Biographies

An account of the painter Claude Monet, one of the key founders of the Impressionist movement and arguably the most influential painter of modern times. It tells the story of his life, the historical context of society at the time, and his relationships with Renoir, Sisley and Manet.

'A joy. Celebrates the real world and revels in its mad glory' Sue Townsend, Sunday Times_____________________________________All Points North is part-memoir and part-excursion. Charting the rugged and uneven terrain of a writer's formative years - from tax problems to probation to American tours, football to family to running away to Iceland - Simon Armitage explores growing up and being Northern. It's about humour, language, writing, film, houses, homes, time wasters, one loose tyre, you, me and all points in-between._____________________________________'Laugh-out-loud funny' Independent'A delight' Jonathan Raban, Times Literary Supplement 'A perfect holiday dipper' Scotsman'An Alan Bennett-style diary' Daily Telegraph

The Romans regarded Cleopatra as 'fatale monstrum', a tyrant to be crushed. Pascal said the shape of her nose changed the history of the world. Shakespeare and Tiepolo (and Elizabeth Taylor) portrayed her as an icon of tragic beauty. But who was Cleopatra, really? This biography discusses about Cleopatra.

In Tropic of Capricorn, bestselling author Simon Reeve embarks on a 23,000-mile trek around the southernmost border of the tropics - a place of both amazing beauty and overwhelming human suffering.

This is the story of John Sussex, a highly successful derivatives trader whose career has spanned the radical technological, social and political changes that took place in the City of London during the Eighties and Nineties.

Denys Finch Hatton was an aristocrat of leonine nonchalance. He was a soldier in the East Africa Campaign, a white hunter, a farmer, a pilot, the epitome of the brave pioneer. This book tells the story of his love affair, and talks about the life of one of the key figures in the mythic story of the British settlers in East Africa.

In 1980, at the age of ten, Loung Ung escaped a devastated Cambodia and flew to the US as a refugee. She and her eldest brother, with whom she escaped, left behind their three surviving siblings. This book follows the parallel lives of Loung and her closest sister, Chou, during the 15 years it took for them to be reunited.

Written from the perspective of an ordinary 'Tommy' and told with dignity, candour and surprising wit, Somme Mud is a testament to the human spirit: for out of the mud that threatened to suck out a man's soul rises a compelling story of humanity and friendship.

_____________________________________On a bleak winter night in 1997, a British Columbia timber scout named Grant Hadwin committed an act of shocking violence: he destroyed the legendary Golden Spruce of the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Book about how developmental changes and housing schemes in Dundee from 1945 onwards became overrun by street gangs. Some of these gangs still survive today.

One of the most beloved Buddhist books of all time-having inspired popular musicians, artists, a documentary film, and countless readers-is now in an expanded, new edition, loaded with extras. Absolutely absorbing from start to finish, this is a true story you might truly fall in love with. At only 24, Maura O''Halloran left her Irish-American family stateside and traveled to Japan, where she began studying under an inscrutable Zen master. She would herself become recognized as a Zen master-in an uncommonly brief amount of time. Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind is Maura''s beautifully-written account of her journey. These journal entries and letters home reveal astonishing, wise-beyond-her-years humor, compassion, wisdom, and commitment. This expanded edition includes never-before-seen entries and poems, the author''s unfinished novel, and an afterword that discusses the book''s cultural impact. It will be a must-have for Maura''s previous fans--and will surely find her thousands of new ones.

'Kapuscinski is the conjurer extraordinaire of modern reportage, and The Soccer War is a splendid example of his magic' John Le Carre.

Reissued in the year of Miep Gies' 100th birthday, this international bestseller includes a brand-new afterword by the author.

Revealing biography of one of the twentieth century's most controversial figures; and the first significant biography to have been published since the subject's death

Sets out to discover what it is that helps ordinary men and women beat danger and death; what strengths do survivors share; what is the science of resilience; and, what are the secrets of beating the odds.

The lofty man of English football gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse at his remarkable rise to the top.

Drugs, misery and rock and roll... the totally candid story of how one woman's addiction to a glamorous life turned into a nightmare and how she brought herself back from the point of no return.

John R. Jewitt''s story of being captured and enslaved by Maquinna, the great chief of the Mowachaht people, is both an adventure tale of survival and an unusual perspective on the First Nations of the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. On March 22, 1803, while anchored in Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Boston was attacked by a group of Mowachaht warriors. Twenty-five of her 27 crewmen were massacred, their heads "arranged in a line" for survivor John R. Jewitt to identify. Jewitt and another survivor, John Thompson, became 2 of some 50 slaves owned by the chief known as Maquinna. Among other duties, they were forced to carry wood for three miles and fight for Maquinna when he slaughtered a neighbouring tribe. But their worst fear came from knowing that slaves could be killed whenever their master chose. Since most of the Mowachaht wanted the two whites dead, they never knew what would come first--freedom or death. After Jewitt was rescued, following 28 months in captivity, he wrote a book of his experiences. It appeared in 1815 and became known as Jewitt''s Narrative. It proved so popular that it is still being reprinted today.

A musical composer who dabbled in the Dada movement, a Bohemian gymnopediste of fin-de-siecle Montmartre, and a legendary dresser known as The Velvet Gentleman for his sartorial choices, Erik Satie was nearly unprecedented in technique, style and philosophy among European composers in the early twentieth century. This book tells his story.

This priceless historical document features firsthand accounts from top levels of leadership in the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, chronicling the struggle to establish a dictatorship of the proletariat.

How does it feel to hold someone's life in your hands?

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall StreetAt the age of twenty, Milwaukee native Chris Gardner, just out of the Navy, arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm than Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him as part of the city's working homeless and with a toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving among shelters, "e;HO-tels,"e; soup lines, and even sleeping in the public restroom of a subway station. Never giving in to despair, Gardner made an astonishing transformation from being part of the city's invisible poor to being a powerful player in its financial district. More than a memoir of Gardner's financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family's cycle of men abandoning their children. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness conjures heroes like Horatio Alger and Antwone Fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

The story of one man's evolution from naive and ambitious young intern to world-class neurosurgeon.

William Wallace set an example of constancy and perseverance and became the Guardian of Scotland. Even his terrible death in London in 1305 can be seen as a victory as it provided inspiration for continuance of struggle against English domination. This book investigates various aspects of Wallace's life and character.

The Diaries chart the author's swings of fortune, the loneliness of the emigre, his encounters with a luminous range of personalities from music, theatre, art and literature, and the search for love and friendship, all cast in the burnished prose of a born master, not just of music, but of words.

Includes 100 people who range from former slaves such as Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley to more contemporary individuals such as Amiri Baraka and Toni Morrison. This book summarizes the person's life, work, and importance. It is accompanied by a black-and-white photograph or illustration.

A popular biography of one of the most creative and prolific figures of the early twentieth century.

Provides an account of Ferenc Puskas: his growing up in Soviet-occupied Hungary, travelling the world with the national side and army team Honved, and his different achievements in the game of football.

Now the subject of a major film. Once or twice a generation, an athlete transcends his sport - at last, here's Seve Ballesteros in his own wordsThere are golfers, and there are golfers.