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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 18%
    - Letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham
    by John Cage
    £17.99

    In the 39 letters of this collection, spanning 1942-46, Cage shows himself to be a man falling deeply in love. These letters have been transcribed, chronologically ordered, and in some instances reproduced in facsimile.

  • Save 24%
    by Jack Gilbert
    £18.99

    Gathered in this volume readers will find more than fifty years of poems by the incomparable Jack Gilbert, from his Yale Younger Poets prize-winning volume to glorious late poems, including a section of previously uncollected work.   There is no one quite like Jack Gilbert in postwar American poetry. After garnering early acclaim with Views of Jeopardy (1962), he escaped to Europe and lived apart from the literary establishment, honing his uniquely fierce, declarative style, with its surprising abundance of feeling. He reappeared in our midst with Monolithos (1982) and then went underground again until The Great Fires (1994), which was eventually followed by Refusing Heaven (2005), a prizewinning volume of surpassing joy and sorrow, and the elegiac The Dance Most of All (2009). Whether his subject is his boyhood in working-class Pittsburgh, the women he has loved throughout his life, or the bittersweet losses we all face, Gilbert is by turns subtle and majestic: he steals up on the odd moment of grace; he rises to crescendos of emotion. At every turn, he illuminates the basic joys of everyday experience.   Now, for the first time, we have all of Jack Gilbert’s work in one essential volume: testament to a stunning career and to his place at the forefront of poetic achievement in our time.

  • Save 21%
    by Michael Palin
    £13.49

  • Save 10%
    - Inspiring Lives
    by Robert Blackham
    £8.99

    The complete guide to the inspiration that is J.R.R. Tolkien

  • by Marek Hlasko
    £16.99 - 24.99

    Offers a firsthand account of the life of Marek Hlasko, a young writer whose iconoclastic way of life became an inspiration in 1950s Poland. Detailing relationships with such giants of Polish culture as the filmmaker Roman Polanski and the novelist Jerzy Andrzejewski, this memoir recounts his adventures and misadventures abroad in the postwar era.

  • Save 22%
    - An Autobiography
    by Dick Gregory
    £13.99

    Comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory's million-copy-plus bestselling memoir-now in trade paperback for the first time."Powerful and ugly and beautiful...a moving story of a man who deeply wants a world without malice and hate and is doing something about it."-The New York TimesFifty-five years ago, in 1964, an incredibly honest and revealing memoir by one of the America's best-loved comedians and activists, Dick Gregory, was published. With a shocking title and breathtaking writing, Dick Gregory defined a genre and changed the way race was discussed in America.Telling stories that range from his hardscrabble childhood in St. Louis to his pioneering early days as a comedian to his indefatigable activism alongside Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gregory's memoir riveted readers in the sixties. In the years and decades to come, the stories and lessons became more relevant than ever, and the book attained the status of a classic. The book has sold over a million copies and become core text about race relations and civil rights, continuing to inspire readers everywhere with Dick Gregory's incredible story about triumphing over racism and poverty to become an American legend.

  • Save 10%
    by Michelle Tea
    £8.99

    A queer countercultural icon opens up about all things artistic, radical and romantic. Winner of the PEN American Center essay prize.

  • - A History and Guide
    by E.M. Forster
    £17.99

    In the autumn of 1915, in a "slightly heroic mood", E.M. Forster arrived in Alexandria, full of lofty ideals as a volunteer for the Red Cross. Yet most of his time was spent exploring "the magic, antiquity and complexity" of the place in order to cope with living in what he saw as a "funk-hole". With a novelist''s pen, he brings to life the fabled, romantic city of Alexander the Great, capital of Graeco-Roman Egypt, beacon of light and culture symbolised by the Pharos, where the doomed love affair of Antony and Cleopatra was played out and the greatest library the world has ever known was built. Threading 3,000 years of history with vibrant strands of literature and punctuating the narrative with his own experiences, Forster immortalised Alexandria, painting an incomparable portrait of the great city and, inadvertently, himself.

  • Save 26%
     
    £110.49

    A breathtaking visual biography of Freud, told through his own words, unpublished private photographs, and painted portraits

  • Save 20%
    - A Poem For Every Feeling
    by Ella Risbridger
    £11.99

    'Broad in scope, generous in spirit and wittily accompanied by Risbridger's commentary'Sarah Perry, author of The Essex SerpentSet Me On Fire is an anthology for a new moment in poetry: a collection of fresh, vibrant voices from poets all over the globe, both living and dead.

  • Save 15%
    - What He Thought, and Why it Matters
    by Jesse Norman
    £10.99

  • Save 23%
    - The Diaries of Bernard Ingham
    by Bernard Ingham
    £15.49

    The ultimate insider, Bernard Ingham was Margaret Thatcher's press secretary during her tenure at No. 10. These diaries will come to be viewed as arguably amongst the most important primary source material about her unexpected fall from power.

  • Save 23%
    - Walking the Pacific Crest Trail
    by Tim Voors
    £16.99

    Time is precious. The world is waiting. Rediscover yourself. The Great Alone is the epic adventure of a relatable explorer.Why does a 44-year-old father leave his family for six months to walk 4,286¿km across America on the Pacific Crest Trail? What effect does it have on his marriage? on his children? and on himself? Following his ­intuition, Tim Voors decided to embark on a life-changing hike, feeling alive, being afraid, pushing through pain, confronting emptiness and starting a passionate romance with the wilderness.Tim Voors takes us through the physical, mental and spiritual journey he experienced on this epic hike. Climb into his backpack as he takes you through deserts, mountains, forests and raging rivers, where he forges magical friendships, rediscovers who he used to be, and implements those lessons on returning home.

  • Save 15%
    by Jane Bingham
    £10.99

    This beautifully illustrated introduction to the work of the great Post-Impressionist artist contains feature spreads, timelines and information boxes on key works, techniques and influences to provide information for the reader in a highly accessible manner.

  • Save 10%
    by Sarah Churchwell
    £8.99

    'Ferociously smart. A rare combination of guilty pleasure and intellectual insight' VOGUE'Perceptive. Refreshing. Tears away layers of false readings and conspiracy theories' NEW YORK TIMESIntricately researched. Churchwell's Marilyn is a complex, well-rounded creature in the best sense - the human sense' OBSERVERThere are many Marilyns: sex goddess and innocent child, crafty manipulator and dumb blonde, screen legend and Hollywood victim.In this incisive and subtle book, Sarah Churchwell looks at how the stories we tell have trivialised a woman we supposedly adore, and at what they reveal about our attitudes towards sex symbols and icons, to women, death, biography and Marilyn herself.

  • - Insights From 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry
     
    £30.99

    The Sport Business Handbook provides perspectives from more than 100 of the most prominent figures in the sport business industry. Plentiful examples and stories, including insiders' views of major sports deals, make this book a bible of information for those looking to advance their careers in this field.

  • Save 15%
    by (The Revd Canon) Patrick Woodhouse
    £14.49

    On 8 March 1941, a 27-year-old Jewish Dutch student living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam made the first entry in a diary that was to become one of the most remarkable documents to emerge from the Nazi Holocaust. Over the course of the next two and a half years, an insecure, chaotic and troubled young woman was transformed into someone who inspired those with whom she shared the suffering of the transit camp at Westerbork and with whom she eventually perished at Auschwitz. Through her diary and letters, she continues to inspire those whose lives she has touched since. She was an extraordinarily alive and vivid young woman who shaped and lived a spirituality of hope in the darkest period of the twentieth century. This book explores Etty Hillesum's life and writings, seeking to understand what it was about her that was so remarkable, how her journey developed, how her spirituality was shaped, and what her profound reflections on the roots of violence and the nature of evil can teach us today.

  • Save 11%
    - Two Men, a Wonder Pig, and Their Life-Changing Mission to Give Animals a Home
    by Caprice Crane
    £12.49

    Now in paperback: From the New York Times bestselling authors and loving owners of Esther the Wonder Pig, comes a memoir about their new life on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary, which is anything but boring.

  • by Shaun Usher
    £6.99

    A compulsive collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring and powerful letters with music at their heart, curated by the founder of the global phenomenon lettersofnote.com

  • by Shaun Usher
    £6.99

    A compulsive collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring and powerful letters with war at their heart, curated by the founder of the global phenomenon lettersofnote.com

  • by Shaun Usher
    £6.99

    A compulsive collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring and powerful letters with love at their heart, curated by the founder of the global phenomenon lettersofnote.com

  • Save 15%
    - Important Things to Remember
    by Fred Rogers
    £14.49

    From the beloved educator and host of PBS' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood--the subject of the documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a runaway success, and the forthcoming Sony feature film starring Tom Hanks, You Are My Friend--a treasured collection of reflections on the joys and challenges of family life.

  • Save 14%
    - A Reckoning With Gender, Identity and Masculinity
    by Thomas Page McBee
    £9.49

    An exploration of modern masculinity by the first transgender man to box at Madison Square Garden, shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize

  • Save 17%
    by Marc Auge
    £9.99

    Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a celebration of the bicycle by French anthropologist Marc Auge.

  • - Two Women and Their Historic Journey across Antarctica
    by Liv Arnesen
    £11.49

    "First published in 2003 by Da Capo Press"--Title page verso.

  • - The autobiography of Norman Hartnell
    by Norman Hartnell
    £9.49

    Sir Norman Hartnell (1901-1979) was the star of London couture during the interwar years. His autobiography, first published in 1955, tells the story from the creation of his couture house in 1923, to the most momentous commissions of his career: Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown in 1947 and her magnificent coronation dress six years later.

  • Save 24%
    - Saviour of Britain
    by John Sweetman
    £18.99

    The full story of one of the UKs most influential aeronautical engineers, an individual who contributed to many Hawker aircraft designs, from the biplanes of the 1920s to jet fighters.

  • Save 21%
    - The Definitive Edition
    by Norman Rockwell
    £22.99

    The life of America's most beloved artist, in his own words - back in print with restored text and drawings, new illustrations, and more.

  • Save 20%
    - How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection)
    by Anthony Ray Hinton
    £11.99

    'Both [Nelson Mandela and Ray Hinton] emerged from their incarceration with a profound capacity to forgive...The Sun Does Shine is amazing and heartwarming' Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate 'Incredibly moving...astonishing...' IndependentAnthony Ray Hinton was poor and black when he was convicted of two murders he hadn't committed.

  • Save 13%
    - The Mystery of Regine Olsen
    by Joakim Garff
    £17.49 - 28.49

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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