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Biographies

A good biography invites you into someone else’s life. It takes you on fascinating journeys through the ups and downs of the life of legendary film stars, talented musicians, inspiring athletes, visionary politicians and many more. A good biography lets you get under the skin of your biggest idols, and you feel collected when reading their story - maybe even in the form of their own words. You will find both biographies and autobiographies in Tales’ selection, in addition to diaries and memoirs. So are you ready to be inspired by some of the world’'s most extraordinary individuals?
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  • Save 15%
    by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
    £10.99

  • Save 14%
    by Hadley Vlahos
    £9.49 - 14.99

  • Save 15%
    by Antony Penrose
    £10.99

    Lee Miller's career encompassed several different careers: she was a successful model, then a leading Surrealist photographer; and then a war correspondent during World War II. Compiled by her son, this book offers a record of Miller's life and work.

  • by Lucius Seneca
    £4.49 - 7.99

    HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

  • Save 23%
    - A White House Memoir
    by John Bolton
    £16.99

  • Save 10%
    - The Autobiography
    by Patrice Evra
    £8.99

    The long-awaited autobiography of Patrice Evra, former captain of Manchester United and France

  • Save 15%
    - A neurosurgeon's true story of the life-changing magic of mindfulness and compassion that inspired the hit K-pop band BTS
    by Dr. James R. Doty
    £10.99

    A life-changing memoir of the power of mindfulness and how it helped a boy without hope to find a new future. Now a leading neurosurgeon, Dr James Doty shares practical tips for meditation and visualisation techniques in this inspiring true story of the woman who taught him to think magically.

  • Save 10%
    - A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences
    by Truman Capote
    £8.99 - 9.49

    Reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. In this title, the author's study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved.

  • Save 15%
    - Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
    by Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee & et al.
    £10.99 - 15.49

    A chronicle of the career of Meotley Creue, one of rock music's most provocative and notorious bands, provides an insider's view of rock stardom.

  • Save 15%
    - Alex Honnold and the Ultimate Limits of Adventure
    by David Roberts & Alex Honnold
    £10.99

    'Riveting . . . Honnold is neither crazy nor reckless. Alone on the Wall reveals him to be an utterly unique and extremely appealing young man' - Jon Krakauer, bestselling author of Into the Wild.This updated edition contains the account of Alex's El Capitan climb, which is the subject of the Oscar and BAFTA winning documentary, Free Solo. Alex Honnold is one of the world's best 'free solo' climbers, he scales impossible rock faces without ropes, pitons or any support of any kind. Exhilarating, brilliant and dangerous, there is a purity to Alex's climbs that is easy to comprehend, but also impossible to fathom; in the last forty years, only a handful of climbers have pushed themselves as far, 'free soloing' to the absolute limit of human capabilities. Half of them are dead. From Yosemite's famous Half Dome to the frighteningly difficult El Sendero Luminoso in Mexico, Alone on the Wall explores Alex's seven most extraordinary climbing achievements so far. These are tales to make your palms sweat and your feet curl with vertigo. Together, they get to the heart of how - and why - Alex does what he does. Exciting, uplifting and truly awe-inspiring, Alone on the Wall is a book about the essential truth of being free to pursue your passions and the ability to maintain a singular focus, even in the face of mortal danger.

  • Save 14%
    by Rachel Cusk
    £9.49

    When first published in 2001, it divided female critics and readers. One famous columnist wrote a piece demanding that Cusk's children were taken into care, that was she was unfit to look after them. Oprah Winfrey invited her on the show to defend herself and the book as protests grew about the its honest, gritty account of the misery of those early months. It is a seminal, stand-out book on the complications of being an ambivalent mum in an age of white-washed, Annabel Karmel'd new families.

  • Save 20%
    by Annie Ernaux
    £11.99

    t the confluence of autofiction and sociology, The Years is 'a Remembrance of Things Past for our age of media domination and consumerism' (New York Times), a monumental account of twentieth-century French history as refracted through the life of one woman.

  • Save 14%
    by Yanis Varoufakis
    £9.49

  • Save 14%
    by Deborah Levy
    £9.49

  • Save 14%
    - A Memoir
    by CARMEN MARIA MACHADO
    £9.49

  • Save 23%
    - The Incredible Story of the World Famous Spurs
    by Julie Welch
    £15.49

  • Save 14%
    - My Autobiography
    by Tyson Fury
    £9.49

  • Save 17%
    by Brett Anderson
    £9.99

    The essential second volume of memoirs by Brett Anderson, which reveals the key years of the Suede story

  • - The True Story Volume One
    by Andrea Perron
    £21.49 - 28.99

  • Save 14%
    by Peter Lynch
    £9.49

    Legendary money manager Peter Lynch explains his own strategies for investing and offers advice for how to pick stocks and mutual funds to assemble a successful investment portfolio.Develop a Winning Investment Strategywith Expert Advice from The Nations #1 Money Manager. Peter Lynchs invest in what you know strategy has made him a household name with investors both big and small. An important key to investing, Lynch says, is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets. Theres a company behind every stock and a reason companiesand their stocksperform the way they do. In this book, Peter Lynch shows you how you can become an expert in a company and how you can build a profitable investment portfolio, based on your own experience and insights and on straightforward do-it-yourself research. In Beating the Street, Lynch for the first time explains how to devise a mutual fund strategy, shows his step-by-step strategies for picking stock, and describes how the individual investor can improve his or her investment performance to rival that of the experts. Theres no reason the individual investor cant match wits with the experts, and this book will show you how.

  • Save 20%
    by Phil Jackson
    £11.99

    During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports. Even more important, he succeeded in never wavering from coaching his way, from a place of deep values. Jackson was tagged as the 'Zen master' half in jest by sportswriters, but the nickname speaks to an important truth: this is a coach who inspired, not goaded; who led by awakening and challenging the better angels of his players nature, not their egos, fear, or greed.This is the story of a preacher s kid from North Dakota who grew up to be one of the most innovative leaders of our time. In his quest to reinvent himself, Jackson explored everything from humanistic psychology and Native American philosophy to Zen meditation. In the process, he developed a new approach to leadership based on freedom, authenticity, and selfless teamwork that turned the hyper-competitive world of professional sports on its head.In Eleven Rings, Jackson candidly describes how he:- Learned the secrets of mindfulness and team chemistry while playing for the champion New York Knicks in the 1970s- Managed Michael Jordan, the greatest player in the world, and got him to embrace selflessness, even if it meant losing a scoring title- Forged successful teams out of players of varying abilities by getting them to trust one another and perform in sync- Inspired Dennis Rodman and other 'uncoachable' personalities to devote themselves to something larger than themselves- Transformed Kobe Bryant from a rebellious teenager into a mature leader of a championship team. Eleven times, Jackson led his teams to the ultimate goal: the NBA championship six times with the Chicago Bulls and five times with the Los Angeles Lakers. We all know the legendary stars on those teams, or think we do. What Eleven Rings shows us, however, is that when it comes to the most important lessons, we don t know very much at all. This book is full of revelations: about fascinating personalities and their drive to win; about the wellsprings of motivation and competition at the highest levels; and about what it takes to bring out the best in ourselves and others.

  • Save 10%
    by Andrea Pirlo
    £8.99

  • Save 10%
    - Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery
    by Henry Marsh
    £8.99

    Do No Harm is a gripping exploration of the human brain, penned by none other than the renowned neurosurgeon, Henry Marsh. Published in 2014 by Orion Publishing Co, this book delves into the complexities of the mind and the delicate art of neurosurgery. Marsh, with his years of experience in the field, offers an intimate and deeply personal look into the highs and lows of a life dedicated to this demanding profession. The book belongs to the genre of medical literature but is written in a way that is engaging and accessible to all readers, regardless of their scientific background. Do No Harm is not just a book; it's a journey that navigates the fine line between life and death, success and failure, hope and despair. It's a must-read for anyone intrigued by the mysteries of the human brain. Published by Orion Publishing Co, it's a testament to Marsh's exceptional career and his unwavering commitment to his patients.

  • Save 14%
    by Jeremy Clarkson
    £9.49

  • Save 27%
    - A Book of Radiohead Artwork
    by Stanley Donwood & Thom Yorke
    £21.99

    A celebration of the process and artwork created for the Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac

  • Save 24%
    by Britney Spears
    £18.99

    The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

  • by Paul Millerd
    £18.99 - 23.99

  • Save 20%
    by Stephen Fry
    £11.99

    Discover the tales behind the ties in Stephen Fry's witty companion to our most distinguished accessory'A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life' Oscar Wilde'What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this?' 'There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter' P.G. Wodehouse ________ Every single one of Stephen Fry's ties - whether floral, fluorescent, football themed; striped or spotty, outrageous or simply debonair - tells an intimate tale about a moment in Stephen's life. Inspired by Stephen's hugely popular Instagram posts, this book will feature beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations and photographs to celebrate his expansive collection of man's greatest clothing companion: The Tie, in all its sophisticated glory. Distinctively funny and offering witty asides, facts and personal stories, this book will make the perfect gift for anyone who has ever worn a tie.

  • Save 19%
    - The Untold Story of the Family Behind the Jewelry Empire
    by Francesca Cartier Brickell
    £12.99

    "A dynamic group biography studded with design history and high-society dash . . . [This] elegantly wrought narrative bears the Cartier hallmark."-The EconomistThe "astounding" (André Leon Talley) story of the family behind the Cartier empire and the three brothers who turned their grandfather's humble Parisian jewelry store into a global luxury icon-as told by a great-granddaughter with exclusive access to long-lost family archives"Ms. Cartier Brickell has done her grandfather proud."-The Wall Street Journal The Cartiers is the revealing tale of a jewelry dynasty-four generations, from revolutionary France to the 1970s. At its heart are the three Cartier brothers whose motto was "Never copy, only create" and who made their family firm internationally famous in the early days of the twentieth century, thanks to their unique and complementary talents: Louis, the visionary designer who created the first men's wristwatch to help an aviator friend tell the time without taking his hands off the controls of his flying machine; Pierre, the master dealmaker who bought the New York headquarters on Fifth Avenue for a double-stranded natural pearl necklace; and Jacques, the globe-trotting gemstone expert whose travels to India gave Cartier access to the world's best rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, inspiring the celebrated Tutti Frutti jewelry. Francesca Cartier Brickell, whose great-grandfather was the youngest of the brothers, has traveled the world researching her family's history, tracking down those connected with her ancestors and discovering long-lost pieces of the puzzle along the way. Now she reveals never-before-told dramas, romances, intrigues, betrayals, and more. The Cartiers also offers a behind-the-scenes look at the firm's most iconic jewelry-the notoriously cursed Hope Diamond, the Romanov emeralds, the classic panther pieces-and the long line of stars from the worlds of fashion, film, and royalty who wore them, from Indian maharajas and Russian grand duchesses to Wallis Simpson, Coco Chanel, and Elizabeth Taylor. Published in the two-hundredth anniversary year of the birth of the dynasty's founder, Louis-François Cartier, this book is a magnificent, definitive, epic social history shown through the deeply personal lens of one legendary family.

  • Save 14%
    by Fran Lebowitz
    £9.49 - 14.99

Biographies
Biographies books are per definition a collection of someone’s life. That someone is mostly a celebrity and often comes from the world of entertainment for example a famous movie or television star. A good biography lets you under the skin of the subject. Biographies are mostly written by biography authors, who are specialized in capturing the life of another person through research and multiple interviews with both the individual and his or her relatives. The celebrity or icon can also choose to write his or her own story, which is what characterizes an autobiography. An autobiography can - if the writer is good - give you a more intimate picture of the subject. You can both find biographies and autobiographies in Tales’ wide selection of Biographies. 

Biographies best sellers
Tales’ selection contains most of the biographies best sellers. The biographies books are often about celebrities known from film, television or the music industry, but they can also be about inspiring trailblazers from the societal or political world like the biography best seller Becoming about Michelle Obama. The American first lady has inspired many Americans and people around the world. Her and her husband - the first black American first lady and President - made many extraordinary changes in the American society and advocated for more diversity and respect in the American people. Michelle Obama also fights for more equality, especially when it comes to girls and women. Read the inspiring story of how Michelle Obama became one of our times most popular, kind and obliging residents of the White House in her biography Becoming, and let it guide you to finding our own voice. 
Another best seller is Three Women by Lisa Taddeo. Taddeo has written an innovative biography that is a collection of three American women's lives. The biography is an investigation of the female lust in all its complexity. Many women have expressed that they can reflect their own life and feelings of desire in the book. 

Biographies about musicians
Take a look in our selection and find some of the best biographies about musicians. The selection has something for every taste, because you find accounts about musicians from every end of the spectre. Whether you like rock, jazz, classical music, pop or musicals you will find biographies about musicians representing every genre. 
Take for example the autobiography Me Elton John, who has gained extraordinary reviews and success all around the world making the Elton John biography an international best seller. The book is the only official biography made about the iconic musician and singer. Read the incredible and turbulent story about one of our biggest stars to date, and you might learn the secrets behind writing and performing hit after hit.
You can also dive into the fascinating story of the musical legend Julie Andrews. In the biography Home you can read about her journey from London to Broadway stardom. The triple threat is the woman behind legendary roles such as Mary Poppins and Maria from The Sound of Music, and you can follow her journey through Hollywood in the sequel Home Work. Julie Andrews is the writer of her own story and she writes in an intimate and heart-warming narrative. 

Biographies about artists
Are you an art lover, art student or an artist yourself? Then we would recommend you to find inspiration in our biographies about artists. Our collection of biographies contains among others the book Frida Kahlo - A Biography written by Claudia Schaefer. Schaefer gives an introduction to the beloved Latino artist. Frida Kahlo is one of modern times greatest female artists and her surrealist artworks are extraordinary. The biography introduces the reader to her unique form of art - Kahlo did not see herself as a surrealist - but it also gives a look into the artist behind the world famous works of art. If you want to dive into the lives of amazing artists, the story of Kahlo is just one of many wonderful biographies about artists. 

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