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Evergreen Gallant
by Jean PlaidyBorn heir to the small State of Navarre, it seemed unlikely that Henri would ever come to the throne of France; and his amatory adventures caused despair in those Huguenots who looked to him to lead them in the conflict which was dividing France. A father at fifteen, he was sent to become a soldier under the great Coligny, but still found time for love affairs. Yet when his mother died mysteriously, he began to change; and the man who rode to Paris to play the part of bridegroom in the "Blood-Red Wedding" was alert for treachery. Facing death nonchalantly, accepting the Mass in exchange for his life, amusing himself with the mistress whom he knew had been set to spy on him, he deluded even Catherine de' Medici. Life with the tempestuous Margot was like a succession of farcical incidents from the Decameron. Reputed to have had more mistresses than any King of France, he passed lightly from one to another. There were the spies of Catherine de' iledici, promiscuous Charlotte de Sauves and gentle Dayelle; Fosseuse who came into conflict with Margot; Corisande whom he loved as a wife; Gabrielle who had been sold to a King and others by her rapacious mother; Henriette, with the acid tongue; these, and others occupied him until the days of his death when he was pursuing the youthful Charlotte de lontmorency. In addition to his mistresses there were two wives to plague him: flamboyant Margot, whose adventures rivalled his own, and Marie de' Medici, who came to torment his later years. This was the man who, affectionately known as the Evergreen Gallant because all through his life he was in love with a woman, brought prosperity back to a war-scarred cuntry, declared Paris to be worth a Mass, and was recognized as the greatest King the French had ever known.
Fama y soledad de Picasso
by John BergerUn retrato íntimo y controvertido de Pablo Picasso por John Berger, ganador del Premio Booker. En su momento de mayor genialidad, Pablo Picasso era el pintor revolucionario que desafiaba a los valores de su época. En su momento de mayor fama, era como un personaje de la realeza: idolatrado, rico y en absoluto aislamiento. John Berger dirige su penetrante mirada sobre este pintor enigmático y prodigioso. En una senda que abarca historia, política y arte, vida pública y privada, Berger sigue el recorrido de Picasso desde su infancia malagueña hasta el periodo azul y el Cubismo, de la creación del Guernica a los grabados de sus últimos años, ofreciéndonos la dimensión exacta de sus triunfos y el coste implacable de su fama. Cuando fue publicado por primera vez, la crítica tildó este libro de «insolente, insensible, doctrinario y perverso. Esta edición revisada y con un nuevo ensayo, demuestra el poder y la vigencia de «el libromás importante sobre Picasso escrito hasta hoy... Una biografía profunda, seria, crítica, tan demoledora como llena de comprensión» (John Canaday, New Republic). Reseñas:«Leyendo el estupendo Fama y soledad de Picasso, de John Berger, uno se convence de esa ambivalencia del éxito... Un libro extraordinario... Recomendable tanto para los admiradores de Picasso como para cualquiera que quiera adentrarse en los misterios y riesgos que conlleva el genio.»Álvaro Quintana, blog Correspondencia «John Berger analiza de manera brillante ese sesgo algo tramposo que la palabra "genio" adquiere cuando se trata de entender o explicar a Picasso y su descomunal obra artística.»El País Cultural (Uruguay) «Berger es una de las mayores voces en la crítica de arte contemporánea... Probablemente, el ensayista más perceptivo.»Philadelphia Inquirer «Sus contemporáneos más cercanos en términos de audacia estética podrían ser Umberto Eco o el tardío W. G. Sebald, pero resulta difícil compararlo a cualquier autor inglés del último medio siglo. Berger, simplemente, rompió todos los moldes.»The Guardian «Los libros de Berger poseen la peculiar cualidad de parecer libros sólo por azar. Construidos con palabras, las portan sin embargo con indulgencia, casi a regañadientes, como si igual pudieran haber estado hechos de lienzo y pintura o, aún mejor, de polvo y paja, barro y hueso.»Herald Tribune «Las obras de John Berger viven entre los géneros y en un grado de contemporaneidad absoluto. Mezclando la poesía, el ensayo y hasta el periodismo más personal, sus obras son un intento de reflexión trascendente sin perder la historia inmediata pero tampoco la metafísica o cualquier atisbo de pensamiento lírico.»Luis Antonio de Villena, El Cultural de El Mundo «Fue la voz de los frágiles, residuos del mundo moderno a los que su obra otorgó dignidad de reyes... Poeta, novelista, ensayista y crítico de arte, toda su obra literaria es el testimonio de alguien que contempla un universo que se desvanece ante sus ojos.»Javier Rodríguez Marcos, El País «Un autor esencial. [...] La mirada de Berger era tan profunda como diversa. Una mirada humanista, rebelde y serena al mismo tiempo, la de un renacentista. En pocos autores se ha producido la fusión que él logró entre imagen y escritura.»Pedro Antonio Curto, El Comercio «Fue el Leonard Cohen de otra clase de rotunda melancolía: la de la tristeza (social, íntima) que provoca el auténtico saber en mitad de la sociedad capitalista de fauces abiertas y hambre incansable. [...] Era un activista, su literatura viene de ahí, del compromiso a la manera de Albert Camus, de la protesta, de la obsesión con el poder y sus lepras.»Diego Medrano, El Comercio «Uno de los autores más irreverentes del siglo XX.»Elena Hevia, El Periódico de Aragón
Fighting the Flying Circus
by Eddie V. RickenbackerIn Fighting the Flying Circus, Captain Rickenbacker recounts his combat missions against the Germans in the skies over Europe during WWI.
Flagstad: A Personal Memoir
by Edwin McArthurAn intimate, no-holds-barred, light-and-dark portrait of the great Norwegian soprano/opera singer Kirsten Flagstad from her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House on February 2, 1935, to her death on December 7, 1962. Edwin McArthur was Flagstad's accompanist--and often her orchestral conductor as well--throughout her American career. He knew her in her hours of triumph, during the dramatic struggles through which the Second World War put her, during her trial in Norway (at which he testified and gave depositions), during her painful return to the United States as a falsely accused "quisling" after the war, and in the strange period of her partial--and then complete--retirement. Not a book about music (McArthur does quote some opinions of Flagstad the artist and occasionally expresses his own reactions, but he preponderantly sticks to the subject of Flagstad the woman), this is an intensely personal portrait. Its subject emerges as devoted, blindly selfish, alternately generous and cruel even to her own children, wayward, overwhelming, finally inscrutable, but always fascinating. The book also provides one view of the strange (and at times dirty) inside business dealings in the world of opera and concert.
Frederick Douglass: Freedom Fighter
by Lillie PattersonDouglass fought for the rights of all people and of animals. He was an accomplished orator.
Genoa: A Telling of Wonders
by Rick Moody Paul Metcalf"[Genoa] invites us to pass our minds down a new but ancient track, to become, ourselves, both fact and fiction, and to discover something true about the geography of time."--William Gass, The New York Times"Genoa is a spectacular confrontation with Melville's work, the journals of Columbus and molecular biology--all folded into a hallucinatory narrative about two brothers and their different paths through the American century."--Publishers Weekly"Much like his great-grandfather, Herman Melville, Paul Metcalf brings an extraordinary diversity of materials into the complex patterns of analogy and metaphor, to affect a common term altogether brilliant in its imagination."--Robert Creeley"A unique work of historical and literary imagination, eloquent and powerful. I know of nothing like it."--Howard ZinnFirst published in 1965, Genoa is Paul Metcalf's purging of the burden of his relationship to his great-grandfather Herman Melville. In his signature polyphonic style, a storm-tossed Indiana attic becomes the site of a reckoning with the life of Melville; with Columbus, and his myth; and between two brothers--one, an MD who refuses to practice; the other, an executed murderer. Genoa is a triumph, a novel without peer, that vibrates and sings a quintessentially American song.Paul Metcalf (1917-99) was an American writer and the great-grandson of Herman Melville. His three volume Collected Works were published by Coffee House Press in 1996.
The Gentle Barbarian
by Bohumil HrabalAn unforgettable portrait of a major pioneering artist, by “Czechoslovakia’s greatest writer” (Milan Kundera) The Gentle Barbarian is Bohumil Hrabal’s homage to Vladimír Boudník, one of the greatest Czech visual artists of the 1950s and 1960s, whose life came to a tragic end shortly after the Soviet invasion of 1968. Boudnik and Hrabal had a close and often contentious friendship. For a brief period, in the early 1950s, they both worked in the steel works in Kladno and lived in the same building in Prague. Written in the early seventies, Hrabal’s anecdotal portrait of Boudnik includes another controversial member of that early group of the Czech avant-garde: the poet Egon Bondy. While Hrabal and Bondy were evolving their aesthetic of “total realism,” Boudnik developed his own artistic approach that he called “Explosionalism,” in which the boundaries between life and art become blurred, and everyday events take on the appearance and the substance of art. Hrabal’s portrait of Boudnik captures the strange atmosphere of a time in which the traditional values and structures of everyday life in Czechoslovakia were being radically dismantled by the Communists. But as The Gentle Barbarian demonstrates, creative spirits are able to reject, ignore, or burrow beneath the superficial “revolutionary” atmosphere of the time, and find humor, inspiration, and a kind of salvation amidst its general intellectual and creative poverty.
The Gift of Healing: A Personal Story of Spiritual Therapy
by Ambrose A. Worrall Olga N. Worrall"This is an excellent, thrilling, and highly representative record of the life and ministry of a most lovable, amazing, authentic and committed couple. It is a joy to anticipate that through this book many persons will share the inspiration and strength and faith that accompanies acquaintance with Ambrose and Olga Worrall. I doubt if anyone can adequately estimate the faith which this testimony to the healing power in God's world may have upon many lives."-ROBERT M. COX, Executive Director, The Laymen's Movement
Great Women Teachers
by Alice FlemingWhat these ten ladies have in common is that they significantly influenced education in the United States. These ten, short biographies commence with the implementation of education for girls (Willard) in the 1800s and end with a sketch of the twentieth-century teacher (Gildersleeve) who promoted International studies.
Hard Times: Force of Circumstance, Volume II
by Simone De Beauvoir Richard HowardThis volume of Simone de Beauvoir's legendary autobiography presents Beauvoir at the height of her international fame and portrays her inner struggle with aging. Beauvoir recounts her difficult long-distance romance with novelist Nelson Algren and her involvement with Claude Lanzmann (the future director of Shoah). She also vividly describes her travels with Sartre to Brazil and Cuba, reveals her private sense of despair in reaction to French atrocities in Algeria, and confronts her own deepening depression. Simone de Beauvoir's outstanding achievement is to have left us an admirable record of her unceasing battle to become an independent woman and writer.
Heinrich Himmler: The Sinister Life of the Head of the SS and Gestapo
by Heinrich Fraenkel Roger ManvellAuthors Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel, notable biographers of the World War II German leaders Joseph Goebbels and Herman Goring, delve into the life of one of the most sinister, clever, and successful of all the Nazi leaders: Heinrich Himmler. As the head of the feared SS, Himler supervised the extermination of millions. Here is the story of how a seemingly ordinary boy grew into an obsessive and superstitious man who ventured into herbalism, astrology, and homeopathic medicine before finally turning to the "science" of racial purity and the belief in the superiority of the Aryan people.
Helen Keller: Crusader for the Blind and Deaf
by Stewart Graff Polly Anne GraffFrom the age of a year and a half, Helen Keller could not hear. She could not see, and she did not speak. She lived in a dark and lonely world--until Annie Sullivan came to teach her. Annie traced letters and words in Helen's hand, and made Helen realize she could "talk" to people. Eager to make up for lost time, Helen threw herself into her studies. She decided to teach others about the special training deaf and blind children need. Helen traveled all over the globe and raised money to start up schools for deaf and blind children. Her courage and her determination to help others conquer the odds against them earned her the respect and admiration of the world.
Helen Keller's Teacher
by Margaret DavidsonFor twenty- year- old Annie Sullivan, life had been one hardship after another. All alone and half blind, she grew up in a poorhouse with only her pride and determination to sustain her. Even though the odds were against her, she would never allow her handicaps to defeat her. That is until she meets Helen Keller. The world is a dark and silent prison for little Helen. She cannot see or hear or speak. To Annie falls the incredible task of teaching Helen how to read, to write - to live a full life. Is Annie up to this incredible challenge? Can she dare to dream of accomplishing a miracle? This is the true story of Annie's and Helen's courage and determination to succeed.
Henry Alline: 1748-1784
by J. M. BumstedTo Canadians of this century the name of Henry Alline is almost unknown. This biography introduces him to the general reader. Through the story of his life it also recreates the early settlement of the Maritime provinces, and examines the origins of one of the most dominant and continuing themes in Canadian life, evangelical pietism. Henry Alline emigrated from Rhode Island to Nova Scotia with his parents in 1760. Following his religious conversion during adolescence, he became an evangelical preacher and travelled throughout Nova Scotia spreading the gospel. But Alline was more than an itinerant preacher. Drawing on British (and indirectly on German) mythical writings, he rejected the tenets of Calvinism in favour of universal salvation and human free will. He emphasized Christian asceticism and mysticism. His writings, and his attempts to develop an intellectual rationale for his evangelical position, made him Canada's first metaphysical and mystical philosopher.In the history of early British settlement in Nova Scotia the name of Alline stands out because of his participation in the process and problems of settlement and his leadership during the trying times of the American Revolution. His career embodied a rejection of both the United States (by a rejection of Puritanism) and of Britain (by a rejection of church and state in Nova Scotia), and put Alline in a classic Nova Scotia position, neutrality, which could be justified by the importance of Christ and the relative unimportance of government. The years in which Alline lived were particularly critical ones for Canada, and his career both mirrors and dominates a period of pioneer hardships, political crises, and spiritual concern born of the uncertainties of human existence.
Holding On Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore
by Linda LeavellWinner of the Plutarch Award for the Best Biography of 2013A mesmerizing and essential biography of the modernist poet Marianne MooreThe Marianne Moore that survives in the popular imagination is dignified, white-haired, and demure in her tricorne hat; she lives with her mother until the latter's death; she maintains meaningful friendships with fellow poets but never marries or falls in love. Linda Leavell's Holding On Upside Down—the first biography of this major American poet written with the support of the Moore estate—delves beneath the surface of this calcified image to reveal a passionate, canny woman caught between genuine devotion to her mother and an irrepressible desire for personal autonomy and freedom. Her many poems about survival are not just quirky nature studies but acts of survival themselves. Not only did the young poet join the Greenwich Village artists and writers who wanted to overthrow all her mother's pieties but she also won their admiration for the radical originality of her language and the technical proficiency of her verse. After her mother's death thirty years later, the aging recluse transformed herself, against all expectations, into a charismatic performer and beloved celebrity. She won virtually every literary prize available to her and was widely hailed as America's greatest living poet. Elegantly written, meticulously researched, critically acute, and psychologically nuanced, Holding On Upside Down provides at last the biography that this major poet and complex personality deserves.
The House Guests
by John D. MacdonaldThe House Guests, a classic memoir of animal companionship from John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook. A master of the noir novel turns his sharp insights and considerable narrative talents to the human-animal bond in this charming work of nonfiction. In The House Guests, John D. MacDonald tells the story of his family's unforgettable pets: tomcats Roger and Geoffrey, two mischievous boys whose zany habits and remarkable senses of humor endeared them to everyone they met, and an extraordinary goose called Knees. Both a rare peek inside MacDonald's private life and a fascinating compendium of information about the animal kingdom, The House Guests is by turns touching, hilarious, and absorbing, sure to mesmerize MacDonald fans and pet lovers alike. Features a new Introduction by Dean Koontz Praise for John D. MacDonald "The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller."--Stephen King "My favorite novelist of all time."--Dean Koontz "To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen."--Kurt Vonnegut "A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about the best."--Mary Higgins Clark
I, Juan de Pareja
by Elizabeth Borton de TrevinoWhen the great Velázquez was painting his masterpieces at the Spanish court in the seventeenth century, his colors were expertly mixed and his canvases carefully prepared by his slave, Juan de Pareja. In a vibrant novel which depicts both the beauty and the cruelty of the time and place, Elizabeth Borton de Treviño tells the story of Juan, who was born a slave and died an accomplished and respected artist.<P><P> Upon the death of his indulgent mistress in Seville, Juan de Pareja was uprooted from the only home he had known and placed in the charge of a vicious gypsy muleteer to be sent north to his mistress’s nephew and heir, Diego Velázquez, who recognized at once the intelligence and gentle breeding which were to make Juan his indispensable assistant and companion—and his lifelong friend.<P> Through Juan’s eyes the reader sees Velázquez’s delightful family, his working habits and the character of the man, his relations with the shy yet devoted King Philip IV and with his fellow painters, Rubens and Murillo, the climate and customs of Spanish court life. When Velázquez discovers that he and Juan share a love for the art which is his very life, the painter proves his friendship in the most incredible fashion, for in those days it was forbidden by law for slaves to learn or practice the arts. Through the hardships of voyages to Italy, through the illnesses of Velázquez, Juan de Pareja loyally serves until the death of the painter in 1660.<P> I, Juan de Pareja is the winner of the 1966 Newbery Medal.
In Search of Bisco: A Memoir
by Erskine CaldwellIn this travelogue and memoir, groundbreaking novelist Erskine Caldwell looks back at a life lived in the troubled South Five decades removed from his own Southern childhood, novelist Erskine Caldwell sets out on a journey to find an old friend—a friend lost to him through the culture of segregation. As Caldwell follows a trail through Georgia, South Carolina, and much of the Deep South in search of his black childhood friend Bisco, his interviews with white and black Americans expose a range of attitudes that are tragic, if not surprising. Published first in the mid-1960s just as the South was undergoing a radical transformation by freedom marches and sit-ins, In Search of Bisco offers a heartfelt account of the civil rights movement by one of the region&’s fiercest critics and most prominent sons. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erskine Caldwell including rare photos and never-before-seen documents courtesy of the Dartmouth College Library.
Joe Gould's Secret
by Joseph MitchellIn 1942 Joseph Mitchell published "Professor Sea Gull," a profile of Joe Gould, a bohemian writer he met in Greenwich Village. Gould claimed to be at work on a vast book called The Oral History of Our Time based on conversations with the poor and downtrodden of New York City. In 1964 Mitchell published a second essay about Gould, "Joe Gould's Secret." In the second piece he describes the later years of his relationship with Gould and reveals discoveries he made about Gould before his death.
John Henry: An American Legend
by Ezra Jack KeatsThe larger-than-life character of John Henry and his incredible strength provide readers with a special introduction to the fantasy element of legend. The rewards of hard physical labor are also described in this exciting adventure of man vs. machine.
John Rae Political Economist: Life and Miscellaneous Writings
by R. Warren James John RaeVolume I contains a biographical study of John Rae, a brilliant economist and scholar who lived in Canada for a period in the early part of the nineteenth century, an analysis of Rae's contributions to economics, and a collection of his articles and essays on a variety of topics. These miscellaneous writings, many of which originally appeared in contemporary newspapers and magazines, reveal the broad range of his intellectual interests as well as his polemic and literary skill. Volume II is a reprint of Rae's book Statement of New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy which was originally published in Boston in 1834. As a result of the reissue of this book, which has been scarce for some years, modern students of economics will be better able to appreciate Rae's fundamental contribution to the development of economic thought, particularly the theory of capital. Much of Rae's analysis of economic development and behaviour was based on a first-hand knowledge of the Canadian economy in the early nineteenth century, but his theory has a surprisingly modern flavour, and is completely relevant to the problems of primitive or emerging economies today. Rae, personally, has been a neglected and obscure figure and one of the main objects of this work is to throw additional light on his career. There were a number of gloomy and disappointing episodes in his life, but, despite them, his devotion to scholarly pursuits remained unimpaired, and his literary output continued throughout his life. This work should appeal to all those interested in the history of ideas, particularly to those concerned with the economic, political and religious controversies of the first half of the nineteenth century. For his contributions to economic theory John Rae is entitled to a place in the first rank of economists anywhere in the world, and for this reason he deserves the attention of all students of economics and sociology. His work is sprinkled with profound insights into human behaviour and, in addition, he displays a literary style which has seldom been surpassed in the literature of economics.
John Rae Political Economist: Statement of Some New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy (reprinted)
by R. Warren James John RaeVolume I contains a biographical study of John Rae, a brilliant economist and scholar who lived in Canada for a period in the early part of the nineteenth century, an analysis of Rae's contributions to economics, and a collection of his articles and essays on a variety of topics. These miscellaneous writings, many of which originally appeared in contemporary newspapers and magazines, reveal the broad range of his intellectual interests as well as his polemic and literary skill. Volume II is a reprint of Rae's book Statement of New Principles on the Subject of Political Economy which was originally published in Boston in 1834. As a result of the reissue of this book, which has been scarce for some years, modern students of economics will be better able to appreciate Rae's fundamental contribution to the development of economic thought, particularly the theory of capital. Much of Rae's analysis of economic development and behaviour was based on a first-hand knowledge of the Canadian economy in the early nineteenth century, but his theory has a surprisingly modern flavour, and is completely relevant to the problems of primitive or emerging economies today. Rae, personally, has been a neglected and obscure figure and one of the main objects of this work is to throw additional light on his career. There were a number of gloomy and disappointing episodes in his life, but, despite them, his devotion to scholarly pursuits remained unimpaired, and his literary output continued throughout his life. This work should appeal to all those interested in the history of ideas, particularly to those concerned with the economic, political and religious controversies of the first half of the nineteenth century. For his contributions to economic theory John Rae is entitled to a place in the first rank of economists anywhere in the world, and for this reason he deserves the attention of all students of economics and sociology. His work is sprinkled with profound insights into human behaviour and, in addition, he displays a literary style which has seldom been surpassed in the literature of economics.
The Lasting Loneliness of Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of the Sources of Alienation in Modern Man
by Henry G. FairbanksBiography emphasizing how environment and personality impact literature.
Lee: A Biography
by Clifford DowdeyGeneral Robert E. Lee is well known as a major figure in the Civil War. However, by removing Lee from the delimiting frame of the Civil War and placing him in the context of the Republic's total history, Dowdey shows the "eternal relevance" of this tragic figure to the American heritage. With access to hundreds of personal letters, Dowdey brings fresh insights into Lee's background and personal relationships and examines the factors which made Lee that rare specimen, "a complete person. ” In tracing Lee's reluctant involvement in the sectional conflict, Dowdey shows that he was essentially a peacemaker, very advanced in his disbelief in war as a resolution. Lee had never led troops in combat until suddenly given command of a demoralized, hodgepodge force under siege from McClellan in front of Richmond. In a detailed study of Lee's growth in the mastery of the techniques of war, he shows his early mistakes, the nature of his seemingly intuitive powers, the limitations imposed by his personal character and physical decline, and the effect of this character on the men with whom he created a legendary army. It was after the fighting was over that Dowdey believes Lee made his most significant and neglected achievement. As a symbol of the defeated people, he rose above all hostilities and, in the wreckage of his own fortunes, advocated rebuilding a New South, for which he set the example with his progressive program in education. The essence of Lee's tragedy was the futility of his efforts toward the harmonious restoration of the Republic with the dissensions of the past forgotten. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Lee (With Photographs and Maps)
by Clifford DowdeyThe author presents a detailed account of the biography of Robert E. Lee and the Civil War.