Biography

Peter Mandelson

The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour

Editura: Harper Press

Anul aparitiei: 2010

Peter Mandelson

The Third Man: Life at the Heart of New Labour

Editura: HarperCollins (UK)

Anul aparitiei: 2010

Yahiya J. Emerick

Critical Lives: Muhammad

Editura: Alpha Books

Anul aparitiei: 2002

Muhammad was a religious visionary and political leader. Raised in the harsh Arabian Peninsula and orphaned while still a child, this unlikely leader and military genius received a calling to transform his society from a collection of raiding tribes into one of the world's most progressive societies. His message of monotheism and righteousness motivated an entire people to abandon idolatry and spread the word of God to surrounding nations. Although he was a military genius, his greatest accomplishments came from the religion he preached: Islam, which called its adherents to lead a life of prayer, charity, and contemplation. The second largest religion in the world, both Islam's prophet and its values are today often misunderstood by adherents and outsiders alike.This concise, informative biography explores: Muhammad's background and boyhood, as well as the culture and society in which he livedA look at Muhammad as a family man, and how his personal life was a testament to his high regard for womenMuhammad's mission as a prophet and his new religion's philosophy on topics ranging from monotheism to interfaith relationsThe Qur'an and how it was revealed, how Muslims view it in their ...

Jerry Capeci, Gene Mustain

Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti

Editura: Alpha Books

Anul aparitiei: 2002

-- Jerry Capeci's The Complete Idiot's Guide "RM" to the Mafia has already netted close to 12,000 copies since its publication in December 2001, making it one of Alpha's strongest new titles. -- Jerry Capeci is one of America's most respected experts on the Mafia and organized crime. His Web site, Ganglandnews.com, gets more than 5,000 hits per day. He has appeared twice on Fox-TV promoting The Complete Idiot's Guide "RM" to the Mafia and is much in demand on local TV and radio shows. He has been profiled in People magazine, the New York Daily News (for which he was a longtime columnist), and dozens of other magazines and newspapers. -- John Gotti is terminally ill; when he passes on to that great Mafia in the sky, co-author Capeci will be in great demand for interviews and will the plug the book. As he battles terminal cancer in a federal prison in Illinois, John Gotti, still the acting head of the Gambino Mafia family, is constantly in the news. Once Mr. Gotti ascends to Mafia heaven, he will be worldwide news-and Alpha will have the most up-to-date and comprehensive book on the subject.

James I. Robertson

Stonewall Jackson

Editura: MacMillan Reference Library

Anul aparitiei: 1997

Traces Jacksons life from his humble beginnings, through his military career, to his untimely death in 1863, discussing his military campaigns and strategies, religious beliefs, personal eccentricities, and more.

Randy Roberts

Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes

Editura: Free Press

Anul aparitiei: 1985

The startling true story of the most famous--and most hated--black American of his day. Papa Jack takes us into a violent and sordid world. From Randy Roberts, Papa Jack is an astonishing tale of black defiance--and white retribution--set against the dramatic canvas of sports and spectacle in Southern Jim Crow America.

Holt Rinehart & Winston, James A. Baldwin

The Fire Next Time W/Conn

Editura: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)

Anul aparitiei: 2000

Frederick Douglass

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave

Editura: Steck-Vaughn

Anul aparitiei: 2000

David Starkey

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2004

"Extraordinary. . . . It is a tribute to Starkey's narrative drive, his puckish wit, and sharp discrimination that it doesn't seem a page too long. . . . With each queen, Starkey offers a vivid character study but also has fresh discoveries that subtly alter the picture he started out with." -- Sunday Times (London)The dramatic, legendary story of Henry VIII, his six wives, and the England they ruled--told by one of the world's preeminent historians of the Tudor era.Perhaps no one in history had a more eventful career in matrimony than Henry VIII. His marriages were tumultuous and complicated, and made instant legends of six very different women. Henry took his first bride, Catherine of Aragon, when he was 17. Their 24-year marriage was a relatively stable prelude to what followed. Anne Boleyn, a pretty, French-educated Protestant who was the mother of Elizabeth I, was eventually beheaded. Jane Seymour served as a demure contrast to the vampish Boleyn, and gave birth to Henry's longed-for son (Edward VI). After a brief marriage to the plain Anne of Cleves, Henry married a flirtatious teenager, Catherine Howard, who would be the second of his brides to lose her head along with the ...

Maria Augusta Trapp

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2002

With nearly 1,500 Broadway performances, six Tony Awards, more than three million albums sold, and five Academy Awards, The Sound of Music, based on the lives of Maria, the baron, and their singing children, is as familiar to most of us as our own family history. But much about the real-life woman and her family was left untold. Here, Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells in her own beautiful, simple words the extraordinary story of her romance with the baron, their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria, and their life in America. Now with photographs from the original edition.

Sonny Barger, Ralph "Sonny" Barger

Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-Raising Motorcycle Stories

Editura: Harper Paperbacks

Anul aparitiei: 2003

An angel spreads his wings. . . . Sonny Barger is the number-one spokesman for the motorcycle experience. His New York Times bestseller, Hell's Angel, was an exhilarating history of his adventures with the world's most notorious motorcycle club. Now he brings us rousing, moving, and wildly entertaining true stories of his renegade brothers and sisters in the relentless pursuit of liberty, individuality, and the "ultimate ride." And what stories he has to tell -- freewheeling, bare-knuckle tales of brawls and battles, brotherhood, breathtaking adventures, crazy quests, and the inevitable classic scrapes with "John Law." The most colorful legends and unforgettable characters of biker lore come alive in this book. In addition, celebrities like Steve McQueen, Johnny Paycheck, and David Crosby thunder through these pages in a sensational collection of rebel tales that runs the gamut from poignant and inspiring to thrilling and utterly outrageous. Whether you ride, have never ridden, or dream of riding, Ridin' High, Livin' Free is a reading experience you won't soon forget -- a fascinating glimpse into a unique culture of freedom that recognizes only one commandment: the code of the ...

Antwone Quenton Fisher

Finding Fish: A Memoir

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2001

Baby Boy Fisher was raised in institutions from the moment of his birth in prison to a single mother. He ultimately came to live with a foster family, where he endured near-constant verbal and physical abuse. In his mid-teens he escaped and enlisted in the navy, where he became a man of the world, raised by the family he created for himself. Finding Fish shows how, out of this unlikely mix of deprivation and hope, an artist was born -- first as the child who painted the feelings his words dared not speak, then as a poet and storyteller who would eventually become one of Hollywood's most sought-after screenwriters. A tumultuous and ultimately gratifying tale of self-discovery written in Fisher's gritty yet melodic literary voice, Finding Fish is an unforgettable reading experience.

Mike Wilson

The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: *God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison

Editura: Harper Paperbacks

Anul aparitiei: 2003

Larry Ellison started the high-flying tech company Oracle with $1,200 in 1977 and turned it into a billion-dollar Silicon Valley giant. If Bill Gates is the tech world's nerd king, Ellison is its Warren Beatty: racing yachts, buying jets, and romancing beautiful women. His rise to fame and fortune is a tale of entrepreneurial brilliance, ruthless tactics, and a constant stream of half-truths and outright fabrications for which the man and his company are notorious. Investigative reporter Mike Wilson, with access to Ellison himself and more than 125 of his friends, enemies, and former Oracle employees, has created an eye-opening, utterly fascinating portrayal of a Silicon Valley success story ... filled with the stuff that dreams and cultural icons are made of.

Ingrid Betancourt

Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2008

In 2002, Colombian senator, anticorruption crusader, and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas. She was their prisoner for more than six years. Until now. Until Death Do Us Part is the deeply personal autobiography of an extraordinary woman who gave up a life of comfort and safety to become a political leader in a country slowly being demolished by terrorism, violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. A memoir that reads like a fast-paced political thriller--at once poignant, chilling, and inspiring--it is a story of a reformer, a mother, a patriot whose love for her country and faith in democracy gave her the courage to stand up to the power that has subjugated, intimidated, or corrupted all those who opposed it . . . and ultimately paid an unimaginable price for her commitment.

Steven D. Stark

Meet the Beatles: A Cultural History of the Band That Shook Youth, Gender, and the World

Editura: HarperCollins Publishers

Anul aparitiei: 2006

Rob Sheffield, the Rolling Stone columnist and bestselling author of Love Is a Mix Tape, offers an entertaining, unconventional look at the most popular band in history, the Beatles, exploring what they mean today and why they still matter so intensely to a generation that has never known a world without them.Meet the Beatles is not another biography of the Beatles, or a song-by-song analysis of the best of John and Paul. It isn't another exposé about how they broke up. It isn't a history of their gigs or their gear. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles music on their parents' stereos and their faces on T-shirts. What do the Beatles mean today? Why are they more famous and beloved now than ever? And why do they still matter so much to us, nearly fifty years after they broke up?As he did in his previous books, Love is a Mix Tape, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, and Turn Around Bright Eyes, Sheffield focuses on the emotional connections we make to music. This time, he focuses on the biggest pop culture phenomenon of all time--The Beatles. In his singular voice, he explores what the ...

Noah Levine

Dharma Punx

Editura: HarperOne

Anul aparitiei: 2004

Fueled by the music of revolution, anger, fear, and despair, we dyed our hair or shaved our heads ... Eating acid like it was candy and chasing speed with cheap vodka, smoking truckloads of weed, all in a vain attempt to get numb and stay numb.This is the story of a young man and a generation of angry youths who rebelled against their parents and the unfulfilled promise of the sixties. As with many self-destructive kids, Noah Levine's search for meaning led him first to punk rock, drugs, drinking, and dissatisfaction. But the search didn't end there. Having clearly seen the uselessness of drugs and violence, Noah looked for positive ways to channel his rebellion against what he saw as the lies of society. Fueled by his anger at so much injustice and suffering, Levine now uses that energy and the practice of Buddhism to awaken his natural wisdom and compassion.While Levine comes to embrace the same spiritual tradition as his father, bestselling author Stephen Levine, he finds his most authentic expression in connecting the seemingly opposed worlds of punk and Buddhism. As Noah Levine delved deeper into Buddhism, he chose not to reject the punk scene, instead integrating the two ...

Stanley P. Hirshson

General Patton: A Soldier's Life

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2003

"The most complete biography of [Patton] yet produced." - Chicago Tribune Utilizing untapped archival materials from the United States and England, Stanley P. Hirshson creates the most balanced portrait of Patton ever written. General Patton: A Soldier's Life reveals Patton as a complex soldier capable of brilliant military maneuvers but also of inspiring horrendous acts with fiery speeches. It explains Patton's belief in a soldier's Valhalla, connects the family's wealth to one of America's bitterest labor strikes, and disputes the usual interpretation of Patton's relief from command of the Third Army. While investigating this complex man, Hirshson has uncovered surprising material about a series of civilian and military massacres in Sicily, attempts to exploit Patton's diary after his death, and Patton's relations with top Allied generals. In this meticulously documented volume, Patton comes to life.

Kirk Douglas

My Stroke of Luck

Editura: It Books

Anul aparitiei: 2003

In 1995, Kirk Douglas suffered a debilitating stroke that changed his life. In this vivid and very personal reflection upon his extraordinary life as an actor, author, and legend in his own time, Douglas offers a candid and heartfelt memoir of where it all went right in his life -- even after the stroke. Revealing not only the incredible physical and emotional toll of his stroke but how it has changed his life for the better, Douglas shares the lessons that saved him and helped him to heal. Alongside his heartfelt advice and insight, he also recalls warm memories of some of the most famous figures of our time -- including Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Michael J. Fox, and Gary Cooper -- as well as others who have soared to greatness in the face of adversity. Charming, soulful, and filled with personal photographs, My Stroke of Luck is an intimate look at the real person behind the fabulous talent -- and at a life lived to its very fullest.

Richard M. Cohen

Blindsided: Lifting a Life Above Illness: A Reluctant Memoir

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2005

A hopeful look at coping with the ravages of serious chronic illness by an accomplished journalist, a contributing columnist for the New York Times, and former senior producer of the CBS Evening News Richard Cohen, a veteran journalist, has lived with multiple sclerosis for 30 years. Diagnosed with colon cancer twice in recent years, Cohen chronicles and celebrates a life brimming over with accomplishment and adversity, while struggling for emotional health. Autobiographical at its roots, reportorial, and expansive, Blindsided explores the effects of illness on raising three children and his relationship with wife Meredith Vieira (host of ABC's The View). He tackles the nature of denial and resilience and the redemptive effects of a loving family, and does so with grace, humor, and lyrical prose.

Martha Tod Dudman

Augusta, Gone: A True Story

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 2002

The story of a girl who is doing everything to hurt herself and a mother who would try anything to try to save her. True, she had stopped coming down for breakfast. Stayed up in her room, ran out the door late for school, missed the bus and had to have a ride. But you think, well, that's how they are, aren't they, teenagers? And you try to remember how you were, but you were different and the times were different and it was so long ago. And she's suddenly so angry at you, but then, another time, she's just the same. She's just your little girl. You sit with her and you talk about something, or you go shopping for school clothes and everything seems all right. And you forget how you stood in her room and how the center of your stomach felt so cold. When you found the cigarette. When you found the blue pipe. When you found the little bag she said was aspirin.