Redefining Success details how W. Brett Wilson was forced to redefine his life, making health and key relationships his first priorities. Through trial and error, he discovered that these simple virtues are foundations for real, enduring success, both in business and in life.
Wilson's compelling insights are the basis for Redefining Success. Not just for entrepreneurs and business people, the book outlines how we can change our lives for the better by re-evaluating our personal definitions of success, then reworking them into a life plan that is feasible, lasting, and rewarding. Inspirational and paradigm-changing, Redefining Success will help you implement and sustain lasting, positive change in your lifeâand make your world a little more meaningfulâevery day.
Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.
On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry.
Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires.
It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war.
We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through.
This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.
The Carter Family: Donât Forget This Song is a rich and compelling original graphic novel that tells the story of the Carter Familyâthe first superstar group of country musicâwho made hundreds of recordings and sold millions of records. Many of their hit songs, such as âWildwood Flowerâ and âWill the Circle Be Unbroken,â have influenced countless musicians and remain timeless country standards.
The Carter Family: Donât Forget This Song is not only a unique illustrated biography, but a moving account that reveals the familyâs rise to success, their struggles along the way, and their impact on contemporary music. Illustrated with exacting detail and written in the Southern dialect of the time, its dynamic narrative is pure Americana. It is also a story of success and failure, of poverty and wealth, of racism and tolerance, of creativity and business, and of the power of music and love.
Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angelsâHellâs Angels, that isâin this short work of nonfiction. âCalifornia, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.â Thus begins Hunter S. Thompsonâs vivid account of his experiences with Californiaâs most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hellâs Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell.
His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incise eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, âFor all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompsonâs book is a thoughtful piece of work.â As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hellâs Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.
No, Really, Where Are You From? by Nancy Ng offers an insightful glimpse into the lives of eight Chinese individuals who navigate the complexities of being a visible minority in Canada. Through vivid storytelling, Ng explores the experiences of these individuals with their Chinese culture from childhood to adulthood, painting a portrait of the diverse ways in which they connect with their heritage.
The book delves into the broader themes of global migration and its significant impact on ethnic identity. It presents the nuanced and often challenging journey of ethnic identity retention and loss, which is not a matter of absolutes but is in a constant state of evolution and redefinition. Nancy Ng's work is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of the human spirit in the face of cultural shifts and societal pressures.
The secret behind France's astonishingly well-behaved children. When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn't aspire to become a "French parent." French parenting isn't a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren't doing anything special.
Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.
With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman-a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal-sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don't just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleckâimpersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence âCan I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear Iâll shut up about it?â
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, youâve come to the right book, mostly!
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Doorânot so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.
The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane biography of cancer - from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.
Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologistâs precision, a historianâs perspective, and a biographerâs passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with - and perished from - for more than five thousand years.
The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out âwar against cancer.â
The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. From the Persian Queen Atossa, whose Greek slave cut off her malignant breast, to the nineteenth-century recipients of primitive radiation and chemotherapy to Mukherjeeâs own leukemia patient, Carla, The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to surviveâand to increase our understanding of this iconic disease.
Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.
Stories of famously eccentric Princetonians aboundâsuch as that of chemist Hubert Alyea, the model for The Absent-Minded Professor, or Ralph Nader, said to have had his own key to the library as an undergraduate. Or the "Phantom of Fine Hall," a figure many students had seen shuffling around the corridors of the math and physics building wearing purple sneakers and writing numerology treatises on the blackboards. The Phantom was John Nash, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his generation, who had spiraled into schizophrenia in the 1950s. His most important work had been in game theory, which by the 1980s was underpinning a large part of economics.
When the Nobel Prize committee began debating a prize for game theory, Nash's name inevitably came upâonly to be dismissed, since the prize clearly could not go to a madman. But in 1994 Nash, in remission from schizophrenia, shared the Nobel Prize in economics for work done some 45 years previously.
Economist and journalist Sylvia Nasar has written a biography of Nash that looks at all sides of his life. She gives an intelligent, understandable exposition of his mathematical ideas and a picture of schizophrenia that is evocative but decidedly unromantic. Her story of the machinations behind Nash's Nobel is fascinating and one of very few such accounts available in print (the CIA could learn a thing or two from the Nobel committees).
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention is the definitive biography of the legendary black activist, Malcolm X. Years in the making, this authoritative work by Manning Marable offers a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties.
Of all the great figures in twentieth-century American history, perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at the age of thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches, he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities, establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
In death, Malcolm X became a broad symbol of both resistance and reconciliation for millions around the world. This biography unfolds with revelatory clarity, capturing a man who constantly strove, in the great American tradition, to remake himself anew. It reaches into Malcolm's troubled youth, tracing a path from his parents' activism through his own engagement with the Nation of Islam, culminating in the never-before-told true story of his assassination.
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention stands as a stunning achievement, filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond his autobiography. It is a testament to one of the most singular forces for social change, capturing the essence of a man who was a continuous force for transformation.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a captivating biography that chronicles the life of the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from his birth in 1858 to his ascendancy to the Presidency in 1901. This book offers an in-depth look at the transformation of Roosevelt from a frail, asthmatic boy into a robust, full-blooded man who would become the youngest President in history.
The story begins at the apex of his international prestige, on New Yearâs Day, 1907, when Roosevelt, who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize, opened the doors of the White House to the American people. The narrative then takes us back through the years 1858â1901, detailing how Roosevelt became a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician. Each of these roles contributed to his inevitable rise to power.
From chasing thieves across the Badlands of North Dakota with a copy of Anna Karenina in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other, to leading the famous charge up San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's life was filled with adventure and determination. He was known as a flamboyant civil service reformer, a night-stalking police commissioner, and a military hero who was rewarded with the governorship of New York.
This biography is a story of resilience, ambition, and the American Dream, showing how one manâs diverse experiences and relentless drive led him to become a leader of the nation. Rooseveltâs life is a testament to the belief that one can shape their destiny through courage and commitment.
Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain is a searing, unflinchingly honest memoir by actress Portia de Rossi, where she shares the truth of her long battle to overcome anorexia and bulimia while living in the public eye. It details the new happiness and health she has found in recent years, including her coming out and her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres.
Portia de Rossi reveals the pain and illness that haunted her for decades, starting when she was a twelve-year-old girl working as a model in Australia, through her early rise to fame as a cast member of the hit television show Ally McBeal. All the while, she was terrified that the truth of her sexuality would be exposed in the tabloids. She alternately starved herself and binged, putting her life in danger and concealing the seriousness of her illness from herself and everyone around her.
The memoir explores the pivotal moments of her childhood that set her on the road to illness and describes the elaborate rituals around food that dominated hours of every day. She also reveals the heartache and fear that accompany a life lived in the closet, a sense of isolation that was only magnified by her unrelenting desire to be ever thinner. From her lowest point, Portia began the painful climb back to health and honesty, emerging as an outspoken and articulate advocate for gay rights and women's health issues.
Unbearable Lightness is a landmark book that inspires hope and nourishes the spirit, shining a bright light on the dark subject of eating disorders and the complex emotional truth surrounding food, weight, and body image.
Steven Patrick Morrissey is one of the most original and controversial voices in the history of popular music. With The Smiths, he led the most influential British guitar group of the 1980s, his enigmatic wit and style defining a generation.
As a solo artist, he has continued to broach subjects no other singer would dare. Worshipped by some, vilified by others, Morrissey is a unique rock and roll creation.
The 300,000 words of Mozipedia make this the most intimate and in-depth biographical portrait of the man and his music yet. Bringing together every song, album, collaborator, key location, every hero, book, film, and record to have influenced his art, it is the summation of years of meticulous research.
Morrissey authority Simon Goddard has interviewed almost everybody of any importance, making Mozipedia the last word on Morrissey and The Smiths.
West with the Night is the captivating story of Beryl Markhamâan aviator, racehorse trainer, and beautyâset against the backdrop of Kenya in the 1920s and '30s.
Journey through Africa with Beryl as she breaks barriers and takes to the skies, living a life full of adventure and daring exploits. Her incredible experiences as one of the first women to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west are beautifully chronicled in this autobiography.
This is a tale of courage, determination, and the pioneering spirit that captures the essence of a remarkable woman's life in a land full of wonder and excitement.
El olvido que seremos es una obra conmovedora de HĂŠctor Abad Faciolince que narra la vida y obra de su padre, el mĂŠdico HĂŠctor Abad GĂłmez. DedicĂł sus Ăşltimos aĂąos a la defensa de la igualdad social y los derechos humanos hasta su trĂĄgico asesinato en MedellĂn.
Este libro es una reconstrucciĂłn amorosa y paciente de un personaje excepcional. EstĂĄ lleno de sonrisas y canta el placer de vivir, pero tambiĂŠn muestra la tristeza y la rabia provocadas por su muerte.
Conjurar la figura del padre es un reto literario que ha sido abordado por muchos autores como Kafka y Philip Roth. Ahora, este libro desgarrador de Abad Faciolince se suma a esa tradiciĂłn, escrito con valor y ternura.
In David Lipskyâs view, David Foster Wallace was the best young writer in America. Wallaceâs pieces for Harperâs magazine in the â90s were, according to Lipsky, "like hearing for the first time the brain voice of everybody I knew: Here was how we all talked, experienced, thought. It was like smelling the damp in the air, seeing the first flash from a storm a mile away." You knew something gigantic was coming.
Rolling Stone sent Lipsky to join Wallace on the last leg of his book tour for Infinite Jest, the novel that made him internationally famous. They lose to each other at chess. They get iced-in at an airport. They dash to Chicago to catch a make-up flight. They endure a terrible readerâs escort in Minneapolis. Wallace does a reading, a signing, an NPR appearance. Wallace gives in and imbibes titanic amounts of hotel television (what he calls an âorgy of spectationâ). They fly back to Illinois, drive home, walk Wallaceâs dogs.
Amid these everyday events, Wallace tells Lipsky remarkable thingsâeverything he can about his life, how he feels, what he thinks, what terrifies and fascinates and confounds himâin the writing voice Lipsky had come to love. Lipsky took notes, stopped envying him, and came to feel about himâthat grateful, awake feelingâthe same way he felt about Infinite Jest. Then Lipsky heads to the airport, and Wallace goes to a dance at a Baptist church.
A biography in five days, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself is David Foster Wallace as few experienced this great American writer. Told in his own words, here is Wallaceâs own story, and his astonishing, humane, alert way of looking at the world; here are stories of being a young writerâof being young generallyâtrying to knit together your ideas of who you should be and who other people expect you to be, and of being young in March of 1996. And of what it was like to be with andâas he tells itâwhat it was like to become David Foster Wallace.
Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame. In the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.
Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamousâthe influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years.
Growing Up bin Laden: Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World offers an unprecedented look into the personal life of the world's most infamous terrorist, Osama bin Laden. For the first time, his first wife, Najwa bin Laden, and their fourth son, Omar bin Laden, unveil the truth about the man behind the headlines.
Married at fifteen, Najwa shares her journey from falling in love with a quiet, serious young man to living under the shadow of a stern, authoritarian husband who would become the leader of a complex international terrorist network. She describes being uprooted from a life of luxury in Saudi Arabia to living on the run, moving from country to country with assumed names and fake passports.
Omar recounts his upbringing amidst the chaos, where he and his siblings were taught to handle Kalashnikovs and survive in the harsh conditions of fortified Afghani mountain camps. Their story culminates in their escape from Afghanistan just days before the world-altering events of 9/11.
This gripping account, enriched with exclusive family photographs, is presented by Jean Sasson, the author of the bestselling Princess. It is a story that was never meant to be heard, offering a rare glimpse into the life of a man both feared and revered globally.
The Snowball is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as âThe Oracle of Omahaâ. This book recounts the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom.
Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the worldâs richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term âsimple.â
When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett, she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him, she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.
Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writerâs questions, talking, and giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associatesâopening his files and recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffettâs legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched peopleâs lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.
Ki Longfellow, author of the acclaimed The Secret Magdalene, brings us the astonishing life of Hypatia of Alexandria, a woman famed throughout the Mediterranean world for her exceptional intelligence. For 17 centuries, Hypatia's story was overlooked by history, but Longfellow gives voice to this remarkable figure.
Set against the backdrop of a Roman Empire in turmoil and the rise of Christianity, Hypatia emerges as the last great bastion of reason. A philosopher and mathematician par excellence, she surpasses all contemporaries, regardless of gender. With her brilliance lighting up the era, she is courted by men of various persuasions and is recognized as the preeminent scholar of her time. Her life is rich with accomplishments in mathematics and philosophy, and she invents numerous devices that remain largely uncredited.
The narrative is not only an exploration of Hypatia's genius but also delves into her personal life, presenting a heart-wrenching love story and her valiant struggle against prevailing intolerance. Hypatia's journey is both a tragedy and a triumph, and through Longfellow's writing, she walks off the page fully realized, while Alexandria, the 'New York City of its day', strives to be a beacon of enlightenment in an increasingly shadowed world.
A thrilling, inspiring account of one of the greatest charm offensives in historyâNelson Mandela's decade-long campaign to unite his country, beginning in his jail cell and ending with a rugby tournament.
In 1985, Nelson Mandela, then in prison for twenty-three years, set about winning over the fiercest proponents of apartheid, from his jailers to the head of South Africa's military. First, he earned his freedom and then he won the presidency in the nation's first free election in 1994. But he knew that South Africa was still dangerously divided by almost fifty years of apartheid. If he couldn't unite his country in a visceral, emotional wayâand fastâit would collapse into chaos.
He would need all the charisma and strategic acumen he had honed during half a century of activism, and he'd need a cause all South Africans could share. Mandela picked one of the more farfetched causes imaginableâthe national rugby team, the Springboks, who would host the sport's World Cup in 1995.
Against the giants of the sport, the Springboks' chances of victory were remote. But their chances of capturing the hearts of most South Africans seemed remoter still, as they had long been the embodiment of white supremacist rule. During apartheid, the all-white Springboks and their fans had belted out racist fight songs, and blacks would come to Springbok matches to cheer for whatever team was playing against them. Yet Mandela believed that the Springboks could embodyâand engageâthe new South Africa. And the Springboks themselves embraced the scheme.
Soon South African TV would carry images of the team singing "Nkosi Sikelele Afrika," the longtime anthem of black resistance to apartheid. As their surprising string of victories lengthened, their home-field advantage grew exponentially. South Africans of every color and political stripe found themselves falling for the team.
When the Springboks took to the field for the championship match against New Zealand's heavily favored squad, Mandela sat in his presidential box wearing a Springbok jersey while sixty-two-thousand fans, mostly white, chanted "Nelson! Nelson!" Millions more gathered around their TV sets, whether in dusty black townships or leafy white suburbs, to urge their team toward victory. The Springboks won a nail-biter that day, defying the oddsmakers and capping Mandela's miraculous ten-year-long effort to bring forty-three million South Africans together in an enduring bond.
John Carlin, a former South Africa bureau chief for the London Independent, offers a singular portrait of the greatest statesman of our time in action, blending the volatile cocktail of race, sport, and politics to intoxicating effect. He draws on extensive interviews with Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and dozens of other South Africans caught up in Mandela's momentous campaign, and the Springboks' unlikely triumph. As he makes stirringly clear, their championship transcended the mere thrill of victory to erase ancient hatreds and make a nation whole.
"Zeitoun" is the true story of one family, caught between Americaâs two biggest policy disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun run a house-painting business in New Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the business.
In the days following the storm, he travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. Then, on September 6th, police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his home.
Told with eloquence and compassion, "Zeitoun" is a riveting account of one familyâs unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water.
Three Days To See is a remarkable essay by the renowned author and activist, Helen Keller. This work invites readers into the imaginative and perceptive world of Keller, who, despite being blind and deaf, offers an inspiring perspective on experiencing life.
In this essay, Keller imagines what she would do if she were given just three days to see the world. She shares her desires to witness the beauty of nature, the faces of loved ones, and the vibrant life of a bustling city. Her reflections are both profound and heartfelt, encouraging readers to appreciate the simple joys and wonders of the world around them.
This essay not only highlights Keller's incredible insight but also serves as a powerful reminder of the value of sight and the richness of human experience. It is a timeless piece that continues to inspire and move readers across generations.
Young Stalin is a fascinating biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore, based on ten years of astonishing research. This thrilling story unveils how a charismatic, dangerous boy transformed into a student priest, romantic poet, gangster mastermind, prolific lover, murderous revolutionary, and the merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image.
Montefiore delves into the dramatic life of Stalin, exploring his friendships and hatreds, his many love affairs, and his complicated relationship with the Tsarist secret police. From his darkly turbulent boyhood, born into poverty and scarred by his upbringing, to his rise as a revolutionary, this book provides an intimate look at the man who became one of history's most notorious figures.
Young Stalin is not just a biography; it's a brilliant prehistory of the USSR, a chronicle of the Revolution, and an essential read for anyone interested in Russian history. Discover how Stalin became Stalin in this compelling narrative.
No one could reach her. Twelve-year-old Helen Keller lived in a prison of silence and darkness. Born deaf, blind, and mute, with no way to express herself or comprehend those around her, she flew into primal rages against anyone who tried to help her, fighting tooth and nail with a strength born of furious, unknowing desperation.
Then Annie Sullivan came. Half-blind herself, but possessing an almost fanatical determination, she would begin a frightening and incredibly moving struggle to tame the wild girl no one could reach, and bring Helen into the world at last.
A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery. An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel. A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream. A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it. It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana... and an East Texas honky-tonk... and, without a doubt, inside the heart of God. It unfolds at a Hollywood hacienda... an upscale New York gallery... a downtown dumpster... a Texas ranch.
Gritty with betrayal, pain, and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love. Meet Denver, raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana until he escaped the "Man" in the 1960's by hopping a train. Untrusting, uneducated, and violent, he spent another 18 years on the streets of Dallas and Fort Worth. Meet Ron Hall, a self-made millionaire in the world of high-priced art deals -- concerned with fast cars, beautiful women, and fancy clothes. And the woman who changed their lives -- Miss Debbie: "The skinniest, nosiest, pushiest, woman I ever met, black or white." She helped the homeless and gave of herself to all of "God's People," and had a way of knowing how to listen and helping others talk and be found - until cancer strikes.
Same Kind of Different as Me is a tale told in two unique voices - Ron Hall & Denver Moore - weaving two completely different life experiences into one common journey where both men learn "whether we is rich or poor or something in between this earth ain't no final restin' place. So in a way, we is all homeless-just workin' our way toward home." The story takes a devastating twist when Deborah discovers she has cancer. Will Deborah live or die? Will Denver learn to trust a white man? Will Ron embrace his dying wife's vision to rescue Denver? Or will Denver be the one rescuing Ron? There's pain and laughter, doubt and tears, and in the end a triumphal story that readers will never forget.
Weir has tirelessly made her way through the entire labyrinth of Tudor history to tell the collective story of the six wives of Henry VIII--a vivid, full-blooded portrait of six very different women--in a work of sound and brilliant scholarship. Illustrations.
Einstein was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days, and these character traits drove both his life and his science. In this narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. The first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. Biographer Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk-
The Red Parts chronicles the uncanny series of events that led to Nelson's interest in her aunt's death, the reopening of the case, the bizarre and brutal trial that ensued, and the effects these events had on the disparate group of people they brought together. But The Red Parts is much more than a "true crime" record of a murder, investigation, and trial. For into this story Nelson has woven an account of a girlhood and early adulthood haunted by loss, mortality, mystery, and betrayal, as well as a look at the personal and political consequences of our cultural fixation on dead (white) women.
٠؍٠أبŮŮاع ŮŮŮŮاز ŘŻŮŮا ŮŮ Ůبع Ů Ř´ŘŞŘąŮŘ Ř§ŘąŘŞŘ¨Řˇ اس٠اŮ٠ا ٠ؚا٠ؼŮ٠اŮأبد. ŮاŮا زŮŘŹŮ٠٠٠أزŮا؏ اŮؚاŮ٠اŮأسءŮŘąŮŮŮ. Ůا ŮŮ ŮŮŮا ŘŁŮ ŮŮŮŘą باŘŘŻ Ů ŮŮ٠ا Ů Ů ŘŻŮ٠اŮŘŞŮŮŮŘą باŮآ؎ع: ŘłŮŮ Ů٠د٠بŮŮŮاع Ů؏ا٠بŮ٠ساعتع.
ŮŮ ŮŮاŮŘŠ اŮŘعب اŮؚاŮŮ ŮŘŠ اŮ؍اŮŮŘŠ تبŮŘŁ ساعتع ŮبŮŮŮŘ§ŘąŘ ŘšŮŮ ŮŘ٠سعŮŘšŘ Ů ŮاŮŘŠ ؚاŮŮŘŠ بŮŘľŮŮ٠ا Ů ŮŮŘąŮŮŮŮ ŘŘąŮŮ ŮŮ Ůتز٠ŮŮ. Ůتبا ŮŮ ŘŹŮ ŮŘš اŮŘŁŮŮاؚ اŮأدبŮŘŠ: اŮ٠سعŘŮŘ§ŘŞŘ Ř§ŮŘąŮاŮŘ§ŘŞŘ Ř§Ůدعاسات اŮŮŮŘłŮŮŘŠŘ Ůؾؾ اŮŘąŘŮŘ§ŘŞŘ Ř§ŮŘłŮع؊ اŮذاتŮŘŠŘ Ř§Ů٠ذŮŘąŘ§ŘŞŘ ŘŁŘŻŘ¨ اŮŘłŮŘąŘŠŘ ŮاŮŘľŘاŮŘŠ.
ŮŮŘŻ Ř´ŮŮŘŞ ŘąŮاŮŘŠ ساعتع اŮŘŁŮŮ٠اŮغ؍ŮاŮÂť Řد؍ا٠Ů٠ؚاŮ٠اŮŘąŮاŮŘŠ اŮŮŘąŮŘłŮŘŠ اŮ٠ؚاؾع؊. Ůغدت ٠سعŘŮات٠اŮؚشع ŘŘŻŮŘŤ اŮŮ Ůس٠اŮ٠سعŘŮ Ů٠باعŮŘł. ŮŘŁŘŘŻŘŤŘŞ دعاسات٠اŮŮŮŘłŮŮŘŠ: اŮŮŘŹŮŘŻ ŮاŮؚد٠ Ů ÂŤŮŮŘŻ اŮŮŮŘą اŮŘŻŮاŮŮŘŞŮŮŮÂť ŮŘşŮŘąŮا ؾد٠؊. Ůذا ŘĽŮ٠؏اŮب بŘŘŤŮ٠اŮأدبŮŮ٠اŮŮذŮŮ ŮعسŮ٠ا Ů؏ا٠؏ŮŮŮŮ ŮŘşŮستا٠ŮŮŮبŮŘą.
ŮŮŮ٠عب٠ا ŘłŮŮذŮŘą ŘšŮŮ ŮŘŮ ŘŁŮ؜٠٠٠؎Ůا٠سŮعت٠اŮذاتŮŘŠ ÂŤŮŮŮ Ř§ŘŞÂťŘ Ůذا اŮŮتاب اŮذ٠أŮسب٠؏ا،ز؊ ŮŮبŮ. Ůستعتبء بŮŮŮاع دا،٠ا٠بŮتابŮا اŮŮا٠اŮŘŹŮŘł اŮآ؎ع Ůب٠ذŮعاتŮا ŮبعŮاŮŘŞŮا اŮŮا٠ؚ؊ اŮŮ ŮŘŻŘąŮŮÂť اŮت٠استŘ؜عت ŮŮŮا ŘŹŮ ŘŁŮŘąŮبا بؚد اŮŘعب اŮؚاŮŮ ŮŘŠ اŮ؍اŮŮŘŠ.
The River of Doubt is an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait of Theodore Rooseveltâs harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. This true story takes you through the treacherous journey along the black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon, known as the River of Doubt. It's a place where Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows, piranhas glide through its waters, and boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt sought the most punishing physical challenge he could find: the first descent of this unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Accompanied by his son Kermit and Brazilâs most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt achieved a feat so monumental that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, including losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, enduring starvation, Indian attacks, disease, drowning, and even a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide.
The River of Doubt brings these extraordinary events to life in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller featuring one of Americaâs most famous figures. From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rainforest to the darkest nights of Rooseveltâs life, Candice Millardâs dazzling debut is a must-read.
In this extraordinary book, Alexander Masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. A gripping who-done-it journey back in time, it begins with Masters meeting a drunken Stuart lying on a sidewalk in Cambridge, England, and leads through layers of hellâŚback through crimes and misdemeanors, prison and homelessness, suicide attempts, violence, drugs, juvenile halls and special schoolsâto expose the smiling, gregarious thirteen-year-old boy who was Stuart before his long, sprawling, dangerous fall.
Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, Stuart: A Life Backwards is a writerâs quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all: that every lifeâeven the most chaotic and disreputableâis a story worthy of being told.
Here is Jim Morrison in all his complexityâsinger, philosopher, poet, delinquentâthe brilliant, charismatic, and obsessed seeker who rejected authority in any form. He was an explorer who probed the bounds of reality to see what would happen.
Seven years in the writing, this definitive biography is the work of two men whose empathy and experience with Jim Morrison uniquely prepared them to recount this modern tragedy. Jerry Hopkins, whose famous Presley biography, Elvis, was inspired by Morrison's suggestion, and Danny Sugerman, confidant of and aide to the Doors.
Obsessive Genius offers an intimate look into the life of Marie Curie, peeling away the layers of myth to reveal the woman behind the legend. Through family interviews, diaries, letters, and workbooks that had been sealed for over sixty years, Barbara Goldsmith unveils an all-too-human woman struggling to balance a spectacular scientific career with a demanding family, societal prejudice, and her own passionate nature.
This dazzling portrait captures Curie's amazing scientific success and the price she paid for fame, providing a deeper understanding of what she went through as a woman and a scientist. Marie Curie remains a mystery, but her journey shines as strong as her radium, offering inspiration to all.
"I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else." So writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his remarkable book exploring critical junctures in his life and career.
Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan's New York is a magical city of possibilities â smoky, nightlong parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations are punctuated by jabs of memories, penetrating and tough.
With the book's side trips to New Orleans, Woodstock, Minnesota, and points west, Chronicles: Volume One is an intimate and intensely personal recollection of extraordinary times. By turns revealing, poetical, passionate, and witty, Chronicles: Volume One is a mesmerizing window on Bob Dylan's thoughts and influences.
Dylan's voice is distinctively American: generous of spirit, engaged, fanciful, and rhythmic. Utilizing his unparalleled gifts of storytelling and the exquisite expressiveness that are the hallmarks of his music, Bob Dylan turns Chronicles: Volume One into a poignant reflection on life, and the people and places that helped shape the man and the art.
The Master is a beautifully crafted novel by Colm TĂłibĂn that delves into the intricate inner life of Henry James, one of Americaâs first intellectuals. This profound work captures the essence of James's loneliness and hope as he navigates the complexities of intimacy and artistic expression.
Born into a prominent American family, Henry James leaves his homeland in the late nineteenth century, seeking solace and inspiration in the cultural havens of Paris, Rome, Venice, and London. TĂłibĂn paints a vivid picture of James's world, filled with privileged artists and writers, and the emotional intensity of his experiences is both riveting and heartfelt.
With stunningly resonant prose, The Master stands as a testament to the power of fiction to illuminate the human condition. It is a poignant exploration of the hazards of prioritizing the life of the mind over the affairs of the heart, making it an artful, moving, and very beautiful read.
Mayada, Daughter of Iraq is a gripping tale of courage and resilience amidst the harrowing conditions of Saddam Hussein's regime. A member of one of the most distinguished and honored families in Iraq, Mayada grew up surrounded by wealth and royalty. However, her life took a drastic turn when she was unjustly thrown into cell 52 in the infamous Baladiyat prison.
Alongside seventeen other nameless, faceless women from all walks of life, Mayada endured unimaginable hardship. To ease their suffering, these "shadow women" shared their life stories, creating a tapestry of hope and solidarity amidst despair.
Through the powerful narrative of Jean Sasson, Mayada finally shares her storyâand theirsâwith the world. This book offers a poignant glimpse into the cruelty and hardship endured by generations of Iraqis, highlighting the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
Dancer takes its inspiration from the life of the legendary Russian dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. Through a tapestry of voices, Colum McCann weaves the story of this enigmatic figure. From his humble beginnings, rescued by his first ballet teacher, Anna Vasileva, to the complexities of his relationships with the ambitious Yulia and the streetwise Victor, this novel spans four decades and multiple worlds.
Set against the backdrop of World War II and the vibrant chaos of 1980s New York, the narrative is populated by a diverse cast of characters, both obscure and renowned, including Margot Fonteyn, Eric Bruhn, and John Lennon. At the heart of this epic tale stands Nureyev himself, a man driven by an insatiable desire for perfection.
McCann's storytelling captures the essence of a life lived in pursuit of artistic mastery, exploring the passion and drive that defined one of the greatest dancers of the century.
The Motorcycle Diaries is Che Guevara's diary of his journey to discover the continent of Latin America while still a medical student, setting out in 1952 on a vintage Norton motorcycle together with his friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist. It captures, arguably as much as any book ever written, the exuberance and joy of one person's youthful belief in the possibilities of humankind tending towards justice, peace and happiness.
After the release in 2004 of the exhilarating film of the same title, directed by Walter Salles, the book became a New York Times and international bestseller. This edition includes a new introduction by Walter Salles and an array of new material that was assembled for the 2004 edition coinciding with the release of the film, including 24 pages of previously unpublished photos taken by Che, notes and comments by his wife, Aleida Guevara March, and an extensive introduction by the distinguished Cuban author, Cintio Vitier.
"A journey, a number of journeys. Ernesto Guevara in search of adventure, Ernesto Guevara in search of America, Ernesto Guevara in search of Che. On this journey, solitude found solidarity. 'I' turned into 'we.'"âEduardo Galeano
"As his journey progresses, Guevara's voice seems to deepen, to darken, colored by what he witnesses in his travels. He is still poetic, but now he comments on what he sees, though still poetically, with a new awareness of the social and political ramifications of what's going on around him."âJanuary Magazine
"Our film is about a young man, Che, falling in love with a continent and finding his place in it." âWalter Salles, director of the film version of The Motorcycle Diaries
"All this wandering around 'Our America with a Capital A' has changed me more than I thought." âErnesto Che Guevara, from The Motorcycle Diaries
The Last American Man is a rousing examination of contemporary American male identity by acclaimed author and journalist, Elizabeth Gilbert. It explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway, a man who, at the age of seventeen, left his family's comfortable suburban home to live in the wilds of the Appalachian Mountains.
For more than two decades, Conway has lived there, making fire with sticks, wearing skins from animals he has trapped, and trying to convince Americans to give up their materialistic lifestyles and return with him back to nature. His mythical character challenges all our assumptions about what it is to be a modern man in America; he is a symbol of much we feel how our men should be, but rarely are.
Conway's adventures include traveling the Mississippi in a handmade wooden canoe, walking the two-thousand-mile Appalachian Trail, hiking across the German Alps, and even riding his horse across America. He resides in a thousand-acre forest where he teaches survival skills and attempts to instill in people a deeper appreciation of nature.
Elizabeth Gilbert delivers this intimate portrait of an endlessly complicated man with her trademark wit and spirit. The Last American Man is an unforgettable adventure story of an irrepressible life lived to the extreme.
The Pulitzer Prizeâwinning, bestselling biography of Americaâs founding father and second president that was the basis for the acclaimed HBO series, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as âout of his sensesâ; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history.
This is history on a grand scaleâa book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
Band of Brothers, by Stephen E. Ambrose, is a gripping account of E Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the dangerous parachute landings on D-Day and their triumphant capture of Hitlerâs âEagleâs Nestâ in Berchtesgaden, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company.
Repeatedly sent on the toughest missions, these brave men fought, went hungry, froze, and died in the service of their country. A tale of heroic adventures and soul-shattering confrontations, Band of Brothers brings back to life, as only Stephen E. Ambrose can, the profound ties of brotherhood forged in the barracks and on the battlefields. This narrative not only highlights the physical battles but also the emotional and psychological challenges faced by the soldiers.