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Richard III
by Charles RossRichard III ruled England for a mere twenty-six months, yet few English monarchs remain as compulsively fascinating, and none has been more persistently vilified. In his absorbing and universally praised account, Charles Ross assesses the king within the context of his violent age and explores the critical questions of the reign: why and how Richard Plantagenet usurped the throne; the belief that he ordered the murder of "the Princes in the Tower"; the events leading to the battle of Bosworth in 1485; and the death of the Yorkist dynasty with Richard himself. In a new foreword, Professor Richard A. Griffiths identifies the attributes that have made Ross's account the leading biography in the field, and assesses the impact of the research published since the book first appeared in 1981. "A fascinating study on a perennially fascinating topic… the base against which will be measured any future research."--Times Higher Education Supplement
Risë Stevens: A Life in Music (Great Voices #10)
by John PenninoRisë Stevens (1913-2013) was a force of nature on the stage. From her humble beginnings in New York, Stevens'talent, determination and heart helped her rise up to perform on the greatest stages all over the world. Whether she was on the radio, up on the screen, or stunning audiences at the Met, her vocal presence was unforgettable. But in Carmen, Risë Stevens ascended to the level of legendary performers. The author, John Pennino, documents her amazing life, struggles and achievements. He also includes a detailed chronology and discography, and a CD of rare recordings. This book deals briefly with her post-operatic career.
The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands
by Nicholas ClappThe author recounts his discovery of a lost Arabian city in this “captivating story of [a] stupendous archeological achievement” (Kirkus).No one thought that Ubar, the most fabled city of ancient Arabia, would ever be found, if it even existed. According to the Koran, the ancient trading outpost was sunk into the desert as punishment for the sins of its people. Over the centuries, many searched for the legendary “Atlantis of the Sands”—including Lawrence of Arabia—yet the city remained lost. Until now.Documentary filmmaker and amateur archaeologist Nicholas Clapp first stumbled on the legend of Ubar in the 1980s while poring over historical manuscripts. Filled with overwhelming curiosity, Clapp led two expeditions to Arabia with a team that included space scientists and geologists. In The Road to Ubar, he chronicles the grand adventure that led to a historic discovery.
Robert Frost: A Life
by Jay Parini"I have tried to understand how Frost got from day to day and from poem to poem, tracing his rich, always developing, intellectual and artistic life over many decades. My intention was not to supplant or overtake previous biographers and critics but merely to add a significant layer. I can say without fear of exaggeration that this life of Frost was a labor of love. It is one of the few books I have ever finished with deep reluctance."
Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives
by PlutarchIn the eight lives of this collection Plutarch introduces the reader to the major figures and periods of classical Rome. He portrays virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided, but his purpose is also implicitly to educate and warn those in his own day who wielded power. In prose that is rich, elegant and sprinkled with learned references, he explores with an extraordinary degree of insight the interplay of character and political action. While drawing chiefly on historical sources, he brings to biography a natural story-teller's ear for a good anecdote. Throughout the ages Plutarch's Lives have been valued for their historical value and their charm. This new translation will introduce new generations to his urbane erudition. The most comprehensive selection available, it is accompanied by a lucid introduction, explanatory notes, bibliographies, maps and indexes. Translated by Robin Waterfield and with notes and introduction by Philip A. Stadter.
Ronald Reagan: Young Leader (Childhood of Famous Americans Series)
by Montrew DunhamOne of the most popular series ever published for young Americans, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring, fictionalized biographies -- easily read by children of eight and up -- today's youngster is swept right into history.
Ronald Reagan
by Meryl Henderson Montrew DunhamThis lively, fictionalized biography of Ronald Reagan explores the early years of a boy who would grow up to become known to millions a movie star--and later as America's fortieth president.
The Rooms of Heaven
by Mary Allen"A love story, a memoir, a haunting tale of grief and healing. This book is all that and more." --Chicago TribuneIn the tradition of Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted and Caroline Knapp's Drinking: A Love Story, Mary Allen tells a riveting love story that explores the uncharted territory between passion and addiction, grief and madness, this world and the next.When Mary Allen falls in love with Jim Beaman, she doesn't know he has a drug problem, but she does sense demons and angels around him, like "a disturbance in the air, a sound just beyond the register of human hearing." And when Jim--discouraged and depressed, struggling with his addiction--kills himself a year into their relationship, Allen is unable to let him go. In her desperate attempts to recover from the loss, she uses a Ouija board and automatic writing to pull back from reality into the dark recesses of her mind, where she believes she can find him. The result is a mesmerizing trip across the boundaries between this world and the afterlife, a journey that leads her to the brink of insanity and ultimately back to herself.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Rough Magic: A Biography Of Sylvia Path
by Paul AlexanderSince her suicide at age thirty, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) has been celebrated for her impeccable and ruthless poetry. Rough Magic probes the events of Plath's life, including her turbulent marriage to the poet Ted Hughes.
Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty
by Karl ShawAn uproarious, eye-opening history of Europe's notorious royal houses that leaves no throne unturned and will make you glad you live in a democracy.Do you want to know which queen has the unique distinction of being the only known royal kleptomaniac? Or which empress kept her dirty underwear under lock and key? Or which czar, upon discovering his wife's infidelity, had her lover decapitated and the head, pickled in a jar, placed at her bedside?Royally dishing on hundreds of years of dubious behavior, Royal Babylon chronicles the manifold appalling antics of Europe's famous families, behavior that rivals the characters in an Aaron Spelling television series. Here, then, are the insane kings of Spain, one of whom liked to wear sixteen pairs of gloves at one time; the psychopathic Prussian soverigns who included Frederick William and his 102-inch waist; sex-fixated French rulers such as Philip Duke D'Oreleans cavorting with more than a hundred mistresses; and, of course, the delightfully drunken and debauched Russian czars - Czar Paul, for example, who to make his soldiers goose-step without bending their legs had steel plates strapped to their knees. But whether Romanov or Windsor, Habsburg or Hanover, these extravagant lifestyles, financed as they were by the royals' badgered subjects, bred the most wonderfully offbeat and disturbingly unbelievable tales - and Karl Shaw has collected them all in this hysterically funny and compulsively readable book. Royal Babylon is history, but not as they teach it in school, and it underlines in side-splitting fashion Queen Victoria's famous warning that it is unwise to look too deeply into the royal houses of Europe.
Rudyard Kipling
by Andrew LycettParagon of English virtues or racist imperialist? Andrew Lycett (acclaimed biographer of Ian Fleming) has returned to primary sources to tell the intricate story of a misunderstood genius who became Britain's most famous and highest earning author. Among the many new sources, Lycett has discovered previously unpublished letters that illuminate Kipling's crucial years in India, his first girlfriend (the model for Mrs Hauksbee of Plain Tales from the Hills), his parents' decision to send him back to England to boarding school; and in his adult life his use of opium, his frustrating times in London and the brief peace he found in America before the devastating loss of both his young daughter and, in the First World War, his son. Lycett also uncovers the extraordinary story of Kipling's great love for Flo Garrard, daughter of the crown jeweller, and unravels the complicated yet enthralling saga of the American family the Balestiers, and of Carrie Balestier who became Kipling's wife. This biography is full of new material on Kipling's financial dealings with Lord Beaverbrook, his friendships with T.E. Lawrence, the painter Edward Burne-Jones and the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (who was his cousin).
Rudyard Kipling
by Andrew LycettParagon of English virtues or racist imperialist? Andrew Lycett (acclaimed biographer of Ian Fleming) has returned to primary sources to tell the intricate story of a misunderstood genius who became Britain's most famous and highest earning author. Among the many new sources, Lycett has discovered previously unpublished letters that illuminate Kipling's crucial years in India, his first girlfriend (the model for Mrs Hauksbee of Plain Tales from the Hills), his parents' decision to send him back to England to boarding school; and in his adult life his use of opium, his frustrating times in London and the brief peace he found in America before the devastating loss of both his young daughter and, in the First World War, his son. Lycett also uncovers the extraordinary story of Kipling's great love for Flo Garrard, daughter of the crown jeweller, and unravels the complicated yet enthralling saga of the American family the Balestiers, and of Carrie Balestier who became Kipling's wife. This biography is full of new material on Kipling's financial dealings with Lord Beaverbrook, his friendships with T.E. Lawrence, the painter Edward Burne-Jones and the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (who was his cousin).
Running to the Mountain: A Midlife Adventure
by Jon KatzJon Katz, a respected journalist, author, father, and husband, was turning fifty. His writing career was taking an uneasy turn, his wife had a demanding career of her own, his daughter was preparing to leave home for college, and he had become used to a sedentary lifestyle. "I had settled down," he notes. "Any more settling and I would vanish into the mud like some fat old catfish." In Running to the Moun-tain, Katz finds a way to redefine and lend new meaning to his life. He writes, "I bought a tiny cabin at the very tip of a mountain in a remote corner of upstate New York and went there by myself. . . . I went for a lot of different reasons, but mostly, I think, to try to be a better human." Armed with the writings of Trappist monk Thomas Merton, his two faithful yellow Labradors, and the desire to confront change rather than simply react to it, Katz departs from his suburban en-clave (where, as a carpooling father, he is known as "The Prince of Rides") and heads to a new world. What he finds is a community where a rodent problem prompts anyone within earshot at the hardware store to offer advice, and where the digging of a new well draws every neighbor within miles to his front lawn. It's also a place where he can be alone in na-ture, a new discovery for someone whose "favorite night out is a trip to a bookstore, the pizza place, and the Sony megaplex." Habitually skeptical about religion, Katz finds in solitude a chance to consider the questions that have followed him into middle age: Can one find spirituality outside of a church, temple, or mosque? Is it possible to build a rational, moral framework for one's life amid the complexities of modern life? As Katz restores his old cabin, learns self-reliance in a lightning storm, and helps a friend prepare for fatherhood, he gathers newfound knowledge that will be a source of inspiration and achievement as he returns to the life he left behind. "It is absolutely impossible," Merton wrote, "for a man to live without some kind of faith." Katz adds, "It is equally impossible to change your life without some." Running to the Mountain is an unex-pected reading experience of adventure, humor, contemplation, and growth."As notions such as solitude and spirituality have been made to seem godly, they appear to float high above our mundane and unheroic experiences. Working long hours for big companies, rushing kids around to malls and soccer games, squirreling money away for college and retirement, we want to read about conversations with God, but don't really expect to have any ourselves. . . . My hope, coming to the mountain, was that change, spirituality, and idealism aren't only way Up There, but also Down Here, in the details of daily life--family, work, friends, dogs, dreams." --From Running to the Mountain
A Russian Journal (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)
by John SteinbeckSteinbeck and Capa&’s account of their journey through Cold War Russia is a classic piece of reportage and travel writing.A Penguin ClassicJust after the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took the famous travelers not only to Moscow and Stalingrad – now Volgograd – but through the countryside of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. Hailed by the New York Times as "superb" when it first appeared in 1948, A Russian Journal is the distillation of their journey and remains a remarkable memoir and unique historical document.What they saw and movingly recorded in words and on film was what Steinbeck called "the great other side there … the private life of the Russian people." Unlike other Western reporting about Russia at the time, A Russian Journal is free of ideological obsessions. Rather, Steinbeck and Capa recorded the grim realities of factory workers, government clerks, and peasants, as they emerged from the rubble of World War II—represented here in Capa&’s stirring photographs alongside Steinbeck&’s masterful prose. Through it all, we are given intimate glimpses of two artists at the height of their powers, answering their need to document human struggle. This edition features an introduction by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Saint Anthony of Padua
by Margaret Charles KerryThis much-loved thirteenth-century priest lived and taught in Northern Italy. Anthony committed his life to helping those who were doubtful or confused. With joyful preaching he turned many towards Jesus.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
by Mari Goering Jeanne Maria GrunwellThe Encounter the Saints series offers intermediate readers down-to-earth portrayals of the saints. Each story vividly recreates for the reader the saint's place of origin, family life, and corresponding historical events.
Salinger: A Biography
by Paul AlexanderJ.D. Salinger was one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He was also one of its most elusive. After making his mark on the American literary scene, Salinger retreated to a small town in New Hampshire where he hoped to hide his life away from the world. With dogged determination, however, journalist and biographer Paul Alexander captured Salinger's story in this, the only complete biography of Holden Caulfield's creator published to date. Using the archives at Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, NYU and the New York Public Library as well as research in New York and New Hampshire, Alexander has created a great biography of Salinger that's further enriched by interviews with some of the greatest literary figures of our time: George Plimpton, Gay Talese, Ian Hamilton, Harold Bloom, Roger Angell, A. Scott Berg, Robert Giroux, Ved Mehta, Gordon Lish and Tom Wolfe.
Salma Hayek
by Patricia J. DuncanThe long road to Hollywood success was never easy for Mexican-born beauty Salma Hayek-but it was never dull either! Starting out in her late teens starring in the Mexican hit soap opera Teresa, Salma lived a comfortable life, but she wanted more. So she packed her bags and headed to Hollywood. A Mexican woman with a heavy accent who barely spoke a word of English, Salma had hurdle after hurdle to overcome. Plenty of times she came close to giving up, but she was determined to make it big in America, and after a lot of bit parts and hard work, she did it.After landing a role in Desperado, alongside heart-throb Antonio Banderas, the movie parts finally started coming in, including From Dusk Till Dawn with George Clooney, and Fools Rush In with Matthew Perry. Now, gracing the style pages of all the major magazines and working as a Revlon spokesperson, Salma is the most sought-after Latina actress in Hollywood. And that's just the beginning. She has several huge movie projects on the horizon, and continues to fight for Mexican rights as an outspoken member of the NAFTA generation. Find out all about this talented Latina actress, from her love life, to the formula of her success, to her fabulous fashion and beauty secrets.
Santaland Diaries
by David SedarisA collection of surprising, disarming and 'extremely funny' essays from the internationally bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day (Sunday Times) Santaland Diaries collects six of David Sedaris's most profound Christmas stories into one slender volume perfect for use as a last-minute coaster or ice-scraper. This drinking man's companion can be enjoyed by the warmth of a raging fire, the glow of a brilliantly decorated tree, or even in the back seat of a police car. It should be read with your eyes, felt with your heart, and heard only when spoken to. It should, in short, behave much like a book. And oh, what a book it is!'Sedaris writes with a gentle but unfailing acuity and a keen eye for the ridiculous ... extremely funny' -Sunday Times
Saqiyuq: Stories from the Lives of Three Inuit Women
by Nancy WachowichThrough the oral histories of three Inuit women - mother, daughter, and granddaughter - we witness a people in transition. Appia Agalakti Awa, born in about 1931, grows up in a traditional Inuit community, living off the land and traveling by dogsled. Her daughter, Rhoda Kaukjak Katsak, attends a government school and learns English, but still feels deeply connected to her Inuit roots. Rhoda's daughter, Sandra Pikujak Katsak, lives much like other urban young people, with concerns about school, drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure. The stories of these three women humanize the enormous issues faced by pre-industrial peoples as they move into industrial society.
Saving the Sun: How Wall Street Mavericks Shook Up Japan's Financial World and Made Billions
by Gillian TettSaving the Sun tells the story of the world's largest private equity deal where American investors made billions of dollars rehabilitating Shinsei, a failed Japanese bank. Within that business saga is the dramatic tale of Japan's brightest financial minds, the men who made the Japanese economic miracle come to life, and their struggle against the economic failure in the 1990s. Into this climate of despair, where Japan seemed incapable of reviving prosperity, came a group of wily and determined Americans who would discover just how different the Japanese really are.
The Scalpel and the Silver Bear
by Lori Arviso Alvord Elizabeth Cohen Van PeltA Navajo woman shares her life story and describes how she became a doctor. She blends a belief in modern medicine with ancient Native American beliefs and uses this combination in her practice.
Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin
by Alice EcholsJanis Joplin was the skyrocket chick of the sixties, the woman who broke into the boys' club of rock and out of the stifling good-girl femininity of postwar America. With her incredible wall-of-sound vocals, Joplin was the voice of a generation.
Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin
by Alice EcholsJanis Joplin was the skyrocket chick of the sixties, the woman who broke into the boys' club of rock and out of the stifling good-girl femininity of postwar America. With her incredible wall-of-sound vocals, Joplin was the voice of a generation, and when she OD'd on heroin in October 1970, a generation's dreams crashed and burned with her. Alice Echols pushes past the legary Joplin-the red-hot mama of her own invention-as well as the familiar portrait of the screwed-up star victimized by the era she symbolized, to examine the roots of Joplin's muscianship and explore a generation's experiment with high-risk living and the terrible price it exacted.A deeply affecting biography of one of America's most brilliant and tormented stars, Scars of Sweet Paradise is also a vivid and incisive cultural history of an era that changed the world for us all.