Biography: general Books

Book SynopsisCelebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is the man who turned the world of cuisine on its head and became a national hero with three Michelin stars. This is the inspirational story of his enthusiastic, self-taught genius. Heston is a gastronomic alchemist who sees the kitchen as a laboratory where he loves to experiment in ways to tantalise the taste-buds of diners at the Fat Duck restaurant and his newest restaurant Dinner. This biography traces his journey from a life-changing childhood holiday in France, through to his brief apprenticeship in Raymond Blanc's restaurant where he stood up to a kitchen bully. It then follows his as - constantly pushing the boundaries of his work - he reaches the top of his profession.

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Book SynopsisOdette du Puigaudeau is best known for her major ethnographic work, Arts et Coutumes des Maures, a detailed study, in words and drawings, of the cultural world of the nomads of Mauretania. The present work explains how she came to write it. Barefoot Through Mauretania is an account of her first journey across the country by camel in 1933-4, with her life-long companion, Marion Senones. The book records the adventures of the two women during that year, often with a touch of humour. Above all, however, it presents a picture of a way of life that has, as they feared, almost vanished, and their determination that it should be recorded. Odette du Puigaudeau wrote a number of other books on different aspects of nomad life, such as the salt caravans and date markets, as well as articles on prehistoric rock-drawings, and a charming tribute to her pet leopard, Rachid.

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Book SynopsisIn the year 1400 the princes of Europe sympathetically were much bestirred, fearing the imminent fall of Constantinople and the extinction of the Eastern Empire. The Ottoman Sultan Bazayid (otherwise Bajazet) was already in possession of almost the whole of what subsequently became Turkey in Europe. The Emperor Manuel still was lord of Constantinople, but beyond the city walls possessed a mere strip of territory along the north coast of the Sea of Marmora, and extending to the Black Sea, a strip some fifty miles in length but under thirty in breadth. Four years before (September 1396) an immense composite crusading army under the leadership of the Count of Nevers (a cousin of king Charles VI of France) had marched against the Turks to the support of king Sigismund of Hungary. But the Christians had been completely routed by Sultan Bayazid at Nicopolis on the lower Danube, an immense number of them had been killed, a lesser number made prisoners (who later had to be ransomed at heavy cost), and Europe in terror, the Emperor Manuel now shut up in Constantinople, all were waiting to learn what the Sultan next would do.From their capital established at Brusa the Turkish Sultans, past and present, had fomented many conspiracies at the Imperial Court. The father of Manuel had been the Emperor John Palaologus (1341a'1391) and Manuel's elder brother Andronicus had at an early age been proclaimed Emperor elect.1 In the days of Bayazid's father Sultan Murad (1360 to 1389) his eldest son Savaji had made a conspiracy with Andronicus whereby these two young princes had purposed to dethrone their respective fathers. The conspiracy miscarried, Savaji was put to death which brought his younger brother Bayazid later to be Sultan, and Andronicus (in company with his young son John) was shut up in the Constantinople State prison, the celebrated Tower of the Anemas. As a result Manuel his younger brother then became heira'apparent and coa'Emperor. But in Constantinople after two years the tables were turned by a palace plot. The Emperor John Palaologus and Manuel found themselves in the Anemas Tower, while Andronicus (with John the younger) assumed the purple.Kaleidoscopic changes again ensued; the old Emperor and Manuel after two years' detention managed to make their escape from durance and regained power: Andronicus was outlawed and banished. Later, however, with John the younger, he was established in the government of Selymbria, a city on the Sea of Marmora, a few miles west of Constantinople, and the peace lasted some years.

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Book Synopsis"From the age of thirteen I wandered abroad and at twenty-one I decided to take a little trip across France dressed as a man..." Maria ter Meetelen tells the story of her capture by Barbary pirates and twelve years as a slave at Meknes in Morocco. Straightforward and with no literary pretensions, her voice comes down the centuries, robust, clear, personal and often surprising: "I do not complain at having been so far across the world, nor of my twelve years of slavery, nor of the suffering the Turks caused me, I can rise above that. But the spitefulnessand derision that my husband and I suffered from our fellow-countrymen cannot be forgotten, and is impossible for me to set it down here in writing."

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA'A writer of fearless originality' GUARDIAN 'Du Maurier is in a class by herself' NEW YORK TIMES'A landmark book on a much-neglected figure, containing ground-breaking research' LISA JARDINE Prior to the publication of this biography, the elusive Anthony Bacon was merely glimpsed in the shadow of his famous younger brother, Francis. A fascinating historical figure, Anthony Bacon was a contemporary of the brilliant band of gallants who clustered round the court of Elizabeth I and he was closely connected with the Queen's favourite, the Earl of Essex. He also worked as an agent for Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen's spymaster, living in France where he became acquainted with Henri IV and the famous essayist Michel de Montaigne.It was in France that du Maurier discovered a secret that, if disclosed during Bacon's lifetime, could have put an end to his political career . . .Du Maurier did much to shed light on matters that had long puzzled historians, and, as well as a consummate exercise in research, this biography is also a strange and fascinating tale.Trade ReviewShe wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense, and she was, too, a writer of fearless originality * Guardian *Du Maurier is in a class by herself * New York Times *A landmark book on a much-neglected figure, containing ground-breaking research . . . Vintage du Maurier - a page-turner, and a thundering good read! -- Lisa JardineDaphne du Maurier has no equal * Sunday Telegraph *A landmark book on a much-neglected figure, containing ground-breaking research . . . Vintage du Maurier - a page-turner, and a thundering good read! * Lisa Jardine *

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Book SynopsisThis prize-winning biography, newly revised, sees Virginia Woolf as she saw herself. The first to set out the private life behind the well-known facts of her public career, A Writer's Life rocks back and forth between memories and art to reveal an explorer of 'the infinite oddity of the human position'. Instead of the doom-and-death often imposed on women of genius, here is the robust walker and seeker for what was fertile in her intimacies, in women's nature, and in resistance to power. This edition brings out her ideas for biography itself: to fall on a life 'like a roll of heavy waters... laying bare the pebbles on the shore of the soul'.Trade ReviewA most perceptive book which greatly adds to our knowledge and understanding * London Magazine *

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1936, this is the story of Elizabeth von Arnim's extraordinary life - and her equally extraordinary dogs. From her Pomeranian idyll (celebrated in her famous first book, ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN), to less happy days in London following the death of her first husband; from the beautiful solitude of her Swiss mountain hideaway, to the First World War and a disastrous second marriage, the author takes us on a disarmingly witty and poignant journey of canine companionship.Trade ReviewAs much a portrait of a vanished world as the autobiography of a well-loved author told through touching takes of canine companions * Big Issue *A captivating (in no way barking) autobiography. Dogs take the leading role, but it is also about troublesome husbands, wonderfu houses, a surprising life * Observer *

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Book SynopsisIsabelle Eberhardt (1877-1904) was born the daughter of a Russian emigres and raised in a climate of aristocratic anarchism. She reinvented herself as a desert Arab and a devout Muslim. She was a woman who preferred dressing like a boy and whose adventures - as a mystic, a connoiser of drugs, and a rumoured participant in sexual orgies - scandalised Europeans at the turn of the century. During her brief life she was a source of worried speculation to the French authorities in North Africa. After her death she became a legend: 'the amazon of the Sahara'.Trade ReviewShe is firmly in control of her sensational material * GUARDIAN *All the intricate threads of her rebellious life are to be found in Annette Kobak's scrupulously researched book * DAILY TELEGRAPH *A wonderful book - instantly absorbing and beautifully written * BILL BRYSON *This impeccably researched biography is a thoughtful and illuminating study * SUNDAY TIMES *

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Book SynopsisINTRODUCED BY DIANA ATHILLAn enchanting Brazilian classic. 'No wonder Bishop fell in love with this book . . . No adult writer, however skilful . . . could write with the nonchalant vivacity and ease that she unwittingly commanded' DIANA ATHILL, GUARDIAN 'A delightful, funny and revealing memoir, a little bit of Austen in the Americas' SPECTATOR'When we read her, we enter the classical serenity of a new country' ROBERT LOWELL From Elizabeth Bishop's introduction: 'When I first came to Brazil, in 1952, I asked my Brazilian friends which Brazilian books I should begin reading . . . They frequently recommended this little book, "Minha Vida de Menina" . . . In English the title means "My Life as a Little Girl" or "Young Girl", and that is exactly what the book is about, but it is not reminiscences; it is a diary, the diary actually kept by a little girl between the ages of 12 and 15, in the far-off town of Diamantina, in 1893-1895 . . . The more I read the book the better I liked it. The scenes and events it described were odd, remote, and long ago, and yet fresh, sad, funny and eternally true. The longer I stayed on in Brazil the more Brazilian the book seemed, yet much of it could have happened in any small provincial town or village, and at almost any period of history - at least before the arrival of the automobile and the moving-picture theatre.' Trade ReviewA delightful, funny and revealing memoir, a little bit of Austen in the Americas * Spectator *No wonder Bishop fell in love with this book . . . No adult writer, however skilful . . . could write with the nonchalant vivacity and ease that she unwittingly commanded -- Diana Athill * Guardian *When we read her, we enter the classical serenity of a new country -- Robert LowellHer cosmopolitan life is reflected in the breadth of her writings, all suffused with curiosity and quiet intelligence * Sunday Telegraph *No wonder Bishop fell in love with this book . . . No adult writer, however skilful . . . could write with the nonchalant vivacity and ease that she unwittingly commanded * Diana Athill, GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisEdith Sitwell (1887-1964) was, through four decades, the most prominent and celebrated woman poet in Britain. Among the notable admirers of her work were Siegfried Sassoon, WB Yeats and Gertrude Stein, Stephen Spender and Marianne Moore. Just after her death, Allen Tate described her in The New York Times as 'one of the great poets of the twentieth century'. Even as one allows for the ebb and flow of literary reputations, Edith Sitwell will have permanent claim on the attention of readers and literary scholars. She and her two brothers, Osbert and Sacheverell, were the focus of a movement in English Literature described as an 'alternative Bloomsbury'. This volume includes unpublished letters to many significant figures, including WB Yeats, Bertrand Russell and Benjamin Britten. It also contains letters that illuminate Sitwell's relations with other women writers, among them, Gertrude Stein and Rosamond Lehmann.'I am besotted with this dotty old bat. Britain's most celebrated and eccentric female poet, she dashed off reams of witty, newsy, mischievous letters in exquisitely beautiful prose. Every letter is a gem' - Val Hennessy (one of her top ten books for 1997), Daily MailTrade ReviewAmusing, painful, these letters are very entertaining * THE TIMES *Her letters are a vital expression of that personality - witty, prickly, affectionate, kind, snobbish yet vulnerable, imaginative and often over-the-top ... the letters make you laugh out loud * LITERARY REVIEW *

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Book Synopsis'Her life and her death remain a beacon to all who love liberty' NELSON MANDELAAn unforgettable account of defiance against political terror by one of South Africa's pioneering anti-apartheid activists.'In prison you see only the moves of the enemy. Prison is the hardest place to fight a battle.'117 Days is Ruth First's personal account of her detention under the iniquitous '90-day' law of 1963. There was no warrant, no charge and no trial - only suspicion.This sparsely written and unique record tells of her experiences of solitary confinement, constant interrogation and instantaneous re-arrest on release - lightened by humorous portraits of governors, matrons, wardresses and interrogators, seen as the tools of the police state. This is the story of the war of nerves that ensued between First and her Special Branch captors-a work that remains a classic portrait of oppression and the dignity of the human spirit.Trade Review[Ruth First's] life, and her death, remains a beacon to all who love liberty -- Nelson Mandela

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Book SynopsisEver since I have inhabited old age, I have looked and listened, mostly in vain, for news of what it is like for others who inhabit it too. Naturally, I'm interested in its well-known depredations, the physical and mental ones that people in their forties and fifties so publicly dread. And who would not delight in the theatrical props of old age - the pills and sticks, the shrieking hearing aids and the tricks for countering the loss of names and threads and glasses. But that's not all. I have a fond hope that in old age there may be new kinds of time and of pleasure, perhaps even new kinds of vitality, and that, though we forget and muddle and fail to hear things, there may be moments when we truly understand what's going on for the first time. But then I've always been a late developer.'Deeply thoughtful, wry and resilient, this fascinating and absorbing book about growing older is a life-enhancing look at what all of us - if we are lucky - can aspire to.Trade ReviewA mind so subtle and well furnished, Jane Miller writes so well -- Diana AthillA wonderful book that everyone who cares about writing, about living, will want to read. Growing old is an under-described thing in writing but when I read Crazy Age I wanted to shout from the rooftops -- Andrew O’HaganJane Miller's writing is so fluid and amusing that you mostly forget that old age is supposed to be such a gloom . . . If anyone doubts that old age can actually be interesting, this is the book for them -- Katharine Whitehorn * Observer *

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Book SynopsisWhat do 'Abu Sindi', 'Timothy Sean McCormack', 'Saro', and 'Commander Avo' all have in common? They were all aliases for Monte Melkonian. But who was Monte Melkonian? In his native California he was once a kid in cut-off jeans, playing baseball and eating snow cones. Europe denounced him as an international terrorist. His adopted homeland of Armenia decorated him as a national hero who led a force of 4000 men to victory in the Armenian enclave of Mountainous Karabagh in Azerbaijan. Why Armenia? Why adopt the cause of a remote corner of the Caucasus whose peoples had scattered throughout the world after the early twentieth century Ottoman genocides? Markar Melkonian spent seven years unravelling the mystery of his brother's road: a journey which began in his ancestors' town in Turkey and leading to a blood-splattered square in Tehran, the Kurdish mountains, the bomb-pocked streets of Beirut, and finally, to the windswept heights of Mountainous Karabagh. Monte's life embodied the agony and the follies bedevelling the end of the Cold War and the unravelling of the Soviet Union. Yet, who really was this man? A terrorist or a hero? "My Brother's Road" is not just the story of a long journey and a short life, it is an attempt to understand what happens when one man decides that terrible actions speak louder than words.

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Book SynopsisPublished in 1996, Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigma was the first in-depth study of the artist's life. It has not been superseded.In this substantially revised, updated edition - to coincide with the artist's centenary, which will be celebrated from autumn 2008 through summer 2009 - Peppiatt will incorporate confidential material Bacon gave him, which he did not include in the first edition. This valuable, first-hand information comes from the hundreds of conversations Bacon had with Peppiatt, often late into the night, over thirty years, particularly during the periods Bacon spent living and working in Paris. It includes insights into Bacon's intimate relationships, his artistic convictions and his general view of life, as well as his acerbic comments on his contemporaries.Peppiatt will draw on some of the fascinating information that has become available in the fifteen years since the artist died. Once jealously guarded by the artist himself, the contents of Bacon's studio can now be freely consulted; Peppiatt has had privileged access to these archives, and he will show how a number of recent discoveries - including wholly unexpected source material - have radically changed the way we look at Bacon's work. Similarly, his recent research into the artist's background - his tortured affair with the sadistic Peter Lacy in Tangier, for instance, and the baffling circumstances of his death in Madrid - will shed light on unexplored areas of Bacon's life and work. Peppiatt will also unveil new information from several people who knew Bacon intimately and who have never gone on record previously.Trade ReviewBrilliantly and evocatively written. -- Antonia Fraser * Daily Mail *[Peppiatt's] account of the evolution of Bacon's artistic ideas is confident, amusing and thought-provoking. -- Richard Davenport-Hines * The Independent *This account of a life, as Peppiatt puts it, "filled with the extremes of human emotion and devoted to expressing them with utmost force," is probably more readable and enjoyable than the attempts at exhaustive biography which surely lie ahead. * Gilbert De Botton, Literary Review *Anatomy of an Engima will surely remain a uniquely authoritative and readable account of the man who once confided, 'it may sound pretentious but you see I have had the most extraordinary life'. * Literary Review *One of the most important and insightful writings on the artist * Art Newspaper *

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Book SynopsisJon Spence's fascinating biography paints an intimate portrait of Jane Austen. "Becoming Jane Austen" gives the fullest account we have of her falling in love with the charming young Irishman Tom Lefroy, a relationship that was more serious and enduring than previously believed and one that had a profound effect upon her life and her art. The elegant narrative examines Austen's other emotional attachments, building a picture of her world as she herself perceived and experienced it. It is a world familiar to us from her novels, but in "Becoming Jane Austen", Jane herself is the heroine.Trade ReviewMention in The Bookseller'It is the small incidents that Jon Spence puts under the microscope in his entertaining and sensitive biography.' 'Jon Spence is painstaking, delicate, full of insight - a somehow fitting, friendly biographer.' ~ Joceline Bury, Jane Austen's Regency World Magazine -- Joceline Bury'Jon Spence's book has all the virtues of a well-researched and original study. Hard to write anything new about Jane Austen these days, but Spence, in his own quiet and unobtrusive way, has done it.' ~ John Bayley -- John Bayley"Becoming Jane Austen gives the fullest account we have of her falling in love with the charming young Irishman Tom Lefroy." -- Lucy Whitson, Evening ExpressReview in Eighteenth Century Current Bibliography, October 2007"Fascinating...full of details that add color and texture to what we know of Austen." --The Record-Courier -- Mary Louise Ruehr"Spence meticulously unpacks the evidence available to him...and lays the probablilities before us in writing that is charged with its own kind of electricity. His great achievement is that by the end of Becoming Jane Austen it is indeed possible to see how Jane became Jane Austen, the great writer of English literature." -- Sydney Morning Heraldmention in 'Books on Radio' -- The Bookseller'A delightful book ... I have enjoyed it immensely.' -- John Bayley CBE, Writer and Literary Critic'Jon Spence's 'Becoming Jane Austen' is one of the best half-dozen books published on Austen in the last quarter century.' 'This is a book full of wisdom about [Jane Austen] and her art.' Joseph Wiesenfarth, JASNA News -- Joseph Wiesenfarth'Becoming Jane Austen' is a good, traditional biography. Clearly written, jargon-free and pleasant to read, it covers familiar ground without any sense of fatigue and makes the most of the material.' ~ Peter Washington, The Literary Review -- Peter Washington'Jon Spence has given us the most cogent portrait of Jane Austen's literary life to date.' ~ Julia Barrett, author of 'Presumption', 'The Third Sister' and 'Jane Austen's "Charlotte"', British Heritage Magazine -- Julia Barrett * British Heritage Magazine *Title mentioned, April 2007 -- Stephanie Cross * Observer *"This biography does uncover some interesting facts about the novelist's antecedents and family, showing them to be just as obsessed with fortune and gentility as the Dashwoods and the Bennets." * Tablet, The *Table of ContentsIllustrations; New Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1 Legacies; 2 Home; 3 Scenes; 4 The Good Apprentice; 5 History; 6 Love and Art; 7 Place; 8 Ways of Escape; 9 Money; 10 Work; 11 The World; 12 The Body; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

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