Biography

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“At a time when the meaning of America is up for grabs, Cody Keenan’s new book chronicles ten days that tested us and ultimately showed us at our best. It’s a captivating story about what’s worth fighting for, an antidote to cynicism that will make you believe again.”—President Barack Obama, via TwitterFrom Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter Cody Keenan, a spellbinding account of the ten most dramatic days of the presidency, when a hate-fueled massacre and looming Supreme Court decisions put the character of our country on the line, and a president’s words could bring the nation together or tear it apart.A white supremacist shooting and an astonishing act of forgiveness. A national reckoning with race and the Confederate flag. The fate of marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act. Grace is the propulsive story of ten days in June 2015, when Obama and his chief speechwriter Cody Keenan composed a series of high-stakes speeches to meet a succession of stunning developments.Through behind-the-scenes moments—from Obama’s suggestion that Keenan pour a drink, listen to some Miles Davis, and “find the silences,” to the president’s late-night writing sessions in the First Family’s residence—Keenan takes us inside the craft of speechwriting at the highest level for the most demanding of bosses, the relentlessly poetic and perfectionist Barack Obama. Grace also delivers a fascinating portrait of White House insiders like Ben Rhodes, Valerie Jarrett, Jen Psaki, and the speechwriting team responsible for pulling it all off during a furious, historic stretch of the Obama presidency—including a gifted fact-checker who took Keenan’s rhetoric to task before taking his hand in marriage. Grace is the most intimate writing that exists on the rhetorical tightrope our first Black president had to walk, culminating with an unforgettable high point: Obama stunning everybody by taking a deep breath and leading the country in a chorus of “Amazing Grace.”

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The infamous emperor Caligula ruled Rome from A.D. 37 to 41 as a tyrant who ultimately became a monster. An exceptionally smart and cruelly witty man, Caligula made his contemporaries worship him as a god. He drank pearls dissolved in vinegar and ate food covered in gold leaf. He forced men and women of high rank to have sex with him, turned part of his palace into a brothel, and committed incest with his sisters. He wanted to make his horse a consul.Torture and executions were the order of the day. Both modern and ancient interpretations have concluded from this alleged evidence that Caligula was insane. But was he? This biography tells a different story of the well-known emperor. In a deft account written for a general audience, Aloys Winterling opens a new perspective on the man and his times. Basing Caligula on a thorough new assessment of the ancient sources, he sets the emperor's story into the context of the political system and the changing relations between the senate and the emperor during Caligula's time and finds a new rationality explaining his notorious brutality.

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Giancarlo Granda finally reveals the truth about his relationship with Becki Falwell and her husband Jerry Falwell Jr., and the hidden world of political influence, high finance, and criminal intrigue.Jerry Falwell Jr. is a prominent figure in the evangelical world whose support for presidential candidate Donald J. Trump helped secure Trump's Republican nomination in 2016. He captured headlines when it was revealed that he and his wife Becki had participated in a years-long bizarre sexual relationship with a pool attendant they met at the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach. As Falwell Jr. began to deny this relationship, even more damaging news came out, ultimately forcing him to resign as president of Liberty University, which many consider to be the largest evangelical Christian university in the world. Giancarlo Granda is now ready to share the story of his years on an "only in America" rollercoaster ride through the monied corridors of power and profound hypocrisy.

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A nuanced mix of memoir, photographs, motivational musings, and wisdom, legendary celebrity stylist Ty Hunter recounts both the trying times and brightest moments of his life. Faced with physical, mental, and emotional obstacles, ranging from a gunshot wound, to taking care of his sick parents, or simply existing as a Black, gay man in America, Ty channeled his energy into surmounting the unconquerable and thus developed a resilient spirit—one that begs to be shared with the world. Through overcoming hardship and his career as a stylist, where he often doubled as a therapist and worked with superstars like Beyoncé and Billy Porter, Ty has developed a knack for inspiring self-confidence in others. Perfect for the unstoppable badass in your life, this book tells the story of a vibrant soul who defeated the odds and whose goal is to guide you to a brighter and more positive future. Featuring a foreword by Beyoncé and introduction by Billy Porter.

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Autobiography of Mark Twain READER'S EDITION Now Available! Half the Size, All the Twain! ISBN 978052027255 "I've struck it!" Mark Twain wrote in a 1904 letter to a friend. "And I will give it away--to you. You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography." Thus, after dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his "Final (and Right) Plan" for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion--to "talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment"--meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be "dead, and unaware, and indifferent," and that he was therefore free to speak his "whole frank mind." The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain's works, UC Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain's uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain's authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave as he intended. Editors: Harriet E. Smith, Benjamin Griffin, Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Sharon K. Goetz, Leslie Myrick

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London. Wham! Pop, glitz and glamour. And two girls with stars in their eyes.Our friendship began one windy day in 1982, outside Finsbury Park tube. It was an instant like at first sight. We were on our way to a Wham! rehearsal. Pepsi was the new girl in the band and over a car stereo, a cassette tape and that journey to Bushey we bonded. We had no idea that we were on the first of many journeys together and that soon we'd be travelling all over Europe, Australia, America, China and Japan. Or that no matter where we went, together, we'd find a way to make every exotic destination feel like home.We'd both been teenagers during the seventies – a dreary and difficult decade, especially if you were young in London and you didn't have much money.So, in 1982, anything was possible for us – a pair of twentysomethings who hadn't been to university, who didn't have any money, who dreamt of singing and dancing, but ultimately lived for fun. Everything felt new and life was a question mark. We had no idea what was lying ahead, but we wanted to say yes.What we didn't know was that we were saying yes to a lifetime of connection that has endured whatever we've done, wherever we've been. From the side of the stage to its centre – we have many stories to tell.And it's all here, it's all in black and white.

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Mark Twain's complete, uncensored Autobiography was an instant bestseller when the first volume was published in 2010, on the centennial of the author's death, as he requested. Published to rave reviews, the Autobiography was hailed as the capstone of Twain's career. It captures his authentic and unsuppressed voice, speaking clearly from the grave and brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions. The eagerly-awaited Volume 2 delves deeper into Mark Twain's life, uncovering the many roles he played in his private and public worlds. Filled with his characteristic blend of humor and ire, the narrative ranges effortlessly across the contemporary scene. He shares his views on writing and speaking, his preoccupation with money, and his contempt for the politics and politicians of his day. Affectionate and scathing by turns, his intractable curiosity and candor are everywhere on view. Editors: Benjamin Griffin and Harriet E. Smith Associate Editors: Victor Fischer, Michael B. Frank, Sharon K. Goetz and Leslie Diane Myrick

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Lise Meitner (1878-1968) was a pioneer of nuclear physics and co-discoverer, with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, of nuclear fission. Braving the sexism of the scientific world, she joined the prestigious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry and became a prominent member of the international physics community. Of Jewish origin, Meitner fled Nazi Germany for Stockholm in 1938 and later moved to Cambridge, England. Her career was shattered when she fled Germany, and her scientific reputation was damaged when Hahn took full credit - and the 1944 Nobel Prize - for the work they had done together on nuclear fission. Ruth Sime's absorbing book is the definitive biography of Lise Meitner, the story of a brilliant woman whose extraordinary life illustrates not only the dramatic scientific progress but also the injustice and destruction that have marked the twentieth century.

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James Joyce remains a mysterious figure, and yet his books concern his own life: his friends, loves, and above all the city of Dublin. Professor Chester Anderson here examines Joyce as one of the greatest modern writers, but also explores his life, visiting all the places where he lived and worked, and showing how closely all these biographical details are related to Joyce's four great books: Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake. This unity of work and life is illuminated by passages quoted from these masterpieces and from Joyce's letters and other writings. The fascinating photographs of Joyce, his family and his surroundings cover every phase of his life.

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‘Pacy, witty and affectionate’ Guardian Rob Beckett never seems to fit in. At work, in the middle-class world of television and comedy, he’s the laddy, cockney geezer but to his mates down the pub in south-east London, he’s the theatrical one, a media luvvy. Even his wife and kids are posher than him. In this hilarious exploration of class, Rob tries to understand the life he lived growing up as a working-class kid in comparison to the life he lives now. Will he ever favour a craft beer over strong lager? When did it become normal for kids to eat sushi? Is he still working class? Why does he feel so embarrassed about success? And, will it ever be acceptable to serve pie mash on a wooden board? Tackling the questions big and small, A Class Act is a funny, candid, often moving account of what it feels like to be an outsider and why actually that’s the best (slightly awkward) place to be.

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Racial identity, pop culture, and delusions of perfection collide in an eye-opening and refreshingly frank memoir by fashion and beauty insider Danielle Prescod.Danielle Prescod grew up Black in an elite and overwhelmingly white community, her identity made more invisible by the whitewashed movies, television, magazines, and books she and her classmates voraciously consumed. Danielle took her cue from the world around her and aspired to shrink her identity into that box, setting increasingly poisonous goals. She started painful and damaging chemical hair treatments in elementary school, began depriving herself of food when puberty hit, and tried to control her image through the most unimpeachable, impeccable fashion choices.Those obsessions led her to relentlessly pursue a career in beauty and fashion—the eye of the racist and sexist beauty standard storm. Assimilating was hard, but she was practiced. And she was an asset. Their “Token Black Girl.” Toxic, sure. But Danielle was striving to achieve social cache and working her way up the ladder of coveted media jobs, and she looked great, right? So what if she had to endure executives’ questions like “What was it like to drive to school from the ghetto?” Or coworkers’ eager curiosity to know if her parents were on welfare. But after decades of burying her emotions, resentment, and true self, Danielle turned a critical eye inward and confronted the factors that motivated her self-destructive behaviors.Sharp witted and bracingly candid, Token Black Girl unpacks the adverse effects of insidious white supremacy in the media—both unconscious and strategic—to tell a personal story about recovery from damaging concepts of perfection, celebrating identity, and demolishing social conditioning.

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Once A Pear... is the enthralling cricketing story of Daryl Mitchell - the ultimate 'one-club man'. Daryl graduated from the village game to become the first Worcestershire captain born in the county since 1925. He turned down offers from other, more famous counties to play for the club for 17 years in a turbulent career that saw five promotions, five relegations and short-form triumphs in the Pro40 competition and the Twenty20 Blast. A club legend, 38 first-class county hundreds put him sixth in the all-time list of Worcestershire centurions, while his 295 catches place him eighth in the fielding records. Four years as chairman of the Professional Cricketers' Association speaks volumes for the esteem he is held in by fellow professionals. In Once A Pear... Daryl reveals what it takes to be a successful county cricketer, and the impact on a player's mental health, while exploring how the game has changed in the last 20 years. This is the story of a true cricket man.

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Discover how Brooks Running Company CEO Jim Weber transformed a failing business into a billion-dollar brand in the ultracompetitive global running market. Running with Purpose is a leadership memoir with insights, inspirational stories, and tangible takeaways for current and aspiring leaders, entrepreneurs, and the 150+ million runners worldwide and those in the broader running community who continually invest in themselves.This leadership memoir starts with Jim Weber's seventh-grade dream to run a successful company that delivered something people passionately valued. Fast forward to 2001, Jim became the CEO of Brooks and, as the struggling brand's fourth CEO in two years, he faced strong headwinds. A lifelong competitor, Jim devised a one-page strategy that he believed would not only save the company but would also lay the foundation for Brooks to become a leading brand in the athletic, fitness, and outdoor categories. To succeed, he had to get his team to first believe it was possible and then employ the conviction, fortitude, and constancy of purpose to outperform larger brands. Brooks' success was validated when Warren Buffett made it a standalone Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary in 2012. In the pages of Running with Purpose, you will find: Brooks’ bold strategy and unique brand positioning that fueled its move from the back of the pack to lead. The key to building a purpose-driven brand that is oriented around customer obsession, building trust, competing with heart, and having fun along the way. The six clear leadership lessons Jim has learned along his path and applies at Brooks to develop staff into authentic leaders. How Berkshire Hathaway's support and influence provided a tailwind for Brooks' business and brand to surge. An inside look at the ups and downs of Jim's personal journey, which led to his conviction that life is too short not to enjoy what you do and the people by your side.

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'Fantastic book written by a true LFC legend.' Jurgen Klopp'George Sephton is part of the brickwork of Liverpool Football Club and was witness to so many iconic moments. He has lived through a huge chunk of our history, from when Liverpool were in the Second Division, when he used to come to Anfield with his father, all the way to being crowned World Club and Premier League champions. It's been a rollercoaster ride, and George has been there for all the ups and downs - but mainly the ups.' Sir Kenny Dalglish'The voice of George Sephton has been heard at Anfield for so long that you could be forgiven for imagining him poised with a wind-up gramophone and a 78-rpm record of Gerry with his ukulele and a single Pacemaker, on a comb and tissue paper, piping Alan A'Court and Alf Arrowsmith onto the field.' Elvis CostelloGeorge Sephton's relationship with Liverpool Football Club began in 1971 when he wrote to the club secretary applying to be the stadium announcer. His first match also marked the debut of Kevin Keegan. For the past fifty years, Sephton has been at Anfield for all but a handful of home fixtures, as well as travelling with the team to major finals. From the highs of winning numerous league titles and European Cups, to the lows of Heysel and Hillsborough, Sephton has been with Liverpool through it all. From encounters with great managers and legendary players - from Bill Shankly to Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes to Jurgen Klopp, he tells his unique and entertaining story of the greatest club in the world.

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"Original, important, moving, witty and exquisitely-written. WHAT a feat." - BERNARDINE EVARISTO"Incredible... beautiful and funny and humane." - EMILIE PINE"Pristine poetry and prose." KATHERINE MAY, AUTHOR OF WINTERING"Babies who are this small, he says, have a good chance of survival. Small is not good for babies. It is not whimsical or cute or the cause of admiration. It is the first time it occurs to us that they might not survive. Babies die from smallness."Claire Lynch knew that having children with her wife would be complicated but she could never have anticipated the extent to which her life would be redrawn by the process.This dazzling debut begins with the smallest of life's substances, the microscopic cells subdividing in a petri dish in a fertility treatment centre. She moves through her story in incremental yet ever growing steps, from the fingernail-sized pregnancy test result screen which bears two affirmative lines to the premature arrival of her children who have to wear scale-model oxygen masks in their life-saving incubators. Devastatingly poignant and profoundly observant - and funny against the odds - Claire considers whether it is our smallness that makes our lives so big.

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Born into what was one of the wealthiest families in the world, "Walter Rothschild" became the best known zoologist of his day - and one of Britain's great eccentrics. A benign and enigmatic figure with a boundless enthusiasm for nature, he amassed the largest accumulation of zoological specimens ever collected by one man, establishing his own private Museum in 1892, now the Natural History Museum at Tring.Walter's extraordinary life traversed the fields of politics and finance, as well as zoology, and was packed with both achievement and incident. From his involvement with the Balfour Declaration to his prodigious personal scientific output, Walter's life was anything but commonplace. He went up to Cambridge accompanied by a flock of kiwi, drove a team of zebra down Piccadilly and into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, and was a victim of blackmail for many years. With the help of evocative photographs Miriam Rothschild has produced a compelling narrative which, while demonstrating her personal admiration and affection for her uncle, does not shy away from the complexities and conflicts this remarkable man faced during his life.

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Now fully updated, Scorsese on Scorsese is the definitive study of America's foremost film director, including new chapters on Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead, the documentary My Voyage to Italy, and the epic Gangs of New York.True to its title, this book offers Martin Scorsese in his own words: through a career-length interview in which he recalls his upbringing in New York's Little Italy, and explains the inspiration and creation of his many great movies. The result is an incomparable insight into a body of work that is the most personal achievement in modern American cinema.Scorsese proves himself to be a terrifically articulate artist, whether recounting the many battles to get his movies made, his supreme passion for the medium of film itself, or the roots of his long-time creative partnership with actor Robert De Niro. Scorsese on Scorsese also contains a complete filmography, and a wealth of behind-the-scenes stills and sketches from Scorsese's own collection.

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The inspiring story of one young man's record-breaking solo cycle journey around the worldOn 15 February 2008, Mark Beaumont pedalled through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 194 days and 17 hours previously, he had begun his attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time. Mark smashed the Guinness World Record by an astonishing 81 days. He had travelled more than 18,000 miles on his own through some of the harshest conditions one man and his bicycle can endure, camping wild at night and suffering from constant ailments.The Man Who Cycled the World is the story not just of that amazing achievement, but of the events that turned Mark Beaumont into the man he is today. From the early years of his free-spirited childhood in the Scottish countryside to present day, he has been equally determined not to settle for an average existence, but to break free and follow his dreams.Mark Beaumont grew up in the foothills of the Scottish Highlands. When he was twelve, he cycled across Scotland, then a few years later, completed the 1,000 mile solo ride across Britain from John O'Groats to Land's End. His next long-distance ride took him the length of Italy, a journey of 1,336 miles, helping to raise £50,000 for charity. After graduating from Glasgow University, and having also qualified as a professional ski instructor, he decided against a conventional career and devoted himself full-time to raising money for his endurance adventures. Visit his website at www.markbeaumontonline.com

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They were like a band of brothers...In 1983 Andy McNab was assigned to B Squadron, one of the four Sabre Squadrons of the SAS, and within it to Air Troop, otherwise known as SEVEN TROOP.This is Andy McNab's gripping account of the time he served in the company of a remarkable group of men - from the day, freshly badged, he joined them in the Malayan jungle, to the day, ten years later, that he handed in his sand-coloured beret and started a new life. The links they forged then bound them inextricably together, but the things they saw and did during that time would take them all to breaking point - and some beyond - in the years that were to follow. He who dares doesn't always win...

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**WINNER OF THE NME BEST BOOK AWARD**'This book is going to try and get as close as possible to the full story of what informed the noise of The Streets. Obviously that's something I should be fairly well-qualified to know about, and I'm going to be as honest as the publisher's lawyers will allow.'With the 2001 release of The Streets' debut single 'Has It Come To This?' the landscape of British popular music changed forever. No longer did homegrown rappers have to anxiously defer to transatlantic influences. Mike Skinner's witty, self-deprecating sagas of late-night kebab shops and skunk-fuelled Playstation sessions showed how much you could achieve simply by speaking in your own voice.In this thoroughly modern memoir, the man the Guardian once dubbed 'half Dostoevsky . . . half Samuel Pepys' tells a freewheeling, funny and fearlessly honest tale of Birmingham and London, ecstasy and epilepsy, Twitter-fear and Spectrum joysticks, spread-betting and growing up. He writes of his musical inspirations, role models and rivals, the craft of songwriting and reflects on the successes and failures of the decade-long journey of The Streets.

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On 27 January 1945 Otto Frank was liberated from Auschwitz by Russian soldiers. At that point not only his journey home started, but also his long quest to find out what had happened to his wife Edith, his daughters Margot and Anne and the four other people with whom he had been in hiding in the Annex at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam: Herman and Auguste van Pels, their son Peter and dentist Fritz Pfeffer. In the months after his liberation Otto Frank would discover that he is the only survivor out of these eight people. After the Annex continues the journey that Otto began. It is the ultimate attempt, based on thorough research in archives and available eye witness accounts, to reconstruct as precisely as possible what happened to the eight people in hiding after their arrest.

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Throughout the occupied territories, Catholic sisters were active in resistance to the Nazis Based on letters and documents – not seen for seventy years – written by the Catholic Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur during the Nazi occupation of Belgium, this book tells the remarkable story of these brave and faithful women, and how they resisted the German forces. In great detail, these letters document the lives of the sisters and convents under the Nazi regime, revealing the hardships of being bombed and constant hunger, and the executions of innocents. But they also tell the story of how these remarkably courageous women worked to help defeat the Nazis. Throughout the occupied territories, Catholic sisters were active members of the resistance. From running contraband to hiding resisters and Jews, and from spying for the allies to small acts of sabotage, these extraordinary women risked their lives to save others and to help bring an end to the war. This is a story that deserves to be told.

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‘A lyrical investigation … both powerful and transcendent’ CHIGOZIE OBIOMA ‘Acutely observed, hauntingly rendered and deeply affecting’ AMINATTA FORNA ‘Both epic and intimate’ MARGO JEFFERSON An astonishing search for a missing person, the hidden tragedies of war and the truth of Nigeria’s history. Emmanuel Iduma never met his uncle, his father’s favourite brother and the man for whom he is named. The elder Emmanuel left home in 1967 to fight in the Biafran War and was not seen again. The war lasted for three years, with young Igbo men volunteering to fight for a breakaway republic in the chaotic wake of British decolonization. Around one hundred thousand others who fought in the war share a fate like Emmanuel’s uncle, though there are no official records of these losses. The tensions that gave rise to the conflict remain live, threatening sometimes to bubble over. In this landscape, there are no monuments or graves. Instead, a collective remembering that remains, for the most part, silent. I Am Still with You sees a young Nigerian return to his place of birth. Travelling the route of the war, Iduma explores both a national history and the mysteries of his own family, finding both somewhat scarred and haunted, the memories warped by time and the darkest parts left for decades unspoken.

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The story of the Rolling Stones is one of the epic rock 'n' roll yarns of our time. Their music defined today's cultural landscape and their history is a source of endless fascination for music fans around the world. Yet one crucial part of that story has never been comprehensively analysed: the role of Brian Jones, the visionary who founded the band and controlled their early music down to the smallest detail.Drawing on over one hundred interviews with key principals including Keith Richards, Andrew Oldham and Marianne Faithfull, this is a story told from a totally new perspective and which lays bare the shocking ruthlessness, internal warfare and sexual competition within this most legendary of bands. As well as exploring Jones' crucial role in the Stones' music, it will also investigate the unravelling of his psyche, as observed by Brian's family, friends, bandmates, lovers and enemies. Victors get to write the history - but it's never wholly true. Brian's life story is a gripping one, an epic battle between creativity and ambition, between self-sabotage and betrayal. This book will disentangle the threads of the Rolling Stones story and put Brian Jones firmly in the foreground.

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Glasgow in the 1950s was a deprived and often violent place. Meg Henderson was part of a large family, and when the tenement block in which they lived collapsed they had to move to the notorious Blackhill district where religious sectarianism and gang warfare were part of daily life. Yet despite appalling conditions , there was warmth, laughter and a remarkable spirit, andMeg's mother and her Aunt Peggy, both idealistic and emotional women, shielded her from the effects of her father's heavy drinking. A hopeless romantic, Peggy searched for a husband until late in life and then endured a harsh, unhappy marriage. When she died horrifically in childbirth her death devastated the family and destroyed Meg's childhood. Only later, after the death of her own mother, was Meg able to discover the shocking facts behind the tragedy.

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Genghis Khan - creator of the greatest empire the world has ever seen - is one of history's immortals. In Central Asia, they still use his name to frighten children. In China, he is honoured as the founder of a dynasty. In Mongolia he is the father of the nation. In the USA, Time magazine, voted Genghis Khan 'the most important person of the last millennium'. But how much do we really know about this man? How is it that an unlettered, unsophisticated warrior-nomad came to have such a profound effect on world politics that his influence can still be felt some 800 years later? How he united the deeply divided Mongol peoples and went on to rule an empire that stretched from China in the east to Poland in the west (one substantially larger than Rome's at its zenith) is an epic tale of martial genius and breathtaking cruelty. John Man's towering achievement in this book, enriched by his experiences in China and Mongolia today, is to bring this little-known story vividly and viscerally to life.

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In Princess, readers were shocked by Sultana's revelations about life in Saudi Arabia's royal family. Royal women live as virtual prisoners, surrounded by unimaginable wealth and luxury, privileged beyond belief, and yet subject to every whim of their husbands, fathers, and even their sons. Daughters of Arabia featured Sultana's teenage daughters, determined to rebel but in very different ways.And now, in Desert Royal, Sultana's fight for women's rights in a repressive, fundamentalist Islamic society, has an extra sense of urgency. The threat of world terrorism, the gathering strength of religious leaders and the discontent of impoverished Saudis are threatening to topple the comfortable world Sultana has known. But an extended family 'camping' trip in the desert brings Sultana and her relatives face to face with their nomadic roots, and nourishes her will to carry on the fight for women's rights in all Muslim countries.This updated edition contains an all-new chapter as well as a letter from Sultana herself, encouraging all women to take up the struggle for freedom for their abused sisters throughout the world.

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'Phenomenal woman' The Oprah Magazine'Dazzles you with the amazing change that is possible in one lifetime.' Washington Post-This is the heart-wrenching true story of a girl named Cupcake Brown.Orphan, runaway, addict, all before she was twenty. That's when things got really interesting...Cupcake was just eleven years old when, orphaned, she entered the child welfare system. Moved from one disastrous placement to the next, like so many, she was neglected and sexually abused.She fed her appetite for drink and drugs by selling the only thing she had. Her body. Before long she had stumbled head first into a world of gangs and extreme violence. After one crack binge she woke up behind a dumpster. Half-dressed and more than half-dead, she knew she had a choice. Change her life or die.Brutally frank and startlingly funny, A Piece of Cake is the remarkable true story of a resilient spirit who triumphed over the very worst that life could throw at her.

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The extraordinary life of the best poker player who ever livedWhen Stuey 'The Kid' Ungar took his first World Series of Poker title, one journalist asked him what he would do with the money. His answer: 'Gamble it'.Stuey grew up among the hoodlums and wiseguys of New York's Lower East Side. A pint-sized high-school drop out who never worked a day in his life, never had a bank account or paid a penny in taxes, he lived to gamble and became the world's most feared card player. From the multi-million dollar fortune he won and lost, the addictions that consumed him, and one of the greatest phoenix-from-the-ashes comebacks of all time, this is the story of a Las Vegas legend.

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Following a youth of poverty and bitter exile after his father's execution, the ousted king first challenged, then made his magnificent escape from, Cromwell's troops before he was eventually restored to his throne in triumph in 1660.Spanning his life both before and after the Restoration, Antonia Fraser's lively and fascinating biography captures all the vitality of the man and the expansiveness of the age.

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When it comes to deciding the most tragic British artist of the 20th century, Cyril Mann (1911-80) must be a contender. Mann made a number of genuinely innovative breakthroughs and certainly had the potential to become one of the most important figurative painters of his time. Yet, struggling with mental health problems, Mann had an unerring instinct for turning each moment of promise into bitter disappointment. In 1959, Renske van Slooten fell in love with Mann who was more than twice her age. Renske was convinced she discovered a genius and she promised to dedicate her life to him as muse, model and money earner. Their struggles quickly threatened to overwhelm them. The Girl in a Green Jumper is not only an enthralling story set against the backdrop of 1960s London, but it also charts in detail the struggles an artist goes through, both creatively and financially. Renske also gives fascinating insights into the way that Cyril's painting technique evolved over time.

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The epic story of one of the most famous love affairs in history, by the bestselling author of Caesar.The love affair between Antony and Cleopatra is one of the most famous stories from the ancient world and has been depicted in countless novels, plays and films. As one of the three men in control of the Roman Empire, Antony was perhaps the most powerful man of his day. And Cleopatra, who had already been Julius Caesar's lover, was the beautiful queen of Egypt, Rome's most important province. The clash of cultures, the power politics, and the personal passion have proven irresistible to storytellers.But in the course of this storytelling dozens of myths have grown up. The popular image of Cleopatra in ancient Egyptian costume is a fallacy; she was actually Greek. Despite her local dominance in Egypt, her real power came from her ability to forge strong personal allegiances with the most important men in Rome. Likewise, Mark Antony was not the bluff soldier of legend, brought low by his love for an exotic woman - he was first and foremost a politician, and never allowed Cleopatra to dictate policy to him. In this history, based exclusively on ancient sources and archaeological evidence, Adrian Goldsworthy gives us the facts behind this famous couple and dispels many myths.

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An enlightening narrative exploring an oft-overlooked aspect of the sixteenth president's life, An American Marriage reveals the tragic story of Abraham Lincoln’s marriage to Mary Todd.Abraham Lincoln was apparently one of those men who regarded “connubial bliss” as an untenable fantasy. During the Civil War, he pardoned a Union soldier who had deserted the army to return home to wed his sweetheart. As the president signed a document sparing the soldier's life, Lincoln said: “I want to punish the young man—probably in less than a year he will wish I had withheld the pardon.” Based on thirty years of research, An American Marriage describes and analyzes why Lincoln had good reason to regret his marriage to Mary Todd. This revealing narrative shows that, as First Lady, Mary Lincoln accepted bribes and kickbacks, sold permits and pardons, engaged in extortion, and peddled influence. The reader comes to learn that Lincoln wed Mary Todd because, in all likelihood, she seduced him and then insisted that he protect her honor. Perhaps surprisingly, the 5’2” Mrs. Lincoln often physically abused her 6’4” husband, as well as her children and servants; she humiliated her husband in public; she caused him, as president, to fear that she would disgrace him publicly. Unlike her husband, she was not profoundly opposed to slavery and hardly qualifies as the “ardent abolitionist” that some historians have portrayed. While she provided a useful stimulus to his ambition, she often “crushed his spirit,” as his law partner put it. In the end, Lincoln may not have had as successful a presidency as he did—where he showed a preternatural ability to deal with difficult people—if he had not had so much practice at home.

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This fascinating new book looks in detail at Renoir's influences, life and works. The first part begins examines his style; it covers Renoir's techniques and training: painting copies at the Louvre; his time at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts; meeting his muse, Lise Trehot; working with fellow impressionist artists and his struggles for recognition. The volume then investigates Renoir's move away from Impressionism, his stay in Guernsey and also the changes to his personal life and the way in which these informed his work. It also documents his eventual success in the art world and considers the devastating series of illnesses and losses that blighted the end of Renoir's long painting career. The second part of the book is a gallery of Renoir's work in 300 glorious pictures, each accompanied by an in-depth analysis of its context within his life, his technique and his body of work as a whole.

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This is an expert and detailed account of the painter Claude Monet, one of the key founders of the Impressionist movement and arguably the most influential painter of modern times. It is an insightful biography that tells the story of his life, the historical context of society at the time, and his relationships with Renoir, Sisley and Manet. It features a beautiful gallery of all Claude Monet's most significant works accompanied by in-depth analysis of his style and technique, stunningly illustrated with 500 beautiful images. It explores his relationship with the traditional art world and his courageous rejection of it, choosing to establish a new form of art. The first half of this impressive book is a review of the life of Claude Monet and the development of his talents. It follows his early experiences and artistic education, as well as his personal life, financial difficulties and marriages, shedding light on why Monet became the painter he did. The second half is a gallery of more than 300 of his works with analysis of each painting. Paintings are reproduced from all phases of his career, including when he lived at Argenteuil, where some of the most famous impressionist works were created. This extraordinary book is an essential volume for anyone wanting to learn more about this fascinating and ground-breaking artist, and to study his greatest works in one beautiful collection.

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The world was stunned when little-known Karol Wojtyła became the first non-Italian pope for 450 years. As Pope John Paul II, he continued to surprise, directly confronting Communist regimes, flying hundreds of thousands of miles to meet the faithful, and building bridges with other faiths. John Paul II became a bête noire in the eyes of liberals for his staunch refusal to accept contraception or the ordination of women. But for others he was a Churchillian figure who took on the forces of godlessness and moral relativism. He gained a stature that left secular statesmen in his shadow. Love him or loathe him, few could deny that he was a man of rare courage. He survived two assassination attempts, fought off cancer and waged a very public battle with Parkinson’s disease. Seven years after his death he continues to exert a hold over the Church and to inspire an almost cult-like devotion.

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**The number-one bestseller**The story of how an extraordinary childhood shaped an extraordinary life On the West Coast of the South Island, past deep fiords and snow-capped mountains, Chris Long grew up two days' hike from the nearest road. He was born into the country's most isolated family, his parents committed to freedom from capitalist society and connection to the natural world.In this inspiring memoir, Chris describes a childhood with nature on his doorstep - helping his father catch crayfish and his mother grow vegetables, playing with toys crafted from driftwood and jade, and learning to live in the wild - until, in his teenage years, he began to wonder: could he survive in the wider world?By the son of the authors of A Life on Gorge River and A Wife on Gorge River, The Boy from Gorge River is an enthralling account of chasing adventure while forever staying true to where you come from.

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