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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 23%
    by Samuel Pepys
    £15.49

    The iconic daily record of life between 1660 and 1669 - entertaining, personally-charged, historically indicative.

  • Save 16%
    - Obsessions, Confessions, and Life Lessons
    by Dodie Clark
    £15.99

    A collection of personal stories, lessons, song lyrics, and photos from the beloved British vlogger Dodie Clark, also known online as doddleoddle.When I feel like I'm going mad I write. A lot of my worst fears have come true; fears that felt so big I could barely hold them in my head. I was convinced that when they'd happen, the world would end. But the world didn't end. In fact, it pushed on and demanded to keep spinning through all sorts of mayhem, and I got through it. And because I persisted, I learned lessons about how to be a stronger, kinder, better humanlessons you can only learn by going through these sorts of things. This is for the people with minds that just don't stop; for those who feel everything seemingly a thousand times more than the people around them. Here are some words I wrote.

  • by Ifor Lloyd
    £9.99

    The autobiography of one of the World''s leading Welsh Cob Breeders. A fascinating insight into the life of Ifor Lloyd. Welsh cobs are world famous. Ifor details some of his dealings; showing and exporting animals to far flung lands and the challenges of making a living as a breeder.

  • Save 13%
    by David N. Smith
    £12.99

    George Orwell's story told in full, with a light touch and copious illustrations

  • Save 20%
    - The True Story of Faith No More
    by Adrian Harte
    £11.99

    The definitive biography of one of the most intriguing bands of the late twentieth century, written with the participation of the group s key members.

  • Save 22%
    - The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
    by Selwyn Raab
    £23.49

    Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals and generational changes that produced violent and unreliable leaders and recruits. A twenty year assault against the five families in particular blossomed into the most successful law enforcement campaign of the last century. Selwyn Raab's Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York's premier dons from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and more. The book also brings the reader right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.

  • Save 18%
    by Gary Rogowski
    £16.49

  • Save 21%
    - A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
    by Dakota Meyer
    £13.49

  • - A Memoir of My Journey from Female to Male
    by Lee Jay
    £8.49

  • Save 18%
    - Finding Healing and Happiness After the Cleveland Kidnappings
    by Michelle Knight
    £17.99

    From Michelle Knight-Cleveland kidnapping survivor and #1 NYT bestselling author of Finding Me-comes an inspirational book about healing and resilience, to be published on the five-year anniversary of her escape from Ariel Castro, who held her, Gina DeJesus, and Amanda Berry captive for over a decade.

  • Save 20%
    - The Autobiography of Peggy Guggenheim
    by Peggy Guggenheim
    £11.99

    The autobiography of a society heiress who became the bohemian doyenne of the art world.

  • Save 14%
    - A Woman, Some Waves, and the Will to Swim
    by Alexandra Heminsley
    £9.49

    'A joy to read' Daily TelegraphAlexandra Heminsley thought she could swim. Believing that a life lived fully isn't one with the most money earned, the most stuff bought or the most races won, but one with the most experiences, experienced the most fully, she decided to conquer her fear of the water.

  • Save 16%
    - The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius
    by Otto Carius
    £15.99

    WWII began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer.

  • Save 23%
    - Letters to My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home
    by Bayo Akomolafe
    £15.49

  • by George Orwell
    £22.49

  • by Susi Bella Wardrop
    £17.49

    I came to Positano by accident. I hadn't planned to go there. I didn't even know it existed. And yet this little Italian village, perched on the side of a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, captured my heart and my life for years to come.

  • - The Autobiography. Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks and More.
    by Bill Bruford
    £17.49

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    £4.99

  • Save 14%
    - The Lives of Guy Burgess
    by Andrew Lownie
    £9.49

    Winner of the St Ermin's Intelligence Book of the Year Award. 'One of the great biographies of 2015.' The TimesFully updated edition including recently released information. A Guardian Book of the Year. The Times Best Biography of the Year. Mail on Sunday Biography of the Year. Daily Mail Biography of Year. Spectator Book of the Year. BBC History Book of the Year. 'A remarkable and definitive portrait ' Frederick Forsyth'Andrew Lownie's biography of Guy Burgess, Stalin's Englishman ... shrewd, thorough, revelatory.' William Boyd'In the sad and funny Stalin's Englishman, [Lownie] manages to convey the charm as well as the turpitude.' Craig BrownGuy Burgess was the most important, complex and fascinating of 'The Cambridge Spies' - Maclean, Philby, Blunt - all brilliant young men recruited in the 1930s to betray their country to the Soviet Union. An engaging and charming companion to many, an unappealing, utterly ruthless manipulator to others, Burgess rose through academia, the BBC, the Foreign Office, MI5 and MI6, gaining access to thousands of highly sensitive secret documents which he passed to his Russian handlers.In this first full biography, Andrew Lownie shows us how even Burgess's chaotic personal life of drunken philandering did nothing to stop his penetration and betrayal of the British Intelligence Service. Even when he was under suspicion, the fabled charm which had enabled many close personal relationships with influential Establishment figures (including Winston Churchill) prevented his exposure as a spy for many years.Through interviews with more than a hundred people who knew Burgess personally, many of whom have never spoken about him before, and the discovery of hitherto secret files, Stalin's Englishman brilliantly unravels the many lives of Guy Burgess in all their intriguing, chilling, colourful, tragi-comic wonder.

  • by Russell Herman Conwell
    £8.49

  • - The Story of Biggie Smalls "Notorious B.I.G."
    by Jake Brown
    £29.99

    The life story of one of history's most well-known rap artists, whose life was cut short by his violent murder. In "Ready to Die," author Jake Brown reveals the musician's loyalties and his roots, bringing readers up-close and personal into the rise of Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean "Puffy" Combs (P. Diddy), Tupac Shakur, Faith Evans, Lil' Kim, and the Junior Mafia.

  • - The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
    by Nikola Tesla
    £11.49

    Originally published in 1919 in Electrical Experimenter magazine, here are Nikola Tesla's reflections on his early years and work.

  • Save 23%
    - My Autobiography
    by Jens Lehmann
    £15.49

    In this candid autobiography, Jens Lehmann reflects on the 23-year playing career as an elite goalkeeper, performing at the pinnacle of European and International football. In a career spanning four decades, Lehmann was twice voted Europe''s best goalkeeper. He won league titles in both England and Germany, and the UEFA Cup with his boyhood club Schalke. This extraordinary sportsman has now taken stock to write about his career. Imparting his own dry humour, Lehmann takes us from Schalke to rivals Borussia Dortmund, via Milan. From there he moves to Arsenal, before his career comes to a close with Stuttgart in Germany.

  • Save 23%
    - The Art of Lorelay Bove, Brittney Lee, Claire Keane, Lisa Keene, Victoria Ying and Helen Chen
    by Lorelay Bove
    £16.99

    The beautiful minds of six extremely successful women artists in the entertainment industry present Lovely: Ladies of Animation. The history of art in animation has had many female heroes; this elite group is continuing the tradition and building upon it. Featuring the first published personal works by Lorelay Bovae, Lisa Keene, and Claire Keane along with the works of previously published Mingjue Helen Chen, Brittney Lee and Victoria Ying, Lovely is an indispensible addition to the library of anyone interested in animation. With a variety of styles, from graphic works to realistic portraits, these images will inspire and delight the viewer with each turn of the page.

  • Save 14%
    - The Definitive Biography
    by Mick Wall
    £9.49

    'All the hard-living, the drinking, the drugging, the sex, the money, all the bullshit, it was never hard. It was easy. The hard part was not dying from it.' Lemmy, as told to Mick Wall'Unflinching, forthright and full of wry humour as the man himself, and there's little praise greater than that' CLASSIC ROCK

  • Save 21%
    by Philip Caputo
    £13.49

    In March 1965, Marine Lieutenant Philip J Caputo landed in Danang with the first ground combat unit committed to fight in Vietnam. Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history's ugliest wars, he returned home - physically whole, emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism shattered. This book tells his story.

  • Save 10%
    - A True Story of Monstrous Deception
    by Emmanuel Carrere
    £8.99

    Acclaimed master of psychological suspense, Emmanuel Carrere, whose fiction John Updike described as 'stunning' (New Yorker) explores the double life of a respectable doctor, eighteen years of lies, five murders, and the extremes to which ordinary people can go.

  • Save 20%
    by Ashlee Vance
    £11.99

    From his humble beginnings in apartheid South Africa, he showed himself to be an exceptionally bright child, and overcame brutal bullying to become the world's most exciting entrepreneur, founding PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla and Solar City. He has emerged as something of a superhero-like figure for today's generation of children.

  • Save 27%
  • Save 21%
    - An Addiction Memoir
     
    £13.49

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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