Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisWhen Rilke died in 1926, his reputation as a great poet seemed secure. But as the tide of the critical avant-garde turned, he was increasingly dismissed as apolitical, too inward. In Rilke: The Last Inward Man, acclaimed critic Lesley Chamberlain uses this charge as the starting point from which to explore the expansiveness of the inner world Rilke created in his poetry. Weaving together searching insights on Rilke's life, work and reception, Chamberlain casts Rilke's inwardness as a profound response to a world that seemed ever more lacking in spirituality. In works of dazzling imagination and rich imagery, Rilke sought to restore spirit to Western materialism, encouraging not narrow introversion but a heightened awareness of how to live with the world as it is, of how to retain a sense of transcendence within a world of collapsed spiritual certainty.Trade Review“Deeply perceptive and passionately argued study of Rainer Maria Rilke... always illuminating.” --John Banville, The New York Review of Books

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Book SynopsisEmpty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the Gilded Age opulence of nineteenth-century America with a twenty-first-century battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104, no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled by those managing her money?Huguette Clark was the daughter of self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, nearly as rich as Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder of Las Vegas. She grew up in the largest house in New York City, a remarkable dwelling with 121 rooms for a family of four. She owned paintings by Degas and Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique dolls. But wanting more than treasures, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts for friends and strangers alike, to quietly pursuing her own work as an artist, and to guarding the privacy she valued above all else.Empty Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30 million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette's copper fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, Empty Mansions is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms.Trade ReviewAn evocative and rollicking read, part social history, part hothouse mystery, part grand guignol. * The Daily Beast *Empty Mansions is a dazzlement and a wonder... This is an enchanting journey into the mysteries of the mind, a true-to-life exploration of strangeness and delight. -- Pat ConroyEmpty Mansions reveals this mysterious family in sumptuous detail. -- John BerendtAn amazing story of profligate wealth, one so wild that 'American aspiration' doesn't begin to describe its excesses . . . An outsized tale of rags-to-riches prosperity * The New York Times *Empty Mansions is at once an engrossing portrait of a forgotten American heiress and a fascinating meditation on the crosswinds of extreme wealth. Hugely entertaining and well researched, Empty Mansions is a fabulous read. -- Amanda Foreman

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Book SynopsisGhislaine Maxwell's life of privilege was unimaginable. Her jetset world was not only made up of Presidents, top billionaires, Hollywood stars, Kennedys and Rockefellers, but also of princes, princesses, dukes and duchesses, all as regular friends - including university friend Prince Andrew, the favorite son of the Queen of England. Yet she still wanted more. Ghislaine met shadowy billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and amassed a fortune of almost $30 million over the course of their friendship. Her arrest by the FBI in July 2020 - almost a year to the day of Epstein's second arrest on sex charges - proved a stinging fall from grace as $30 million bail was refused. GHISLAINE MAXWELL leaves no stone unturned and is the first investigation based on all new sources available. An explosive true story, GHISLAINE MAXWELL is a riveting tale of wealth, power and the almost impervious Teflon power surrounding America's richest citizens.Trade Review'A dramatic game of cat and mouse.' DAILY MAILTable of Contents1 Tuckedaway 2 Jailbird 3 Poor Little Rich Girl 4 Man Overboard 5 'The Coolest Person Alive 6 In the Frame 7 Decline and Fall 8 Charged

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Book SynopsisThis biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, written with reference to Browning correspondence only recently available, argues that the poet was a strong and determined woman largely responsible for her own incarceration in Wimpole Street. The author traces her life from her early childhood and adolescence and explores her marriage. She draws a picture of early Victorian family life and aims to show that Elizabeth was a considerable and dedicated poet, self-willed, witty and courageous. Forster has also edited the companion volume "Selected Poems" of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and is author of several other biographies.Trade ReviewThis is the most exciting sort of biography to read, or to write: the myth-dispelling biography which overturns an old story, and does so most convincingly' * New Statesman *If it is a test of a good biography to send the reader hot-foot to the subject's works, Margaret Forster's has succeeded triumphantly * The Times *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE ONE-OF-A-KIND IMAGINATION THAT BROUGHT US SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5 AND CAT'S CRADLE 'Kurt Vonnegut is either the funniest serious writer around or the most serious funny writer' Los Angeles Times Book Review An 'autobiographical collage' of speeches, stories and essays, in Palm Sunday, Kurt Vonnegut writes beguilingly about everything from country music to George Bush, his favourite comedians to his mother's midnight mania, and bittersweet tributes to a dead best friend and a dead marriage. Resonating with his singular voice, this is a self-portrait in writing that showcases why Kurt Vonnegut is as genius an essayist and commentator on American society as he is a novelist.Trade ReviewAfter Vonnegut, everything else seems a bit tame * Spectator *One of the master alchemists of modern American fiction * Sunday Times *A cool writer, at once throwaway and passionate and very funny * Financial Times *A brilliant wacky ideas-monger * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisJohn Haynes - The man behind the manuals., This fascinating and inspiring biography of John H Haynes – the man behind Haynes Manuals – looks 'under the bonnet' at his extraordinary life, and his legacy to the motoring world. This is the story of how one man's vision and enthusiasm gave a small enterprise in rural Somerset a global footprint., The author, Ned Temko, has spent many hours with the Haynes family, uncovering the rich and varied life that passionate motoring enthusiast John Haynes led. The story begins with John's childhood in Ceylon and his school days – when as a young entrepreneur he sowed the seeds for what would become the iconic Haynes car-repair manuals – to his time as a young RAF officer, and then as the driving force behind the growth of the iconic Haynes brand and the Haynes International Motor Museum., What makes John's story especially compelling is that the idea for his car Owners' Workshop Manuals didn't emerge fully formed. It wasn't a product of business school, or consumer focus groups. Just as the roots of Steve Jobs's Apple Mac can be traced to his personal urge to build the most perfect personal computer he could imagine, Haynes's journey began when, as a teenaged schoolboy, he was dead set on figuring out how to turn the remains of an old Austin he'd found in a scrap yard into a fully working sports car. The simple booklet he produced about building this 750 Special was the spark that would eventually result in the building of a global brand. This biography will appeal not only to motoring enthusiasts, but a wider audience who will be intrigued by the story of the Haynes family and the business dynamics - exploring the evolution of a global, yet truly British company and brand, led and overseen by John Haynes for 59 years., Author: Ned Temko began his journalistic career in 1975, in post-revolutionary Portugal. After a brief posting in Brussels, he was based in Beirut, Moscow, Jerusalem and Johannesburg for the American newspaper The Christian Science Monitor before being transferred to London, where he has lived and worked since., He was editor at the Jewish Chronicle for 15 years, during which it won unprecedented national recognition. In 2005, he joined The Observer as its Chief Political Correspondent. Since 2008, while continuing to make broadcast appearances as an analyst and commentator on the BBC and Sky, he has ghosted and edited a number of political memoirs and business books. He is also the author of To Win or To Die, a biography of the former Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, and writes a regular international-affairs column for the Monitor.

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Book SynopsisCourageous women change history and remould our culture. For centuries, rebel ladies have been punching up, fighting for freedoms and equality, challenging the world order. Today, the next generation continue the fight, boldly marching, banners flying, into a brighter future. And yet, women’s contributions are routinely marginalised, squeezed aside by the usual cast of pale, male and stale characters. Determined to redress the balance, veteran journalist and author Yasmin Alibhai-Brown sets lesser-known names alongside the most famous, celebrating fifty daring, courageous, indomitable women. There’s Anne Lister, the lesbian landowner; Sophia Singh, the forgotten suffragette; detective superintendent Shabnam Chaudhri, the first Asian/Muslim to hold that role in the Met; and Harriet Wistrich, the superlative human rights lawyer. There’s Reni Eddo-Lodge, Caroline Criado Perez, Shazia Mirza; the list goes on. Featuring interviews with the women themselves, this refreshing compendium of fearless ladies is a fortifying tonic, reviving the stories of women lost to history and cheering on those who will lead the way to a more equal tomorrow.Trade Review"This fantastic book is a true celebration of revolutionary women of all ages, backgrounds and concerns. Told with passion, heartfelt sincerity and thought-provoking insight, Ladies Who Punch gives us a welcome reminder that, though we've come a long way in the fight for equality, our work is not yet done." - Iain Dale "A brilliant collection of women of our time and in the past." - Mishal Husain "Yasmin Alibhai-Brown's pen portraits burn with admiration and engross you with their fine detail, sharp insights and humane wit. All her subjects make you want to stand up and cheer, as the author does herself." - Zoe Williams

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Book SynopsisStep into the world of Frida Kahlo: behind the portraits and the surrealist art discover the fascinating woman who has transfixed the world.Fridamania has made Frida Kahlo's image ubiquitous: she has been reborn as a Halloween costume, Barbie doll, children's book character, textile print, phone cover and the inspiration for everything from cocktails to fashion shoots. But it is more difficult to get a clear vision of this bold and brilliant, foul-mouthed, heavy-drinking, hard-smoking, husband-stealing, occasionally bisexual, often bed-bound, wheelchair-using, needy, forthright and passionate woman. Hettie Judah sets out to correct that with this superb biography of one of the most charismatic artists of the last hundred years.Follow Frida's life through tumultuous love and life-altering accidents, towards recognition in the art world from the likes of André Breton and Marcel Duchamp, to becoming the first Mexican artist held at the Louvre. Judah delves into Kahlo's experiences and how these came together to inspire the art that has been described as an uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. From an early battle with Polio, to a debilitating bus accident at 18, through love and heart ache, the life of Frida Kahlo was one of pain but a pain that bore great beauty.Hettie Judah is a contributing writer for publications including the Guardian, Vogue, The New York Times, Frieze and Art Quarterly.Lives of the Artists is a new series by Laurence King. Concise, highly readable biographies of some of the world's greatest artists written by authoritative and respected names from the world of art. Learn about the artist behind the masterpieces.Currently available: Andy Warhol and Artemisia Gentileschi

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Book SynopsisIn 1979, Liz Pryor, a good girl from a privileged Chicago family, discovered that she was pregnant. At only 17 years old, her parents were determined to keep this shameful event secret from everyone, even her siblings. One snowy January day, after driving across three states, her mother dropped her off at what Liz believed was a Catholic home for unwed mothers, but was in fact a locked state facility for delinquent pregnant girls. Over the next six months, alone and isolated from everyone she knew, Liz developed a surprising bond of friendship with the other girls, which led her to question everything she once held true. Told with tenderness, humour and candour, Look at You Now is a deeply moving coming-of-age story that pays tribute to the triumph of the human spirit in times of adversity, and the transcendent power of friendship in the toughest of times.Trade ReviewA funny, tender and brave coming-of-age tale. * People *A poignant, often funny reminder that we learn who we are when we're at our most challenged. * Good Housekeeping *A subtle, graceful story about how sometimes the worst things in our lives work best to shape our characters into something shining and true, something that will serve us for the rest of our lives... I will never forget this book. I really, really loved it. * Elizabeth Berg, author of THE DREAM LOVER *[Pryor's] honesty about a youthful error and desire to let that honesty define the rest of her life are both uplifting and inspiring. An unsentimental yet moving coming-of-age memoir. * Kirkus *Poignant ... Engrossing ... Readers will swiftly be drawn into the author's compassionate retelling of her teen pregnancy. This coming-of-age memoir is authentic and unforgettable. * Publisher’s Weekly *I devoured this in one sitting. Look At You Now is a compelling memoir about giving birth to a baby Liz is told she cannot keep. It is also a tender and finely executed meditation on daughterhood and forgiveness. * Julia Forster, author of WHAT A WAY TO GO *Pryor's refusal to bury the truth of her experiences is the greatest strength of her book. Her honesty about a youthful error and desire to let that honesty define the rest of her life are both uplifting and inspiring. An unsentimental yet moving coming-of-age memoir. * Kirkus Reviews *Pryor has vivid memories of her time in the facility, and her straightforward, unvarnished narrative, written as if by her seventeen-year-old self, rings true. Her story is well worth sharing. * Booklist *[This] memoir is heart-breaking. Narrowly focused on the five months Pryor spent in the government facility, it's a window into the mind of a child who feels utterly abandoned by her parents and, even more tragically, as though she deserves to have been. * Chicago Tribune *Liz Pryor's story is shocking, moving, riveting, and, ultimately, inspiring. She writes like a natural, can balance humor and sorrow perfectly, and in Look at You Now, has written a pitch-perfect memoir. * Darin Strauss, author of HALF A LIFE *

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Book Synopsis'What we ought to do, as writers, is seize freedom now, immediately, by recognizing that we already have it.'Cynthia Ozick, one of 'the greatest living American writers', has, over a lifetime of observation, produced some of the sharpest and most influential works of criticism in contemporary Anglo-American writing. Described as the 'Emily Dickinson of the Bronx' and 'one of the most accomplished and graceful literary stylists of her time', her acclaimed works span topics from Henry James to Helen Keller, and from Christian Heroism to lovesickness. The essays selected here come from the six volumes Ozick published in the USA over the last thirty-three years. Collected by David Miller, Ozick's friend and agent, they represent the diversity, curiosity, originality, and crackling wit of her works. A volume to treasure, to re-read and to relish, this is Cynthia Ozick, 'the Athena of America's literary pantheon', at her very best.Trade ReviewIt's not unlike falling in love, reading the essays of Cynthia Ozick. Here is a mind as gentle and fierce all at once... A mind that embodies literature's finest potential. * Los Angeles Times *Even when you disagree with her, she electrifies your mind. * New York Times *Splendid... Ozick relies on sensibility and intelligence to make their own way in the world... lyric grace under intellectual pressure gives her news its staying power. Her essays invite our admiration even as they challenge us to talk back. -- David LehmanAs an essayist, Cynthia Ozick is a very good storyteller. Her arguments are plots... they twist and turn, digress, slow down and speed up, surprise with sudden illuminations.... She likes to spin and sparkle... * The New York Times Book Review *She is a writer innately drawn to paradox, and to the moral questions inherent in the relationships between richness and poverty, mind and body, history and imagination... In everything Ozick writes, she regards the land of the free with the head-shaking disbelief of someone who knows. -- Ali Smith * Guardian *No American writer working today is more distinctive in everything she does on the page. * PEN/Malamud Award *Ozick is razor sharp as she dissects art, religion and the distinction between literary and popular fiction * Observer *

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Book SynopsisKarl Marx has fascinated and inspired generations of radicals in the past 200 years. In this new, definitive biography, Sven-Eric Liebman makes his work live once more for a new generation. Despite 200 years having passed since his birth, his burning condemnation of capitalism remains of immediate interest.Now, more than ever before, Marx's texts can be read for what they truly are. In addition to providing a living picture of Marx the man, his life, and his family and friends - as well as his lifelong collaboration with Friedrich Engels - Sweden's leading intellectual historian Sven-Eric Liedman, in this major new biography, shows what Karl Marx the thinker and researcher really wrote, demonstrating that this giant of the nineteenth century can still exert a powerful attraction for the inhabitants of the twenty-first.Trade ReviewLiedman's strength is as a political philosopher and he is superbly well-equipped to take us on a tour of Marx's intellectual workshop. As Sven-Eric Liedman shows in his landmark anniversary biography, A World to Win, the quest to understand contemporary reality by way of the forces of production, class relations, and the structures of politics, law and culture built on them would occupy Marx for the rest of his life. As Liedman shows, from the 1840s, these were the threads that Marx followed into "the labyrinths of the age he lived in". -- Adam Tooze * Financial Times *A lucid, scholarly guide. Those searching for a truly detailed discussion of Marx should turn here. -- Andrew Stuttaford * Wall Street Journal *A World to Win is well worth consulting by those who want to understand Marx. It provides a clear and scholarly analysis, which can be read with pleasure even by those unsympathetic to its main argument. -- Vernon Bogdanor * Jewish Chronicle *Sven-Eric Liedman's new biography of Karl Marx aims to provide the reader with a nuanced and detailed account of the intellectual giant's life and thought. The book's greatest achievement lies in its compelling demonstration of the continued relevance of Marx's critique of capitalism. In a post-Soviet era, where capitalist liberalism is supposed to have triumphed once and for?all and where bourgeois economists and politicians routinely label Marxism as obscure and antiquated, Liedman is able to show that the contradictions of capitalism identified by Marx are as present as ever. -- Carlos Martinez * Morning Star *Liedman's book has a lot to recommend it. Genuinely original and enlightening. -- David McLellan * Marx and Philosophy Society *Neoliberalism is increasingly exposed as a failed experiment and many people are now exploring the tradition of radical politics for solutions to the challenges we now face. This book brings to life the early history of the socialist tradition. -- John McDonnell, MP Shadow Chancellor of the ExchequerMakes clear that Marx's ideas, going on two centuries old, still have meaning in the present. Outstanding. A book to turn to for reference and deeper insight. * Kirkus (starred review) *Liedman is convinced that we live in a period of striking similarity to Marx's own, and therefore his analysis of society and history are still appropriate. Unlike many other biographies of Marx, the present volume combines in-depth personality narrative and significant comments on Marx's own works. This analysis not only looks at the social and political context of the early industrial revolution Europe, but also takes into consideration the intellectual environment of the time, German philosophy, and socialist and liberal ideas. Highly recommended. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisThe fascinating biography of David Scott-Moncrieff, alias `Bunty' - a colourful larger-than-life personality, enthusiastic car expert, charming entertainer, and passionate vintage car addict. Bunty's favourite marque was Rolls-Royce, and, for some time, he claimed to be the Number 1 in the Rolls-Royce second-hand car trade worldwide. Bunty also owned world-famous race cars, heaps of worn-out hearses (to be rebuilt), supercharged Mercedes classics, and even an antique Steamer. Here, you will meet them all, along with some of his many admirers who had the courage and pleasure to enter the passenger seat. Halwart Schrader travelled to England to meet Bunty on many occasions, knew him well. and has written this long-awaited biography in full co-operation with Bunty's son, Humphrey Scott-Moncrieff.Trade ReviewA good read. Auto Express -- As a portrayal of a way of life which won't come again, this book is recommended. NZRR&BC Magazine -- An endearing - and enduring - read for long-standing members of the vintage car club scene. Classic Car Weekly -- If you want to immerse yourself in the type of eccentric motoring (and occasionally boating) life that we won't see again, this 216-page soft-cover should do the trick. Classic Driverit’s -- plenty entertaining! SpeedReaders---It is an hilarious romp from start to finish and guaranteed to chase off any lingering blues ... Bunty had triumphed again---Big End/All TorqueTable of ContentsContents Foreword by Gregor Fisken A name of renown Visitors From England. O Tannenbaum! Chips but no Fish "Call Me Bunty" A Rolls-Royce... what a temptation Brave and Quite The Swimmer! A Passion for Cars Attributed to his Mother Inkwells Were Flying occasionally... Escape From A Police Raid In A Dinner Jacket Uncle Horace's Corrupting Influence Purveyor to the Nobility and Gentry No Knothole for the Backside of a Carousel Horse The Maharaja's improper Wish A Talented Stuntman Fun On The Backseat With Loreley A valuable Car For A One-Night Stand A Gentleman Has Come To Warn Stalin Kiss your Hand, Herr Hitler! Thinking About Getting Married An Everlasting Love For Mercedes Do Girls' Shirts Burn Brighter? London's Traffic was Brought To A Standstill A Young Lady From A decent Family The Spy With The Diamond In The Soap Into Exile With A 12-Cylinder Motor Car Caught Behind, In Front Of, And Right Between The Crossfire Only A Two-Pronged Fork A Motor Yacht, Or A Bugatti...? The Journey To Scandinavia Bunty's First Book Don't Just Give Up! Comrade Stalin Will Have To Wait Once A Bugatti, Always A Bugatti Flirting With Daimler-Benz Bunty's Life In The Countryside Chicken Farming, Piglet Fattening, Mercedes Dreaming Bill Boddy's Visit To the Squirearchy Through Cowpat In a TVR A Soft Spot also For Lagonda A Fascinating, Insufferable Boss Life's Handicaps The Weeping Worm and a Rather Bitty Beer! 500 Ten-Dollar Notes Down The Trousers Out And About With The Dashing Charlotte Hearses Never Bite The Dust No Viewing Pleasure Whatsoever Would You Be A Sweetie? Introducing Timothy, The Glass-Eater The Ambassador Of British Automotive Culture An Opportunity Overslept The Customs Catastrophe The Echoes Of Umtata Taking The Tow Truck To Church Bunty rules the waves Onwards To Vienna - For The Red Light District? Bunty Discovers His Passion For Citroen A Little Border incident No Rolls-Royce On The South Pacific Atoll Travelling Australia In A Gullwing Engine-Knocking Knockers There's No Fool Like An Old Fool A Girl named RosemaryTo India For Permanent Care? Bad Eyes, Bad Circulation, Bad Memory Peking-Paris at last? No Help From The Helpful Dragon One Final Dream Is Fulfilled "We Never Close!" PHOTO CREDITS

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Book SynopsisHelen Berhane was held captive for over two years in appalling conditions in her native Eritrea. Her crime? Sharing her faith in Jesus, and refusing, even though horrendously tortured, to deny him. Helen’s heart-rending account of true faith in the face of evil reminds all of us who live in the free world not to take our religious freedoms for granted: ‘If I could sing in prison, imagine what you can do for God’s glory with your freedom.’ Be inspired, by one woman’s courageous faith, to pray for persecuted Christians and be encouraged to live out your Christian life with more boldness. Content Benefits: Helen’s remarkable story will challenge you to embrace your religious freedom by living more boldly in faith and will open your eyes to the suffering of persecuted Christians around the world today. • A compelling story of faith in adversity • A modern day true story of persecution in Africa • Inspiring testimony of following Jesus no matter what the cost • A gripping Christian biography • Inspirational gift idea for women • Suitable for anyone who loves to hear of God at work in the world • Ideal for anyone who has a heart to pray for persecuted Christians around the world

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Book SynopsisAs an economist and political theorist Rosa Luxemburg’s work still resonates powerfully today. Born in Poland in 1871 she became a revolutionary leader in Berlin, co-founding the anti-war Spartacus League and publishing works including Reform or Revolution and The Accumulation of Capital. In this account of her extraordinary life, Dana Mills examines Luxemburg’s key and lesser-known works, and quotes from her letters to reveal a woman who was loving in personal relationships and fierce in professional battles. Luxemburg, who lived in grossly unequal times, fought for emancipation for all. What is her legacy today, a hundred years after her assassination in Berlin in 1919 at the age of 47? Luxemburg’s emphasis on humanity and insistence on revolution gave coherence, as this compelling biography illustrates, to a fraught life story and a colossal economic and political legacy.Trade Review“From today’s perspective, it is not unreasonable to suggest—as Mills does in Rosa Luxemburg, a compact and admiring biography—that she is a potential role model to the woke generation, an icon to the feminist, environmental, equality, and anticolonialist rebellions. Luxemburg is alive and well and speaking at a street meeting near you. . . . [Mills] sees 'the energy, resilience, and humanism of Rosa Luxemburg reemerging as a counter-force' in our times. . . . Luxemburg deserves better than past categorizations. She was a unique revolutionary, self-made and self-critical, seductive and humane. You will meet the real Rosa here, and it’s a pleasure.” -- Norman Lebrecht * Wall Street Journal *"Can there be anything new to say about Rosa Luxemburg? In this passionate, fast-moving, and yet scholarly account Mills shows us that there is." * Jewish Socialist *"In these days when NGO politics so looms over the left, the recall to the spirit and approach of an activist from the heroic days of the Marxist movement is refreshing. . . . [A] warm and sprightly book." * Workers' Liberty *"[Mills presents] us right from the first pages with a Rosa Luxemburg that the reader wants to sit down and talk with." -- Katherine Connelly * Monthly Review *"This remarkable life is the subject of Mills’s new biography, a study of Luxemburg’s personal, political, and academic writings. . . . Mills, an activist, theorist, and member of the Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg editorial board, tells a brisk and more or less chronological story of her subject’s life and works, placing particular emphasis on the aspects of Luxemburg’s theory and praxis which made her a highly divisive figure even among her socialist contemporaries: her strident internationalism and anti-militarism, her refusal to compartmentalize various forms of oppression, and her striking combination of brazenness and empathy. Concise analyses of Luxemburg’s major works are placed in historical and biographical context, and intimate details about her rich, contradictory, and sometimes volatile personal life are occasionally extracted from extensive correspondence to give us a fuller picture of this iconoclastic soul." * Women's Review of Books *"The book is about both Luxemburg’s personal life and her political and economic ideas. . . . An interesting and informative read." * Socialist Standard *"Mills brings Rosa Luxemburg to life, exploring her revolutionary thinking and writing, all while helping the reader get to know Red Rosa, who always took brisk walks, loved reading Goethe’s Faust, regularly corresponded with V. I. Lenin, and continually worked towards an open and just future." * New Books Network *"Vibrant, meticulous, and well-reasoned—at last we have, with Mills’s new book, an English-language biography of Rosa Luxemburg which does credit to the life and work of its subject, one of the greatest economic and political minds of the twentieth century." -- Kate Evans, author of "Red Rosa""Mills’s Rosa Luxemburg provides an impressive overview of Luxemburg’s life and work from a feminist standpoint—a task made newly relevant by the emergence of a new generation of activists and theorists in today’s movements for social justice and against racism, sexism, and imperialism." -- Peter Hudis, professor of philosophy and humanities, Oakland Community College, general editor of "The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg"

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Book SynopsisHenri Matisse’s experiments with form and color revolutionized the twentieth-century art world. In this concise critical biography, Kathryn Brown explores Matisse’s long career, beginning with his struggles as a student in Paris and culminating in his celebrated use of paper cutouts and stained glass in the last decade of his life. The book challenges various myths about Matisse and offers a fresh perspective on his creativity and legacy. Chapters explore the artist’s enthusiasm for fashion and cinema, his travels, personal ties, interest in African art, love of literature, and willingness to challenge audience expectations. Through close readings of Matisse’s works, Brown offers new insight into the artist’s friendships and battles with dealers, critics, collectors, and fellow artists.Trade Review"Effortlessly and engagingly told, a sprightly and readable critical biography. Brown clearly understands that the reason to find out about Matisse is primarily his painting and sculpture, that family, fame, history and culture are the support for this discussion, not the focus." * International Times *"This is a compact and succinct overview of the life and work of renowned French artist Henri Matisse (1869–1954). Brown explores the artist’s life, from his early years struggling in Paris and painting in the fauvist style, to his turn-of-the-century success thanks to the patronage of the Stein family of American collectors (Leo, Sarah, Michael, and Gertrude). The book then follows Matisse’s travels to Morocco and Tahiti; his more abstract work, created during World War I; and his mature years working in the South of France. Brown situates Matisse’s art in relation to his own philosophy about making art, and his contemporary critics, and more recent discourses on the art historical analysis of his work." * Library Journal *"Brown's lucid and sophisticated text presents the great modernist, Henri Matisse, as a highly experimental artist who drew on an exceptionally wide range of visual sources and yet was also a shrewd marketing man, carefully managing his public identity and surrounding himself with a constellation of supportive poets and writers. Bolstered by astute summaries of the current critical debates around Matisse and sensitive formal analyses of the artist's work, Brown's book is the best short biography of Matisse available." -- Simon Kelly, curator of modern and contemporary art, Saint Louis Art Museum"An insightful addition to Matisse’s scholarship [and] a true page-turner, written in an engaging style, this study is a multi-layered analysis of Matisse’s career. It focuses on Matisse’s talent to shape his own transnational public image as one of the first internationally famous artists of the twentieth century." -- Véronique Chagnon-Burke, Academic Director, Christie’s Education

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Book SynopsisMysterious, esoteric, baffling – John Ashbery is notorious for the seeming difficulty of his work. But Ashbery is also entertaining, humorous and charming, and responsive to his shifting social and political contexts. This biography charts his emergence from a minor avant-garde figure to the most important poet of his generation. In this entertaining account, Jess Cotton provides a legible and accessible map of Ashbery’s work that draws connections between the poetry, the New York art and literary world and the political climate of the middle decades of the twentieth century. It makes the case for a more approachable, enjoyable and engaged Ashbery and will appeal to both students and the general reader, as well as anyone interested in American poetry, queer lives and twentieth-century history.

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Book SynopsisFew composers have enjoyed such critical acclaim – or longevity – as Jean Sibelius, who died in 1957 aged 91. Always more than simply a Finnish national figure, an ‘apparition from the woods’ as he ironically described himself, Sibelius’s life spanned turbulent and tumultuous events, and his work is central to the story of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music. This book situates Sibelius within a rich interdisciplinary environment, paying attention to his relationship with architecture, literature, politics and the visual arts. Drawing on the latest developments in Sibelius research, it is intended as an accessible and rewarding introduction for the general reader, and also offers a fresh and provocative interpretation for those more familiar with his music.Trade Review"With a new spring in his step across already familiar ground, Grimley reinvigorates the life-and-works format by vividly placing Sibelius within the ever-shifting artistic and geopolitical landscape of his time, and that of existing scholarship. Grimley’s elegant fusion of 'audible' musicological detail and warm human insight will enrich the academic and general reader alike." -- Hilary Finch, former music critic,Times (UK)"Grimley’s Jean Sibelius: Life, Music, Silence is a concise, balanced, and reader-friendly volume that combines successful biographical study with cultural-historical cross-section and discussion about up-to-date topics in the literature, such as the debate on Sibelius’s political orientation. Extending the examination beyond the standard Sibelius repertoire, the author’s perspective on the composer’s music is fresh and inventive." -- Timo Virtanen, lecturer at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, editor-in-chief of the Jean Sibelius Works

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Book Synopsis"Louis-Ferdinand Céline was one of the most innovative novelists of the twentieth century, and his influence both in his native France and beyond remains huge. This book sheds light on Céline’s groundbreaking novels, which drew extensively on his complex life: he rose from humble beginnings to worldwide literary fame, then dramatically fell from grace only to return, belatedly, to the limelight. Céline’s subversive writing remains fresh and urgent today, despite his controversial political views and inflammatory pamphlets that threatened to ruin his reputation. The first English-language biography of Céline in over two decades, this book explores new material and reminds us why the author belongs in the pantheon of modern greats."Trade Review“In this major new biography of Céline, Damian Catani deftly weaves together the life and the work allowing each to illuminate the other in a brilliant portrait. One of the twentieth century’s most important literary figures, Céline emerges here in all his ambivalence, his outstanding talent as a writer matched only by his obvious flaws as an individual.” -- Ian James, Reader in Modern French Literature and Thought, University of Cambridge, and author of "The Technique of Thought" and "The New French Philosophy"“One of the best French writers ever, who re-invented the very language of literature, and a complete SALOPARD.” -- Marie Darrieussecq

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Book SynopsisIn this new book, David Ellis traces Byron’s life from rented lodgings in Aberdeen to the crumbling splendours of Newstead Abbey and then on to his grand tour of the East. Describing his exile from England after a disastrous marriage, and subsequent travels in Italy and Greece, he shows how completely Byron’s experiences coloured his writings, drawing out the tension between the ‘serious’ works (Childe Harold, The Corsair) and his more comic writings. Although the former brought him early fame and fortune, it is the latter which now seem most worthwhile. Byron is a fresh, concise and clear-eyed account of the flamboyant poet’s life and work.

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Book SynopsisThe Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi was a prolific writer, polymath and prodigious collector who amassed the largest collection of naturalia in sixteenth-century Europe, as well as hundreds of coloured drawings detailing them. Many of these drawings found their way into his illustrated publications, most of which were published posthumously. This book provides a concise yet comprehensive portrait of Aldrovandi, paying particular attention to two aspects: the role that the newly discovered continent of America played in his research interests, and his study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms. Peter Mason gives insight into Aldrovandi’s fascinating life, his early work on antiquities, his natural history and other collecting activities, his network of correspondents and patrons, and the influence and legacy of his collection and publications.

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Book SynopsisBeatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, later Princess Henry of Battenberg, was the last-born – in 1866 – of Victoria and Albert's children, and she would outlive all of her siblings to die as recently as 1944. Her childhood coincided with her mother's extended period of mourning for her prematurely deceased husband, a circumstance which may have contributed to Victoria's determination to keep her youngest daughter as close to her as possible. She would eventually marry Prince Henry of Battenberg in 1885, but only after overcoming her mother's opposition to their union. Beatrice remained Queen Victoria's favourite among her five daughters, and became her mother's constant companion and later her literary executor, spending the years that followed Victoria's death in 1901 editing her mother's journals and voluminous correspondence. Matthew Dennison's elegantly written biography restores Beatrice to her rightful place as a key figure in the history of the Victorian age, and paints a touching and revealing portrait of the life and family of Britain's second-longest-reigning monarch.Trade ReviewEmotionally sympathetic and beautifully written, its detail meticulous... Confidant and disarmingly impressive debut' * DailyTelegraph *An engrossing tale of a mother and daughter who were also a queen and her subject * Good Book Guide *Beautifully written * Tatler *Readable and empathetic biography * Independent *

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Book SynopsisThe autobiography of well-known character, Goronwy Evans, who has served as a minister for fifty years, and who is one of Lampeter''s unique characters.

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Book SynopsisThis is a historical story about James Parry (the author''s grandfather), and Asmus Nikolai Clausen. Here we get the story of their upbringing, their families, and their life journeys, until their paths cross.

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Book SynopsisGeology was St David''s doctor Henry Hicks'' huge passion. Author of many articles, he made a major contribution to 19th century geological study and, despite having no formal training in the subject, was eventually elected president of both the Geologists'' Association and the Geological Society.

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Book SynopsisMemoir of renowned actress Siân Phillips by Hywel Gwynfryn. Siân Phillips is one of Wales''s most iconic actresses ever. As she celebrates her 90th birthday, this volume records her interesting and entertaining life and career - both full of variety and drama.

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Book SynopsisA readable volume covering the humour of three of Ceredigion''s leading writers: Moc Rogers, Tegwyn Jones and Hywel Teifi Edwards.

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Book SynopsisThe Supermarine Spitfire has achieved iconic status due to its exceptional design and the enduring bravery of its pilots during the conflicts of World War Two. Revered by pilots, this high-performance fighter aircraft is best remembered for operations with RAF Fighter Command in the defence of Britain in 1940, although the Spitfire went on to serve in every theatre of war. Using the Spitfire's speed, manoeuvrability and impressive firepower, Allied pilots enjoyed great success in aerial combat against all the leading Axis fighter types from 1940 through to VJ Day. No fewer than ten marks of Spitfire saw action as fighters during World War Two, and more than 460 RAF, Commonwealth and USAAF pilots claimed five or more enemy aircraft shot down to achieve ace status. The exploits of 40 aviators that made ace from Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa and the US are examined in this volume. Alongside the more famous names of 'Johnnie' Johnson, Douglas Bader and 'Sailor' Malan, lesser-known aces including Bill Rolls, Brian Carbury and Don Laubman are included. Their stories, and the deadly conflicts in which they took part, are told through combat reports, first-hand accounts, award citations and autobiographical extracts. This volume contains more than 240 photographs of the aces and the various Spitfires (and other fighter types) that they flew, as well as 40 meticulously researched, specially commissioned profile illustrations.

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Book SynopsisFrank and refreshing, Brigitte Reimann’s collected diaries provide a candid account of life in socialist Germany. With an upbeat tempo and amusing tone, I Have No Regrets contains detailed accounts of the author’s love affairs, daily life, writing, and reflections. Like the heroines in her stories, Reimann was impetuous and outspoken, addressing issues and sensibilities otherwise repressed in the era of the German Democratic Republic. She followed the state’s call for artists to leave their ivory towers and engage with the people, moving to the new town of Hoyerswerda to work part-time at a nearby industrial plant and run writing classes for the workers. Her diaries and letters provide a fascinating parallel to her fictional writing. By turns shocking, passionate, unflinching, and bitter—but above all life-affirming—they offer an unparalleled insight into what life was like during the first decades of the GDR.Trade Review“Her work deserves a much wider reading public outside Germany, where she remains best known for her ambiguously autobiographical final novel Franziska Linkerhand...The eight years of irregular diary entries that make up I Have No Regrets, edited in German by Angela Drescher and now translated into English by Lucy Jones, are a welcome introduction to Reimann’s work.” * Times Literary Supplement *“Reimann left behind a string of novels and several years’ worth of diaries that shed vivid light on life in East Germany from the 1950s to the 1970s. This volume picks up her story shortly after a suicide attempt following a miscarriage.” -- Charlie Connelly * The New European *

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Book SynopsisA unique portrait of a revolutionary movement that is largely unknown outside Spain. Northern Spain is the only part of Western Europe where anarchism played a significant role in the political life of the twentieth century. Enjoying wide-ranging support among both the urban and rural working class, its importance peaked during its “brief summer”—the civil war between the Republic and General Franco’s Falangists, during which anarchists even participated in the government of Catalonia. Anarchy’s Brief Summer brings anarchism to life by focusing on the charismatic leader Buenaventura Durruti (1896–1936), who became a key figure in the Spanish Civil War after a militant and adventurous youth. The basis of the book is a compilation of texts: personal testimony, interviews with survivors, contemporary documents, memoirs, and academic assessments. They are all linked by Enzenberger’s own assessment in a series of glosses—a literary form that is somewhere between retelling and reconstruction—with the contradiction between fiction and fact reflecting the political contradictions of the Spanish Revolution. Trade Review"Enzensberger’s collection of personal testimonies creates a vivid portrait of Durruti as a revolutionary." * On the Seawall *"Anarchy's Brief Summer is one of greatest novels I've ever read." * Daniel Alarcon *Table of ContentsThe Funeral CeremonyFirst Gloss: On History as Collective FictionStray BulletsSecond Gloss: On the Roots of Spanish AnarchismLos SolidariosThird Gloss: On the Spanish Dilemma, 1917–1931ExileFourth Gloss: On the Spanish Dilemma, 1931–36The RepublicThe VictoryPower-SharingThe CampaignBehind the LinesThe PeasantsFifth Gloss: About the EnemyThe MilitiasSixth Gloss: On the Decline and Fall of the AnarchistsThe Defence of MadridSeventh Gloss: About the HeroHis DeathEighth Gloss: The Revolution Grows OlderPosteritySources

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Book SynopsisOne morning as they parted, Victor Menza’s daughter handed him a bunny postcard. This gift made him wonder why rabbits had been their symbol of visitation: “How did this kind of creature become such a powerful way of feeling your presence?” Through philosophy, history, education, art, and personal musing on everyday uncanny experiences, Menza reveals why people have long found rabbits our special kin and emblems of love. Menza considers human nature and how we are undone by separation—both from each other and from our childhood selves. Surprising allies in these non-traditional philosophical wanderings include Ludwig Wittgenstein, Elizabeth Bowen, Albert Murray, Beatrix Potter, Donald Winnicott, Sterling Stuckey, and Lev Vygotsky. Menza examines what symbols are and how they work, the value of dialect, and the subversive lesson of animal fables, alongside his thoughts on language learning, memory, and slavery. Only now did he see that he’d taken to Brer Rabbit early on. Just as the Uncle Remus tales displayed the small hero’s virtues in warm dialogues, The Rabbit Between Us shows we abound in talents and moves when we “lean like Socrates did to the Aesop in us.” Gentle and political at once, this unique book will appeal to any intellectually curious reader. Trade Review“Menza ... was a guru, a giant. He was a supernova. He was the only brilliant person I have ever met. I took his course by accident, and it changed my life. He had all these acolytes who would hang on his every word, and he knew it, so one day he came into class and he started in on something, and we were taking down everything, and he stopped and said: ‘Put your pens down. What I am saying is important.’” -- Peter Mose in "I Remember My Teacher" by David ShribmanTable of Contents1. Psychic Bolt-Holes2. Visitation3. I Never Saw Harvey4. What Is a Symbol 5. Down the Philosophical Rabbit-Hole; or, “GAVAGAI!”6. The Rabbit Evangels: Joel Chandler Harris and Beatrix Potter7. Obliterature8. How Children Get Cheated Out of Their Humanity9. The Rabbit between Us Came from Slavery10. Aubade with Brer Rabbit11. The Rabbit Dances

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Book SynopsisPARADISE ERASED: Chronicle of an Exile Before the arrival of the notorious drug cartels, the Colombian coastal town of Santa Marta was an idyllic place blessed with natural wonders, a choice destination for cruise ships and steam boats loaded with visitors and adventurers from all over the Caribbean. This was the environment in which Miguel angel had aspired to grow up until a case of police brutality and the murder of a young British backpacker he had befriended causes the fabric of his world to unravel. In the midst of violent persecution enabled by rogue mechanisms of state, a single mother moves heaven and earth in a constant attempt to shield her son from the horrors of being on the run, her search for truth and justice leading to a perilous confrontation with the Establishment – with disastrous repercussions for the future of a nation. PARADISE ERASED is their story.

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Book SynopsisIn the early hours of the morning of June 3rd 1949, General Harold Alexander was alongside the quay at Dunkirk as he lifted a megaphone and called "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" There was no reply. He had directed the evacuation and was the last to leave Dunkirk.The very next day Churchill stood at the dispatch and gave his "We Shall Fight Them on The Beaches" speech.Tradition tells us that the dramatic events of the evacuation of Dunkirk, in which 300,000 BEF servicemen escaped the Nazis, was a victory gained from the jaws of defeat.  Rather than telling the tale of those who escaped, Peter Smith reveals a story of those sacrificed in the rear-guard battles.For us the Battle for France was not over. In Jun-1940 there were still 41,000 British soldiers fighting the Germans alongside their French allies. Mounting a vigorous counterattack at Abbeville and then conducting a tough defence between the Somme front and the Seine, Peter was fighting a very uncertain battle for mere survival for an even more uncertain future.Peter Smith tells his own story and captures the drama of those military operations and subsequent capture by Rommel''s 7th Panzer Division (the infamous ''Ghost Division'') who moved with clandestine stealth towards their objectives.Nothing prepares a man for war and there can be little doubt, Peter was not prepared, even less so for a life as a POW. "I lost my freedom that day on the June 8th 1940 when we were told it was every man-for-himself and didn''t regain it until April 1945 when I was rescued by Americans near Halberstadt, having walked 1,600km along the Baltic coast from East Prussia."Silent for nearly 80 years, Peter tells his story about his five lost years: the terrible things he saw at Thorn, Stuttoff, Stettin and Halberstadt; working on farms, Peter experienced first had the East Prussian way of life; his period in solitary confinement for ''stealing apple''; the disintegration and collapse of a whole way of life in East Prussia in the face of the Soviet invasion; and the terrible Long March, when 80,000 British POWs were forced to trek through a vicious winter westwards across Poland, alongside 2 million East German refugees as the Soviets approached."We were all prisoners, as POWs, and refugees alike embraced a dance with death in the coldest winter for 50 years as we all trudged west, and similarly the German Army as it battled to save its population."Peter''s story is also about friendship, of physical and mental resilience and of compassion for everyone who suffered. It was a difficult march undertaken in unimaginable wintery arctic conditions, where lack of food, the cold, and death were constant companions.

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Book SynopsisMagnaccioni (Roman dialect): people who live to eat well. I know no other word that captures that rare gift, that supremely basic human quality of eating with mind, eyes and heart and radiating uncontainable pleasure in so doing.Writing as a passionate food aficionada, Anne Pia has created a convivial and open-hearted cookery book that invites you into her kitchen. In Magnaccioni, she shares her own family recipes and the food she has enjoyed in Italy based on la cucina povera, la cucina di terra – the use of fresh produce and simple ingredients to create sumptuous, joyful feasts.Get ready to listen to Italian music, pour a glass of wine and enjoy cooking with Anne. Join her in becoming magnaccioni!Trade ReviewIn Magnaccioni poet and author Anne Pia departs from familiar forms, creating a book of recipes, philosophy and well-being that reflects the culture of her native Southern Italy. BOOKSFROMSCOTLANDThis is more than a cookery book. It is a glorious ‘Te Deum’ to Italy expressed through food, wine, music and anecdote. When you feel the ‘nostalgia d’Italia’ really badly and can’t hop on a flight straight away, open this book, plunge in and all will be well. CAV. RONNIE COVERY, Honorary Italian ConsulYou will not read Anne Pia's 'Magnaccioni', you will devour it.' FRANCESCA CONTINI MACKIE, Valvona & Crolla Ltd.This is a book not to be simply read and admired, but one destined to become a close companion in the kitchen, simultaneously feeding the body and soul. With prose which demands to be read and recipes just begging to be cooked, all written with a style and poetic flair which we have come to expect from Anne Pia, Magnaccioni: My Food… My Italy stands alongside the work of Diane Henry, Simon Hopkinson, and Nigel Slater – writers whose cookbooks you return to again and again. Anne Pia’s Magnaccioni: My Food… My Italy is a hymn to eating well as part of living life to the full. This appetite is evident on every page, inspiring not only conversations about food and drink, but music, philosophy, history, friends, and family. ALISTAIR BRAIDWOOD, Scots Whay HaeMagnaccioni," a cookery book that not only teaches you to cook like an Italian but also to live like one. Get ready to don your dancing shoes and indulge in authentic recipes with Anne Pia's celebration of Italy. CAV GIOVANNA EUSEBI

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