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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 11%
    by Christopher Hitchens
    £7.99

    In this frank and damning exposé of the Teresa cult, Hitchens details the nature and limits of one woman's mission to help the world's poor. He probes the source of the heroic status bestowed upon an Albanian nun whose only declared wish was to serve God. He asks whether Mother Teresa's good works answered any higher purpose than the need of the world's privileged to see someone, somewhere, doing something for the Third World. He unmasks pseudo-miracles, questions Mother Teresa's fitness to adjudicate on matters of sex and reproduction, and reports on a version of saintly ubiquity which affords genial relations with dictators, corrupt tycoons and convicted frauds. Is Mother Teresa merely an essential salve to the conscience of the rich West, or an expert PR machine for the Catholic Church? In its caustic iconoclasm and unsparing wit, The Missionary Position showcases the devastating effect of Hitchens' writing at its polemical best.

  • Save 13%
    by Forrest Galante
    £12.99 - 20.49

  • Save 20%
    by Jonathan Eig
    £11.99

  • Save 14%
    by Mel Brooks
    £9.49

  • Save 23%
    by Claude Boli
    £15.49

  • by Michael Elliott
    £16.49

  • Save 14%
  • Save 15%
    by Lady Hale
    £10.99

  • Save 11%
    by Pepsi Demacque-Crockett & Shirlie Kemp
    £7.99 - 15.49

    A tale of the 80s and pop stardom, from the two singers who found fame as backing singers in Wham! then going on to form their own band.

  • Save 10%
    by Glenn Hoddle
    £8.99

  • Save 25%
    by Ian Nathan
    £20.99

    An engaging and in-depth examination of the work of Christopher Nolan, one of the most revered directors working in modern cinema. Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, over the course of 15 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the biggest blockbusters ever made.

  • Save 14%
    by Keith Brymer Jones
    £9.49

    'During downtime on the pottery throwdown Keith made my hair curl with some of his tales - he's a great raconteur and recounts his story in this book as he does in real life - with joy, charm & mischief.' - Sara CoxBallet dancer. Front man in an almost famous band. Judge on The Great Pottery Throwdown. How did all that happen?By accident mostly. But I always say we make our own luck. What if an art teacher hadn't given me a lump of clay? What if the band had been really successful? What if I hadn't taken a photograph of a bowl to the buyer at Heals in London? What if she'd hated it? Or hadn't seen it... What if I hadn't agreed to dress up as Adele to make a crazy YouTube video? Every chapter of my book is based around an object (usually a pot) that's been significant in my life. It's just at trigger to let me go off in a lot of different directions and tell a few stories. A lot of stories. Dyslexia. The art teacher who changed my life. My Mother. My Father. A life-changing job interview with a man who lay under his car throughout. That video.Sifting through half-forgotten memories, trying to pick out the golden nuggets from the stuff that is definitely dross has been a curious, and at times hilarious, sometimes sad, but definitely enlightening process. So here it is - my pottery life with some very loud music and some pretty good dancing. And a lot of throwing, fettling and firing. Oh ...and a good dose of anxiety.

  • Save 15%
    by Oliver Cookson
    £10.99 - 11.99

    An inspiring, rags-to-riches guide to achieving success in life and business by the founder of Myprotein .How did a working-class 23-year-old, who left school with almost no qualifications, launch a business with just a 500 overdraft and turn it into more than 350 million? In Bootstrap Your Life, Oliver Cookson shares how he was able to build Europe's number one online brand using nothing more than his own limited resources and the right mindset. Self-sufficient and self-taught, Oliver always had an eye for opportunities and pursued them obsessively. His breakthrough came when he combined his passion for health and fitness with his skills as a web developer. By embracing a disruptive, agile approach to business, offering unparalleled choice, and identifying trends ahead of the competition, Oliver was able to grow Myprotein rapidly into a top international, award-winning brand.In Bootstrap Your Life, Oliver doesn't just share his journey but uses simple language to break down every aspect of his thinking, providing a thorough step-by-step guide on how to think like an entrepreneur. His approach to marketing, innovation, strategy, leadership and other key elements are explained in great detail using memorable analogies that anyone can relate to.Oliver explains how bootstrapping his life catapulted him from an ordinary life in the suburbs of Greater Manchester to being included in the Sunday Times Rich List with a personal net worth of over a third of a billion pounds. His message is clear: bootstrap your life!

  • by M. J. Arlidge
    £12.99

    When you think you're safe, when you think you're all alone, That's when he'll come for you... A silent killer stalks the city, targeting those home alone at night, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the victims. As panic spreads, Detective Inspector Helen Grace leads the investigation, but is herself a hunted woman, her every step shadowed by a ruthless psychopath bent on revenge. As she tracks the murderer, Grace begins to suspect there is a truly shocking home truth that connects these brutal crimes. But what she will find is something more twisted than she could ever suspect --

  • by Nick Lavery
    £15.99

    "Nick Lavery is an active-duty Green Beret within the United States Army Special Forces. Although injuries sustained in combat resulted in the above-the-knee amputation of his leg-- Nick not only remained in the Army, he returned to his Special Forces Detachment and continues conducting combat operations to this day. Objective Secure is the methodology Nick employed to return to operational status. It is also the methodology he uses today as he continues this unprecedented journey in service to his country. It is a battle tested guide forged by fire--literally." -- page [4] of cover

  • Save 10%
    by Melissa Shapiro & Mim Eichler Rivas
    £8.99 - 17.99

  • Save 15%
    by Miles Johnson
    £10.99 - 18.99

  • Save 10%
    - From Rock Bottom to Reinvention (via ugly crying on the bathroom floor)
    by Rosie Green
    £8.99

    Honest heartbreak advice for grown ups.

  • Save 21%
    by Uk Hydrographic
    £22.99 - 34.99

  • Save 20%
    - Suede, Coming Up . . . And More Adventures Beyond The Wild Frontiers
    by Jane Savidge
    £11.99

    An in-depth, insider s look at how Suede came back from the brink to create their most successful album, Coming Up.

  • by George Orwell
    £7.99

    Part war memoir, part tract, part expose, Homage to Catalonia is a pivotal work in Orwell's oeuvre, and a key to understanding his political ideas and commitment to the socialist cause. Rejected by Orwell's long-standing publisher, Gollancz, on political grounds, it is here presented in its original version, as published by Secker & Warburg in 1938.

  • - Breaking bread and sharing food. Cooking with refugees and locals in Lesvos.
    by Sophie Streeting
    £26.49

  • Save 14%
    by Alessandro Barbero
    £9.49

  • Save 20%
    by Lisa McGee
    £11.99

    The hilarious tie-in to the brilliant, award-winning Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls.

  • - Power, Profit and the American War Machine
    by Andrew Cockburn
    £9.99

    Why Does America Go to War?

  • - Conversations with Marcus Winslow
    by Marcus Winslow
    £29.49

    "After months of auditioning I am very proud to announce that I am a member of The Actors Studio. The greatest school of the theater. It houses great people like Marlon Brando, Julie Harris, Arthur Kennedy, Elia Kazan..." Unpublished James Dean letter to Winslow family-Summer 1952James Dean, Fairmount, Indiana & Farming: Conversations with Marcus Winslow tells the story of James Dean and the Midwestern family that raised him through the eyes of the boy who thought of him as an older brother, more than a cousin. When East of Eden was released in early 1955, James Dean instantly became a star, but tragically he died before Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956) solidifi ed that stardom. Coupled with never-before published letters and a treasure trove of photographs, Marcus recalls Dean and the farm and the fans and how Jimmie's incandescent fame changed the lives of the Winslow family and his hometown forever. Marcus Winslow is the President of James Dean, Inc. and still lives on the family farm where Dean was raised. Leith Adams retired from Warner Bros. in 2013 and was co-editor of James Dean: Behind the Scene (1990).

  • - Stories of My Life
    by Sandy Solomon
    £9.99

  • Save 14%
    - Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and the Company that Made the Modern Internet
    by Jimmy Soni
    £9.49

    The gripping inside story of Paypal, the company that created the digital age as we know it.

  • Save 23%
    - The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
    by Heather Clark
    £15.49

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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