Biographies & Memoirs - Books

Kissinger

Biographies & Memoirs

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower, the definitive biography of Henry Kissinger, based on unprecedented access to his private papers.Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book AwardNo American statesman has been as revered or as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as “Super K”—the “indispensable man” whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama—he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every “telcon” for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial two-volume biography, drawing not only on Kissinger’s hitherto closed private papers but also on documents from more than a hundred archives around the world, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding.The first half of Kissinger’s life is usually skimmed over as a quintessential tale of American ascent: the Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany who made it to the White House. But in this first of two volumes, Ferguson shows that what Kissinger achieved before his appointment as Richard Nixon’s national security adviser was astonishing in its own right. Toiling as a teenager in a New York factory, he studied indefatigably at night. He was drafted into the U.S. infantry and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge—as well as the liberation of a concentration camp—but ended his army career interrogating Nazis. It was at Harvard that Kissinger found his vocation. Having immersed himself in the philosophy of Kant and the diplomacy of Metternich, he shot to celebrity by arguing for “limited nuclear war.” Nelson Rockefeller hired him. Kennedy called him to Camelot. Yet Kissinger’s rise was anything but irresistible. Dogged by press gaffes and disappointed by “Rocky,” Kissinger seemed stuck—until a trip to Vietnam changed everything. The Idealist is the story of one of the most important strategic thinkers America has ever produced. It is also a political Bildungsroman, explaining how “Dr. Strangelove” ended up as consigliere to a politician he had always abhorred. Like Ferguson’s classic two-volume history of the House of Rothschild, Kissinger sheds dazzling new light on an entire era. The essential account of an extraordinary life, it recasts the Cold War world.

Funny Thing, Getting Older

Biographies & Memoirs

From beloved writer Michael Morpurgo, comes a new collection of reflections, memoir, stories and wonder.'A beautiful, thoughtful book that brims with joy' KATE MOSSE'Suffused with gentle optimism and warmth' TELEGRAPHIn Funny Thing, Getting Older, one of our most beloved novelists shares his reflections from a lifetime of writing stories about the world. Here, collected for the first time on Michael's 82nd birthday, are his thoughts on nature, childhood, writing, peace and war, and getting older. Some are deeply personal, some political, others in between. And woven in amongst them you will find a play, a poem or two, and even a few stories. Full of wonder, gentle humour and sharp observation, Funny Thing, Getting Older is a book to treasure.A story is like a kite. If I make it right, if I fly it right, it will swoop and soar. And it will please my heart when it's up there, floating on the wind.'Our master storyteller' JOANNA LUMLEY

Charles Dickens

Biographies & Memoirs

La vita di Charles Dickens è una storia di miseria e povertà, di bancarotta, prigione e lavoro minorile forzato, prima di giungere alla fama e alla gloria, proprio come accade nei suoi più celebri romanzi. Charles Dickens nacque nel 1812 a Portsmouth, dove suo padre lavorava come impiegato della Marina Britannica. Nel 1823 i Dickens si trasferirono in uno squallido sobborgo di Londra, ma dopo un anno il padre dello scrittore finì in prigione per debiti e Dickens, a soli dodici anni, fu costretto a lavorare in una fabbrica di lucido per scarpe. Qualche anno più tardi trovò lavoro in un ufficio legale, imparò a stenografare da autodidatta e diventò giornalista. Nello stesso anno cominciò a pubblicare a puntate Il Circolo Pickwick. Nei successivi vent’anni, Charles Dickens pubblicò molti romanzi in forma seriale su famose riviste del tempo come Oliver Twist (1838), David Copperfield (1849) e La Piccola Dorrit (1857), i cui protagonisti divennero il simbolo dell’infanzia sfruttata, uno dei più gravi problemi sociali del tempo. Peter Ackroyd offre una nuova visione della straordinaria vita di Dickens, ricercandone sempre l’eco nell’opera: i romanzi di Dickens sono infatti pieni di riferimenti sui luoghi in cui ha abitato, popolati di personaggi che conosceva personalmente e intrisi delle preoccupazioni che lo tormentavano. Ackroyd, tuttavia, non si limita a raccontare la vita del più famoso scrittore londinese, ma traccia un quadro impeccabile della Londra vittoriana in cui Dickens si muoveva: i sobborghi e le periferie, l’arrivo delle ferrovie, gli effetti della rivoluzione industriale e l’espansione dell’impero britannico. «Un trionfo biografico» (Kirkus Review)

For Laughing Out Loud

Biographies & Memoirs

A humorous, anecdote-filled, behind-the-scenes look at the life of a television icon.

Stephen Hawking

Biographies & Memoirs

Do aclamado autor do best-seller O andar do bêbado, um retrato íntimo e inspirador de Stephen Hawking — o homem, o amigo e o físico. Recordando quase duas décadas como colaborador e amigo de Stephen Hawking, o físico e autor best-seller Leonard Mlodinow retrata aqui, de uma forma singular e profundamente pessoal, um ser humano fora de qualquer expectativa. É através das memórias de Mlodinow — já consagrado como um dos melhores escritores de ciência da atualidade — que nos encontraremos com Hawking, o icônico cientista que formulou uma teoria pioneira sobre os buracos negros, abrindo um novo caminho para a física investigar as origens do universo. Conheceremos também Stephen na vida privada, o homem e o amigo, acometido por uma doença que limitava sua capacidade de comunicação a seis palavras por minuto, mas que ainda assim conseguia pontuar suas conversas com humor. Exímio contador de histórias, Mlodinow revive os anos de parceria entre os dois e tudo o que essa grande amizade lhe trouxe — aprendizados sobre a natureza e a prática da física e um fabuloso exemplo de superação. Uma perspectiva íntima e inspiradora da vida e da obra de uma das mentes mais brilhantes do nosso tempo.

The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman - An Autobiography

Biographies & Memoirs

This early work by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was originally published in 1935. It is the autobiography of the American sociologist, novelist and poet who is best remembered for her semi-autobiographical short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper'.

Friedensturm : le tournant de la Grande Guerre

Biographies & Memoirs

Friedensturm, bataille de la paix, nom donné par le général Ludendorf, maître des armées austro-allemandes. Après l’effondrement militaire de la Russie, et le traité de Brest-Litovsk. Le but était d’écraser la France, avant l’appui massif des Américains. Le succès fut différent : le général Gouraud, appliquant les directives du Quartier Général français, imposa le coup d’arrêt qui permit la contre-attaque latérale dont les allemands ne se relevèrent pas. Pour l’Histoire, les faits notés - d’heure en heure - par un chef de pièce. En filigrane, les vingt ans en face de la mort.

Julian

Biographies & Memoirs

The tragic life of Julian, the last non-Christian emperor of Rome, by award-winning author Philip Freeman “When we think of ancient Rome, it’s impossible not to think of Christianity, one of its most notable exports—but what if it hadn’t been? This is the question provoked by classicist Philip Freeman in Julian, an appealing new entry in Yale’s Ancient Lives series, which tells the story of the old faith’s last imperial torchbearer.”—Anna Heyward, New York Times Book Review Flavius Claudius Julianus, or Julian the Apostate, ruled Rome as sole emperor for just a year and a half, from 361 to 363, but during that time he turned the world upside down. Although a nephew of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome, Julian fought to return Rome to the old gods who had led his ancestors to build their vast empire. As emperor, Julian (331–363) set about reforming the administration, conquering new territories, and reviving ancient religions. He was scorned in his time for repudiating Christianity and demonized as an apostate for willfully rejecting Christ. Through the centuries, Julian has been viewed by many as a tragic figure who sought to save Rome from its enemies and the corrupting influence of Christianity. Christian writers and historians have seen Julian much differently: as a traitor to God and violent oppressor of Christians. Had Julian not been killed by a random Persian spear, he might well have changed all of history.

What Were Men

Biographies & Memoirs

More than seven thousand Koreans were guest workers in West Germany from 1964 to 1975. Author Joseph Lee was one of them. He worked in the coal mines on a three-year contract with the goal of saving money to earn a doctorate. In What Were Men, Lee shares a collection of stories from his life, including his personal experiences in the mines. He bears witness to the will and the ways of Koreans in Korea and abroad who acted boldly in spite of the difficulties they faced. In this memoir, Lee discusses the various segments of his life. He offers entertaining stories about himself, his wife, and acquaintances who are flawed and so very human. What Were Men narrates the story of a young Korean man who courageously unfolded his will for the future, who thought positively, and who practiced all things together.

Boldly Go

Biographies & Memoirs

The beloved star of Star Trek, recent space traveler, and living legend William Shatner reflects on the interconnectivity of all things, our fragile bond with nature, and the joy that comes from exploration with “the insights he’s gleaned over his long, productive life” (Booklist) in this inspiring, revelatory, and exhilarating collection of essays.Long before Gene Roddenberry put him on a starship to explore the galaxy, long before he actually did venture to space, William Shatner was gripped by his own quest for knowledge and meaning. Though his eventful life has been nothing short of extraordinary, Shatner is still never so thrilled as when he experiences something that inspires him to simply say, “Wow.”Within these affecting, entertaining, and informative essays, he demonstrates that astonishing possibilities and true wonder are all around us. By revealing stories of his life—some delightful, others tragic—Shatner reflects on what he has learned along the way to his ninth decade and how important it is to apply the joy of exploration to our own lives. “A refreshingly self-aware portrait of a man determined to live every moment to the fullest” (Publishers Weekly), Boldly Go is an unputdownable celebration of all that our miraculous universe holds for us.

The mamba mentality. Il mio basket

Biographies & Memoirs

Vent'anni di carriera nella stessa squadra, i Los Angeles Lakers, 5 Titoli NBA, due ori olimpici, un'infinità di record personali. Kobe Bryant ha letteralmente rivoluzionato la pallacanestro, prima di ritirarsi nel 2016 scrivendo una toccante lettera d'addio al basket che è diventata un cortometraggio animato premio Oscar nel 2018. In questo magnifico libro illustrato Kobe (autosoprannominatosi "Black Mamba" dal nome di uno dei serpenti più letali e rapidi in natura) racconta il suo modo di intendere il basket: le sfide sempre più dure lanciate a se stesso e ai compagni in ogni allenamento, i riti per trovare la carica o la concentrazione, tutti i retroscena della preparazione ai match e i motivi per cui, semplicemente, per lui perdere non è mai stata un'opzione. E ancora: la volontà di superare il dolore e rinascere ogni volta più forte dopo i tanti infortuni patiti in carriera, i suoi maestri, lo studio maniacale degli avversari - da Michael Jordan a LeBron James - per carpire loro ogni segreto possibile e migliorare, migliorare ancora e ancora fino all'ultimo minuto dell'ultima partita disputata. The Mamba Mentality impreziosito dalle meravigliose fotografie di Andrew D. Bernstein, fotografo ufficiale dei Lakers che ha seguito Kobe fin dai suoi primi passi allo Staples Center, è un viaggio per parole e immagini nella mente di un artista tra i più geniali e vincenti della storia dello sport.

The Confessions of St. Augustine

Biographies & Memoirs

Confessions (Latin: Confessiones) is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by Saint Augustine of Hippo, written in Latin between 397 and 400 AD. The work outlines Saint Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. Modern English translations of it are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of Saint Augustine in order to distinguish the book from other books with similar titles. Its original title was Confessions in Thirteen Books, and it was composed to be read out loud with each book being a complete unit.Confessions is generally considered one of Augustine's most important texts. It is widely seen as the first Western Christian autobiography ever written (Ovid had invented the genre at the start of the first century AD with his Tristia), and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the Middle Ages. Professor Henry Chadwick wrote that Confessions will "always rank among the great masterpieces of western literature."The work is not a complete autobiography, as it was written during Saint Augustine's early 40s and he lived long afterwards, producing another important work, The City of God. Nonetheless, it does provide an unbroken record of his development of thought and is the most complete record of any single person from the 4th and 5th centuries. It is a significant theological work, featuring spiritual meditations and insights.In the work, Augustine writes about how much he regrets having led a sinful and immoral life. He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology. He writes about his friend Nebridius's role in helping to persuade him that astrology was not only incorrect but evil, and Saint Ambrose's role in his conversion to Christianity. The first nine books are autobiographical and the last four are commentary and significantly more philosophical. He shows intense sorrow for his sexual sins and writes on the importance of sexual morality. The books were written as prayers to God, thus the title, based on the Psalms of David; and it begins with "For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee." The work is thought to be divisible into books which symbolize various aspects of the Trinity and trinitarian belief.

Taj Mahal story

Biographies & Memoirs

This book is related to story of Taj Mahal. This book can be read by anyone . I also added some images in this book. The length of book is approximately 10pages.

Eisenhower

Biographies & Memoirs

Stephen E. Ambrose draws upon extensive sources, an unprecedented degree of scholarship, and numerous interviews with Eisenhower himself to offer the fullest, richest, most objective rendering yet of the soldier who became president.He gives us a masterly account of the European war theater and Eisenhower's magnificent leadership as Allied Supreme Commander. Ambrose's recounting of Eisenhower's presidency, the first of the Cold War, brings to life a man and a country struggling with issues as diverse as civil rights, atomic weapons, communism, and a new global role.Along the way, Ambrose follows the 34th President's relations with the people closest to him, most of all Mamie, his son John, and Kay Summersby, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Harry Truman, Nixon, Dulles, Khrushchev, Joe McCarthy, and indeed, all the American and world leaders of his time. This superb interpretation of Eisenhower's life confirms Stephen Ambrose's position as one of our finest historians.

Enfants de papier

Biographies & Memoirs

"Quand j'étais petite, je ne voulais pas avoir d'enfants..."L’histoire des vaillants efforts démographiques de l’auteure, au milieu de champ de mines des pressions sociales exercées sur les mères.Récit court et mordant, à lire pour toutes les mamans découragées par cette obligation de performance qui pèse sur elles, sous la plume caustique de Michèle Laframboise, auteure de science-fiction de la francophonie.

Out East

Biographies & Memoirs

An "extraordinary" debut memoir of first love, identity, and self-discovery among a group of friends who became family in a Montauk summer house (Andrew Solomon, National Book Award winner).They call Montauk the end of the world, a spit of land jutting into the Atlantic. The house was a ramshackle split-level set on a hill, and each summer thirty-one people would sleep between its thin walls and shag carpets. Against the moonlight the house's octagonal roof resembled a bee's nest. It was dubbed The Hive.In 2013, John Glynn joined the share house. Packing his duffel for that first Memorial Day Weekend, he prayed for clarity. At twenty-seven, he was crippled by an all-encompassing loneliness, a feeling he had carried in his heart for as long as he could remember. John didn't understand the loneliness. He just knew it was there. Like the moon gone dark.Out East is the portrait of a summer, of The Hive and the people who lived in it, and John's own reckoning with a half-formed sense of self. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, The Hive was a center of gravity, a port of call, a home. Friendships, conflicts, secrets and epiphanies blossomed within this tightly woven friend group and came to define how they would live out the rest of their twenties and beyond. Blending the sand-strewn milieu of George Howe Colt's The Big House with the radiant aching of Olivia Liang's The Lonely City, Out East is a keenly wrought story of love and transformation, longing and escape in our own contemporary moment."An unforgettable story told with feeling and humor and above all with the razor-sharp skill of a delicate and highly gifted writer." -- André Aciman, New York Times bestselling author of Call Me by Your Name"Out East is full of intimacy and hope and frustration and joy, an extraordinary tale of emotional awakening and lacerating ambivalence, a confession of self-doubt that becomes self-knowledge." -- Andrew Solomon, National Book Award winnerAn Entertainment Weekly Best Book of May 2019A Time magazine Best Book of May 2019Cosmopolitan Best Book of May 2019An O, the Oprah Magazine Best LGBTQ Book of 2019

I Ran With The Gang

Biographies & Memoirs

The Bay City Rollers were one of the brightest things to happen in the tumultuous 1970s, illuminating a dark decade marred by falling stock markets, a plummeting economy and industrial unrest. Alan Longmuir, an apprentice plumber from Edinburgh, was inspired by the Beatles to form a band. After enlisting his brother and throwing a dart at a map, they became the Bay City Rollers. In I Ran with the Gang , Alan recounts his incredible journey from the Dalry backstreets to the Hollywood hills and back again. Along the way, he punctures some of the myths and untruths that have swirled around the group, and unflinchingly tells of the acrimony and exploitation that led to the disintegration of the band. Most of all, though, Alan captures the great adventure of five young boys from Edinburgh who for a few heady years threatened to turn the whole world tartan.

Oscar Wilde

Biographies & Memoirs

Al giovane André Gide che in Algeria gli domandava sue notizie, Oscar Wilde rispose: «Nella mia vita ho messo il genio; nelle mie opere solo il talento». Con Wilde, l’arte è indissolubile dalla vicenda personale; e scoprire la storia privata di questo irresistibile, ultimo «dandy» significa addentrarsi nell’ambiente intrigante e sofisticato dei salotti e dei circoli letterari inglesi e francesi di fine Ottocento. Accanto a lui sfilano Whistler, Beardsley, Bernard Shaw e molti altri, in un turbine di motti arguti, lampi di genio e paradossi. In questa biografia, pubblicata in Francia nel 1967, Philippe Jullian racconta con acume e passione le imprese, gli amori, i successi e gli insuccessi, dell’autore del Ritratto di Dorian Gray,ricollocandone la figura sullo sfondo di quel mondo – tra art nouveau, simbolismo vittoriano e belle époque – che ne decise prima il rapido successo e poi l’impietoso abbandono. Jullian riesce a restituire l’ingegno brillante, le pose scandalose e irriverenti, la sensibilità inquieta che imposero Wilde come una delle personalità più importanti di un’epoca intera.

Una terra promessa

Biographies & Memoirs

«La narrazione dell’ex presidente degli USA è densa di riflessioni politiche ma anche di notazioni umane. »Corriere della Sera - Massimo Gaggi«Barack Obama è uno scrittore eccellente.»Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie«Questo memoir è l’America, nella sua essenza più profonda.»Domani - Igiaba Scego«Destinato a diventare il mémoir presidenziale di maggior successo nella storia americana. »Grazia - Maria Teresa ComettoUn appassionante e personalissimo racconto in presa diretta del presidente che ci ha ispirato a credere nel potere della democrazia. In questo libro attesissimo, Barack Obama racconta in prima persona la storia della propria incredibile odissea, da giovane alla ricerca di un’identità a leader del mondo libero, e descrive con sorprendente ricchezza di particolari la propria educazione politica e i momenti decisivi del primo mandato della sua storica presidenza, un periodo di profonde trasformazioni e sconvolgimenti.Obama accompagna i lettori attraverso un appassionante viaggio, dalle prime aspirazioni politiche fino alla decisiva vittoria nel caucus dell’Iowa – che ha dimostrato la forza dell’attivismo civile di base – e alla memorabile notte del 4 novembre 2008, quando è stato eletto 44° presidente degli Stati Uniti, diventando il primo afroamericano a ricoprire la più alta carica della nazione.Riflettendo sulla presidenza, Obama propone una profonda e inedita esplorazione delle straordinarie possibilità ma anche dei limiti del potere, e apre per la prima volta nuovi scorci sulle dinamiche del conflitto politico americano e della diplomazia internazionale. Obama conduce i lettori fin dentro lo Studio Ovale, la Situation Room della Casa Bianca, e poi Mosca, Il Cairo, Pechino, e oltre. I lettori scopriranno ciò che Obama pensava mentre nominava i suoi ministri, affrontava la crisi finanziaria globale, si confrontava con Vladimir Putin, superava difficoltà all’apparenza insormontabili per ottenere l’approvazione della sua riforma sanitaria, si scontrava con i generali sulla strategia militare degli Stati Uniti in Afghanistan, intraprendeva la riforma di Wall Street, rispondeva al disastro ambientale della piattaforma petrolifera Deepwater Horizon, e autorizzava l’operazione Neptune’s Spear, che ha portato alla morte di Osama bin Laden.Una terra promessa è un libro straordinariamente intimo e introspettivo. È il racconto della scommessa di un uomo con la Storia, della fede di un coordinatore di comunità messa alla prova della ribalta mondiale. Obama si esprime con onestà sulla difficoltà di far convivere il suo ruolo di candidato nero alla presidenza, il peso delle aspettative di un’intera generazione mobilitata da messaggi di «speranza e cambiamento», e la necessità di essere moralmente all’altezza delle decisioni determinanti da prendere. Descrive apertamente le forze che si sono opposte a lui negli Stati Uniti e nel mondo; spiega come la vita alla Casa Bianca abbia condizionato la moglie e le figlie; e non esita a rivelare dubbi e delusioni. Eppure ribadisce la sua convinzione che, all’interno del grande e ininterrotto esperimento americano, il progresso è sempre possibile.Con grande forza ed eleganza di stile, questo libro sottolinea la forte convinzione di Barack Obama che la democrazia non è un dono ricevuto dall’alto, ma si fonda sull’empatia e sulla comprensione reciproca, ed è un bene da costruire insieme, giorno dopo giorno.

First Impressions

Biographies & Memoirs

Matt James, the first Black bachelor on ABC’s beloved television show, The Bachelor, shares his views on the controversial topics that defined his season and confronts matters of race, opportunity, and his biracial identity head on. When The Bachelor franchise announced Matt James as the first Black lead, it was celebrated as long-overdue progress on the primetime show. America fell in love with Matt—the Christian, former NFL athlete, and nonprofit CEO—who charmed millions of viewers each week. But the off-screen conversations around the show revealed the realities and inescapable challenges of being Black in America and the depth of racism that still exists. On the show, Matt could only go so far in sharing his own story with America. In First Impressions, Matt shares his views on controversial topics like race and opportunity that defined his season on The Bachelor. Matt lives at the intersection of these important issues and shares the wisdom his experience has granted him. Matt describes the joys and difficulties of being the youngest of two Black sons, raised by a single, working-class, white mother in Raleigh, North Carolina. He elaborates on the spiritual closeness and sense of duty he felt for his mother, but also the complex relationships he had with the many male figures in his life: his prejudiced, Italian grandfather, who had trouble accepting Matt as his own; his father, whose womanizing and petty crime put strain on the family; and his older brother, who was Matt’s protector in youth, but who struggled with the long shadow of their father’s legacy. Simultaneously inspirational and informative, First Impressions will leave readers with a deeper understanding of the life experiences that prepared Matt for such a divisive moment in television history.

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