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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 14%
    - Eleven Deadly Substances and the Killers Who Used Them
    by Neil Bradbury
    £9.49 - 18.99

    'A fascinating tale of poisons and poisonous deeds which both educates and entertains.' - Kathy Reichs

  • Save 18%
    by Christopher C. Miller
    £20.49

  • Save 14%
    by Frieda Hughes
    £9.49 - 13.49

  • Save 15%
    by Michael Livingston
    £10.99 - 14.99

  • Save 10%
    by Eleanor Atkinson
    £8.99

    The moving story of a little dog with a huge heart and of the unbreakable bond between an animal and his owner.Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features an introduction by Mary Paulson-Ellis.When Auld Jock, a shepherd, loses his job, he moves to Edinburgh in search of work. But the city isn't kind to him and he falls into a life of poverty. Lonely, old and ill, his only companion is a plucky little Skye terrier named Bobby, who belonged to the farmer that dismissed Jock. When the farmer tries to take the dog back, Bobby escapes and finds his way back to town. From that day on, he stays devoted to Auld Jock, even guarding the old man's grave in Greyfriars kirkyard for many years. Inspired by true events, Eleanor Atkinson's Greyfriars Bobby is the deeply touching story of an inseparable bond and a wonderful evocation of Edinburgh in the late nineteenth century.

  • Save 14%
    by Neil Fraser
    £9.49

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    £20.99

    The late Gabrielle Roth, 1941-2012, was the creative force behind the worldwide community of thousands of people who loved and practiced The 5Rhythms┬«, a path of spiritual healing rooted in the body and movement. Inside these pages is a collection of personal, unforgettable, and often life-changing moments they experienced engaging with Gabrielle. She was known far and wide for being outrageous, profound, hilarious, mysterious and impenetrable, as well as utterly transparent and vulnerable. One of Gabrielle''s unique gifts was her ability to be totally attentive, present and loving with every person she encountered, whether for a fleeting moment in a taxi, or for decades on the dance floor. Invariably, each individual would leave their meeting with her feeling deeply seen, and connected, as if to a very special, life-long friend.

  • Save 14%
    by Barry Hearn
    £9.49 - 15.49

    Out now: the autobiography of the legendary sports promoter, Barry Hearn. 'I am the largest sports promoter in the world. I promote 11 sports to a global audience of billions of people every day of my life'__________A larger than life working class hero, Romford born and bred - always ready with the perfect soundbite - Barry Hearn was famously described as 'roguish but never a rogue'. Hearn is credited with turning snooker into one of the biggest sports in Britain. He essentially turned a sport in which competitors wear bowties into a massive, globally televised event. Away from the table, his promotions empire casts its net over a dozen sports - from professional boxing to darts, fishing to ten-pin bowling - and his career spans four decades. He also previously owned Leyton Orient football club. Packed with hilarious anecdotes from the golden age of snooker, and behind-the-scenes insight into boxing negotiations and darts bust-ups, Hearn's book is a joy to read from start to finish.

  • Save 16%
    by Leslie McFarlane
    £15.99

    Reprint. Originally published Methuen Publications. [1976].

  • Save 10%
    by Melanie C
    £8.99 - 15.49

  • Save 13%
    by Marisa R Lee
    £13.99 - 20.49

  • Save 14%
    by Carrie Sun
    £9.49 - 15.49

  • Save 11%
    - Postnatal Depression and the Utter Weirdness of New Motherhood
    by Emma Jane Unsworth
    £7.99 - 10.99

  • Save 20%
    by Eirlys Thomas
    £11.99

    In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Wales Coast Path, the authors recount their adventures successfully walking the entire route. Ideal for casual walkers who want an amusing, accessible guide to one of Britain''s greatest outdoor challenges.

  • Save 10%
    by Torey Hayden
    £8.99

    From Torey Hayden, the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of One Child comes The Invisible Girl, a deeply moving true account of a young teen with a troubling obsession and an extraordinary educational psychologist's sympathy and determination to help.Eloise is a vibrant and charming young teen with a deeply caring nature, but she also struggles with a worrying delusion. She's been moved from home to home, and her social workers have difficulty dealing with her habit of running away. After experiencing violence, neglect and sexual abuse from people she should have been able to trust, Eloise has developed complex behavioural needs. She struggles to separate fact from fiction, leading to confusion for the social workers trying to help her.After Torey learns of Eloise's background she hopes that some gentle care and attention can help Eloise gain some sense of security in her life. Can Torey and the other social workers provide the loving attention that has so far been missing in Eloise's life, or will she run away from them too?

  • Save 14%
    by Angela Y. Davis
    £9.49

    A powerful and commanding account of the life of trailblazing political activist Angela DavisEdited by Toni Morrison and first published in 1974, An Autobiography is a classic of the Black Liberation era which resonates just as powerfully today. Long hard to find, it is reissued now with a new introduction by Davis, for a new audience inspired and galvanised by her ongoing activism and her extraordinary example.In the book, she describes her journey from a childhood on Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama, to one of the most significant political trials of the century: from her political activity in a New York high school to her work with the U.S. Communist Party, the Black Panther Party, and the Soledad Brothers; and from the faculty of the Philosophy Department at UCLA to the FBI's list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Told with warmth, brilliance, humour, and conviction, it is an unforgettable account of a life committed to radical change.

  • Save 10%
    by Matt Dickinson
    £8.99

    Award-winning writer Matt Dickinson recalls Manchester United's historic Treble campaign in 99 compelling chapters

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    by Eoghan Daltun
    £10.99

  • Save 15%
    - A memoir
    by Derek Frost
    £10.99

    A compelling, heart-rending and uplifting memoir about one couple's love story through the AIDS epidemic.

  • Save 14%
    by Gareth Steel
    £9.49

    Gareth Steel wants you to understand vets in a way you never could have before.How it feels to watch a healed dog bound into their owner's arms. The joy of breathing life into the fluid-filled lungs of a newborn calf after a difficult labour. The satisfaction of rescuing a distressed sheep from the high-tide line.What it's like to work 100-hour weeks for less than the minimum wage. How it can scar your soul to euthanize a beloved puppy with its grieving family beside you. The pressure of having to know such a diverse range of medicine, that one hour you can be protecting yourself from a dangerously distressed horse and the next you can be performing delicate surgery on a tiny mouse. How all these pressures have built up to the extent that vets have four times the national suicide rate, and why.Gareth Steel has been a vet for nearly twenty years and has worked all over the UK, across both rural and city practices, dealing with all manner of household pets and farm animals. This is his fascinating raw account of just how involved the job is and the toll the extreme emotions that come with it can take, but it also a heart-warming and often humorous story of the desperate lengths we go to for the love of animals.

  • Save 24%
    by David Michaelis
    £18.99

    The New York Times bestseller from prizewinning author David Michaelis presents a ';stunning' (The Wall Street Journal) breakthrough portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, America's longest-serving First Lady, an avatar of democracy whose ever-expanding agency as diplomat, activist, and humanitarian made her one of the world's most widely admired and influential women.In the first single-volume cradle-to-grave portrait in six decades, acclaimed biographer David Michaelis delivers a stunning account of Eleanor Roosevelt's remarkable life of transformation. An orphaned niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, she converted her Gilded Age childhood of denial and secrecy into an irreconcilable marriage with her ambitious fifth cousin Franklin. Despite their inability to make each other happy, Franklin Roosevelt transformed Eleanor from a settlement house volunteer on New York's Lower East Side into a matching partner in New York's most important power couple in a generation. When Eleanor discovered Franklin's betrayal with her younger, prettier, social secretary, Lucy Mercer, she offered a divorce and vowed to face herself honestly. Here is an Eleanor both more vulnerable and more aggressive, more psychologically aware and sexually adaptable than we knew. She came to accept her FDR's bond with his executive assistant, Missy LeHand; she allowed her children to live their own lives, as she never could; and she explored her sexual attraction to women, among them a star female reporter on FDR's first presidential campaign, and younger men. Eleanor needed emotional connection. She pursued deeper relationships wherever she could find them. Throughout her life and travels, there was always another person or place she wanted to heal. As FDR struggled to recover from polio, Eleanor became a voice for the voiceless, her husband's proxy in the White House. Later, she would be the architect of international human rights and world citizen of the Atomic Age, urging Americans to cope with the anxiety of global annihilation by cultivating a ';world mind.' She insisted that we cannot live for ourselves alone but must learn to live together or we will die together. This ';absolutely spellbinding,' (The Washington Post) ';complex and sensitive portrait' (The Guardian) is not just a comprehensive biography of a major American figure, but the story of an American ideal: how our freedom is always a choice. Eleanor rediscovers a model of what is noble and evergreen in the American character, a model we need today more than ever.

  • Save 20%
    - Vespasiano da Bisticci and the Manuscripts that Illuminated the Renaissance
    by Dr Ross King
    £11.99

  • by Wilson Babs Wilson
    £14.49 - 20.49

  • Save 20%
    by Hugh Johnson
    £23.99

    Hugh Johnson, the world's best-selling and most loved wine writer, has written his memoirs as a stylish, intimate, and delightfully opinionated autobiographical tour through the world of wine.

  • Save 20%
    - The inspiration behind The Colour Room
    by Lynn Knight
    £11.99 - 13.49

  • Save 15%
    - Memories of Love, Loss and Cabaret through the AIDS Crisis
    by Jill Nalder
    £10.99 - 18.99

  • Save 15%
    by Luke Mogelson
    £10.99 - 18.99

  • Save 11%
    by Sally Urwin
    £7.99

  • Save 30%
    by Gillian G. Gaar
    £41.99

    Seattle, WA

  • by Alderman Scott Alderman
    £11.49 - 15.99

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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