprah WinfreyDon and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins--aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony--and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.

To søstre

Biographies & Memoirs

Historien om to ungjenter fra Bærum som reiser til Syria og en desperat far som forsøker å finne dem. En oktoberdag i 2013 kommer ikke de to tenåringsjentene, Ayan og Leila, hjem til vanlig tid. Senere på kvelden kommer sjokkmeldingen: De er på vei til Syria. På jakt etter døtrene tar faren seg inn i det borgerkrigsherjede landet, en reise som skal føre ham inn i områder kontrollert av Den islamske staten (IS). Dette er bare starten. I "To søstre" går Åsne Seierstad, den bestselgende og kritikerroste forfatteren av "Bokhandleren i Kabul" og "En av oss", løs på et av de viktigste og mest kompliserte spørsmål i vår tid. Hvorfor radikaliseres muslimsk ungdom oppvokst i Vesten? Hva førte de to søstrene fra Kolsås til Kalifatet? Hvem er Ayan og Leila? Som få andre makter Åsne Seierstad å komme tett på personene hun skriver om. "To søstre" er både historien om jentene som dro, et land i krig og om en familie som splintres. Det er også en fortelling om oss, i Norge i dag.

The Memoirs of William W. Brown

Biographies & Memoirs

"The Memoirs of William W. Brown" is a memoir of William Wells Brown published in 1847, which became a bestseller across the United States, second only to Frederick Douglass' slave narrative memoir. Born into slavery in Montgomery County, Kentucky, Brown escaped to Ohio in 1834 at the age of 19. He settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked for abolitionist causes and became a prolific writer. While working for abolition, Brown also supported causes including: temperance, women's suffrage, pacifism, prison reform, and an anti-tobacco movement. He was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel writing, fiction, and drama. In his memoir, Brown critiques his master's lack of Christian values and the customary brutal use of violence by owners in master-slave relations.

Writing in an Age of Silence

Biographies & Memoirs

A revealing look at the power of speaking out, Writing in an Age of Silence describes Paretski’s coming of age in a time of great possibility, during the civil rights movement, the peace movement, and the women’s movement. Bestselling crime-writer Sarah Paretsky has won critical acclaim for her V.I. Warshawski novels, centered around one of the first and most popular female investigators in contemporary fiction. In this fascinating and personal account, Paretsky describes a life shaped by the desire to act. From the feminist movement—which triggered her aspirations to write and shaped the character of her female detective—to the Patriot Act and the liberties we have lost, Paretsky describes the struggle of one individual to find a voice. A moving call to action, Writing in an Age of Silence chronicles the social changes that have shaped contemporary America, and mirrors a desire for freedom, both personal and political, that many Americans will relate to today.

Circostanze incendiarie

Biographies & Memoirs

La schiera dei grandi narratori e scrittori che hanno fatto del reportage unarte abbraccia, comè noto, secoli di letteratura e ha prodotto non pochi spunti di eccellente teoria. Anton Cechov ci ha lasciato, ad esempio, un manuale del buon reporter che dovrebbe essere obbligatoriamente presente oggi nel bagaglio dei nostri distratti inviati di guerra. Tra i narratori e gli scrittori contemporanei in grado di padroneggiare questarte, Amitav Ghosh spicca certamente per originalità e stile. Nei suoi reportages si affaccia, come è stato scritto, «un meraviglioso ibrido di narrativa di viaggio, analisi storica e memoir» che è raro trovare altrove. Inviato nei teatri di guerra e sulla scena dei maggiori conflitti politici, etnici e religiosi per oltre ventanni, Ghosh ha scritto dei principali avvenimenti della nostra storia recente, cercando di volta in volta di illuminarne le differenti ragioni. Nellistante in cui ha deciso di raccogliere insieme questi scritti, e di unirli a saggi più propriamente letterari, Ghosh si è, tuttavia, reso conto che, tra la sostanziale continuità di temi, interessi e timori che essi avevano in comune, uno spiccava più di tutti: le «circostanze incendiarie», i focolai di violenza che incendiano il nostro mondo, non costituiscono più uneccezione ma la norma. Fino a qualche tempo fa si poteva credere, infatti, che in tali circostanze vi fosse qualcosa di insolito, che fossero semplicemente un aspetto di quelli che V.S. Naipaul ha chiamato «mondi fatti-a-metà», mondi non ancora compiuti, non ancora sviluppati. Ma dopo la tragedia dell11 settembre 2001, è chiaro che il mondo fatto-a-metà è diventato il nostro «mondo pienamente formato». Dal disastro naturale che ha spazzato via le isole Andaman e Nicobar al conflitto che infiamma il confine tra India e Pakistan, al fuoco che divampa nelle grandi capitali occidentali, che consuma lAfghanistan e cova sotto la cenere in Egitto, nessun angolo del mondo appare oggi immune dallirrompere di una violenza inaudita. Analizzare e descrivere questa violenza «senza che il proprio lavoro ne diventi complice», è il tema proprio di questo libro. Con la sua «prosa luminosa», Ghosh getta uno sguardo accurato sul caos del mondo, mostrando come poche idee siano così pericolose quanto la convinzione che ogni mezzo sia consentito per un fine auspicabile. «Una prosa luminosa uno sguardo accurato sul caos del mondo.» Publishers Weekly «Un meraviglioso ibrido di narrativa di viaggio, reportage, analisi storica e libro di memorie, in altre parole il genere in cui Ghosh eccelle come nessun altro.» Washington Times

Bruce Lee: A Complete Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

"Bruce Lee, son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen, was one of the biggest names in Hollywood of his time. He is credited with introducing the East to the silver screens of the West. His greatest passion in life was Kung Fu—an ancient Chinese martial art unknown in the West until 1965, the year he made his first television appearance. A Kung Fu master, an actor, and a philosopher, Bruce Lee embodied the idea of a complete human one with a strong body and a critical mind. He studied a system of Chinese Kung Fu for nine years called Wing Chun. Apart from this, he was an ardent reader of Confucius. He tried to incorporate Confucian philosophy and teachings into his life. He taught Americans about Chinese philosophy and culture for six years. He detested mediocrity and always pushed his limits, both physically and mentally. He inspired generations of youngsters worldwide through his work and continues to do so even today. On July 20, 1973, the world lost this most influential martial artist of all time."

Olympic Pride, American Prejudice

Biographies & Memoirs

In this “must-read for anyone concerned with race, sports, and politics in America” (William C. Rhoden, New York Times bestselling author), the inspirational and largely unknown true story of the eighteen African American athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, defying the racism of both Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South.Set against the turbulent backdrop of a segregated United States, sixteen Black men and two Black women are torn between boycotting the Olympic Games in Nazi Germany or participating. If they go, they would represent a country that considered them second-class citizens and would compete amid a strong undercurrent of Aryan superiority that considered them inferior. Yet, if they stayed, would they ever have a chance to prove them wrong on a global stage? Five athletes, full of discipline and heart, guide you through this harrowing and inspiring journey. There’s a young and feisty Tidye Pickett from Chicago, whose lithe speed makes her the first African American woman to compete in the Olympic Games; a quiet Louise Stokes from Malden, Massachusetts, who breaks records across the Northeast with humble beginnings training on railroad tracks. We find Mack Robinson in Pasadena, California, setting an example for his younger brother, Jackie Robinson; and the unlikely competitor Archie Williams, a lanky book-smart teen in Oakland takes home a gold medal. Then there’s Ralph Metcalfe, born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, who becomes the wise and fierce big brother of the group. From burning crosses set on the Robinsons’s lawn to a Pennsylvania small town on fire with praise and parades when the athletes return from Berlin, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice has “done the world a favor by bringing into the sunlight the unknown story of eighteen black Olympians who should never be forgotten. This book is both beautiful and wrenching, and essential to understanding the rich history of African American athletes” (Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief of ESPN’s The Undefeated).

Letter to My Daughter

Biographies & Memoirs

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Maya Angelou shares her path to living well and with meaning in this absorbing book of personal essays. Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight. Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that led Angelou to an exalted place in American letters and taught her lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward, six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son. Whether she is recalling such lost friends as Coretta Scott King and Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming a Christian is a “lifelong endeavor,” or simply singing the praises of a meal of red rice–Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women she considers her extended family. Like the rest of her remarkable work, Letter to My Daughter entertains and teaches; it is a book to cherish, savor, re-read, and share. “I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”—from Letter to My Daughter

Killers, Assassins and Revolutionaries: The Playboy Interview

Biographies & Memoirs

Wheelchairs, Perjury and the London Marathon

Biographies & Memoirs

The top wheelchair athletes of today enjoy the same high-profile exposure and admiration as their able-bodied counterparts. This has come about partly through wheelchair participation in mass fun-running events such as the Great North Run. Wheelchairs, Perjury and the London Marathon charts disability sports pioneer Tim Marshall MBE's journey from the rock-climbing accident which left him paralysed, to becoming a trailblazer for wheelchair racing. The fun-runs of the 1980s enabled wheelchair road-racing to flourish, and Marshall took part in marathons and half-marathons where wheelchairs were welcome to compete. This did not, however, include The London Marathon, from which wheelchairs were banned for the first two years. This is the story of how this prohibition was overturned, told from the competitor's point of view. Tim and many others campaigned for the inclusion of wheelchairs in The London Marathon in the face of huge opposition from the organisers. Finally, in 1983 the efforts of sportsmen and women, the press, the Greater London Council and members of parliament resulted in a breakthrough just ten days before the 1983 marathon, which at last agreed to wheelchair participation. Wheelchairs, Perjury and the London Marathon reveals the tenacity and resolve required to achieving sporting greatness in the face of adversity. Tim Marshall's story — and the legacy he has helped build for disabled sports — are a testament to his love of racing and his passion for disability equality.

Une femme est un diable

Biographies & Memoirs

Une femme est un diable Prosper Mérimée, écrivain, historien et archéologue français (1803-1870) Ce livre numérique présente «Une femme est un diable», de Prosper Mérimée, édité en texte intégral. Une table des matières dynamique permet d'accéder directement aux différentes sections. Table des matières -01- Présentation -02- MOTTO -03- PROLOGUE -04- PERSONNAGES DE LA COMÉDIE -05- UNE FEMME EST UN DIABLE

The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova Vol.3

Biographies & Memoirs

This is the third of twelve volumes of an English translation of the memoirs of eighteenth-century Italian writer Giacomo Casanova, writing as Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, published in 1894. This book begins as Casanova renounces the clerical profession and enters the military.

Biographies & Memoirs Books