Biography & Autobiography Books
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Imagine John Yoko
Lennon, John
(Hardcover)
List Price: $250.00 Sale: $68.16
Personally compiled and curated by Yoko Ono, Imagine John Yoko is the definitive inside story-told in revelatory detail-of the making of the legendary album and all that surrounded it: the locations, the creative team, the artworks and the films, in the words of John & Yoko and the people who were there.
Obsessive Creative
Dinnigan, Collette
(Hardcover)
List Price: $75.00 Sale: $29.91
Beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated with four-color photographs, sketches, and watercolors, renowned international fashion designer and icon Collette Dinnigan provides intimate and revealing insights into her life, creative, process, and work.Collette Dinnigan's collections are sold in every corner of the world, and her designs have been worn by a coterie of leading actresses, celebrities, and royalty, including Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, Emily Blunt, Halle Barry, Madonna, and Julia Roberts. Her work has graced major feature films and television shows, such as Sex and the City, Baz Luhrman's Australia, Gossip Girl, and the Oprah Winfrey show, and has been highlighted in every major fashion magazine worldwide and in numerous fashion anthologies.In this sumptuous volume packaged in a cloth case with a gorgeous watercolor screened on it by Dinnigan herself, the designer invites us into her life, from what drives her and how she achieved success to the inspirations behind her designs and how her bohemian childhood shaped her development as an artist. Obsessive Creative takes us into the mind and heart of this imaginative, forward-thinking designer, her clothes, and her passions. It is also a behind-the-scenes look at the world of high fashion, from the studio where Collette's sublimely beautiful clothes are made to a beading factory in India to backstage at the Paris shows.Lushly illustrated with photos from top international fashion photographers and from Collette's own family albums, plus numerous collages of the designer's sketches, watercolors, and inspirational materials, objects, and environments, Obsessive Creative is an intensely personal and visually stunning account of Dinnigan's life and work - an inspiring volume sure to excite artists and designers, spark every fashionista's unique creativity, and delight her fans worldwide.
Independent Spirit: Early Canadian Women Artists
Prakash, A. K.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $75.00 Sale: $24.81
A visual journey into a largely forgotten but rich vein in Canada's cultural legacy. Independent Spirit celebrates women artists in Canada from the eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on rarely seen paintings in private collections, as well as exquisite pieces from public galleries, A.K. Prakash offers a unique and inspired selection of work by women artists who changed the face of Canadian art. In Part I, seventy-seven works of art by thirty-six artists are presented in detail, each with a stunning full-page colour image and an incisive analysis and appreciation of the work. In Part II, in-depth biographies feature additional full-colour images and details of the artwork to illustrate each artist's approach and distinctive technique.
Obama: An Intimate Portrait
Souza, Pete
(Hardcover)
List Price: $50.00 Sale: $19.71
Relive the extraordinary Presidency of Barack Obama through White House photographer Pete Souza's behind-the-scenes images and stories in this #1 New York Times bestseller--with a foreword from the President himself.Obama: An Intimate Portrait reproduces more than 300 of Souza's most iconic photographs with fine-art print quality in an oversize collectible format. Together they document the most consequential hours of the Presidency--including the historic image of President Obama and his advisors in the Situation Room during the bin Laden mission--alongside unguarded moments with the President's family, his encounters with children, interactions with world leaders and cultural figures, and more.Souza's photographs, with the behind-the-scenes captions and stories that accompany them, communicate the pace and power of our nation's highest office. They also reveal the spirit of the extraordinary man who became our President. We see President Obama lead our nation through monumental challenges, comfort us in calamity and loss, share in hard-won victories, and set a singular example to "be kind and be useful," as he would instruct his daughters.This book puts you in the White House with President Obama, and will be a treasured record of a landmark era in American history.
American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
Brinkley, Douglas
(Compact Disc)
List Price: $55.99 Sale: $18.01
On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.Drawing on new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who were key to America’s success, Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as never before. American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giant leap possible, the technology that enabled us to propel men beyond earth’s orbit to the moon and return them safely, and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself fully to this audacious dream. Brinkley’s ensemble cast of New Frontier characters include rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn and space booster Lyndon Johnson.A vivid and enthralling chronicle of one of the most thrilling, hopeful, and turbulent eras in the nation’s history, American Moonshot is an homage to scientific ingenuity, human curiosity, and the boundless American spirit.
The Education of an Idealist
Power, Samantha
(Compact Disc)
List Price: $65.99 Sale: $18.01
The Education of an Idealist traces Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power's distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official.In 2005, Power's critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected Senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign. After Obama was elected president, Power went from being an activist outsider to a government insider, serving for four years as Obama's human rights adviser and then as the youngest-ever US Ambassador to the United Nations.Transporting us from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia and out into the world of high-stakes diplomacy, Power's memoir is an unforgettable account of the world-changing power of idealism, and of one person's fierce determination to make a difference.Unabridged on 18 compact discs.
Love, Cecil: A Journey with Cecil Beaton
Vreeland, Lisa Immordino
(Hardcover)
List Price: $50.00 Sale: $18.01
In Love, Cecil, Lisa Immordino Vreeland offers an evocative portrait of this talented whirlwind whose creative work captured many facets of the 20th century. Using photography, drawings, letters, and scrapbooks by Beaton and his contemporaries, along with excerpts from his sparkling diaries and other writings, Immordino Vreeland brings his spirit to life in a way that no previous book has been able to do.Immordino Vreeland organizes her book around the circles of Beaton’s daily life: the people who inspired and influenced him, his colorful friends, his fellow photographers, his Hollywood conquests, his wartime service, and his English roots. This cavalcade offers a shimmering vision of high style, but it also captures often-troubled souls struggling to create the open, tolerant, creative worlds of art and culture that we have inherited today.
Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church
Ivereigh, Austen
(Compact Disc)
List Price: $61.99 Sale: $18.01
Following his critically acclaimed The Great Reformer, Austen Ivereigh's colorful, clear-eyed portrait of Pope Francis takes us inside the Vatican's urgent debate over the future of the church in Wounded Shepherd.This deeply contextual biography centers on the tensions generated by the pope’s attempt to turn the Church away from power and tradition and outwards to engage humanity with God’s mercy. Through battles with corrupt bankers and worldly cardinals, in turbulent meetings and on global trips, history’s first Latin-American pope has attempted to reshape the Church to evangelize the contemporary age. At the same time, he has stirred other leaders’ deep-seated fear that the Church is capitulating to modernity - leaders who have challenged his bid to create a more welcoming, attentive institution.Facing rebellions over his allowing sacraments for the divorced and his attempt to create a more "ecological" Catholicism, as well as a firestorm of criticism for the Church’s record on sexual abuse, Francis emerges as a leader of remarkable vision and skill with a relentless spiritual focus - a leader who is at peace in the turmoil surrounding him.With entertaining anecdotes, insider accounts, and expert analysis, Ivereigh’s journey through the key episodes of Francis’s reform in Rome and the wider Church brings into sharp focus the frustrations and fury, as well as the joys and successes, of one of the most remarkable pontificates of the contemporary age.
Audrey: The 60s
Wills, David
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $16.31
Audrey Hepburn, 60s icon. Audrey Hepburn charmed audiences in the 1950s as a new type of cinema personality—gamine, doe-eyed, and refreshingly casual. By the 1960s she had transformed into a trendsetting sophisticate and achieved unrivaled careers as an actress, model, movie star, and champion for underprivileged children worldwide. Curator and photographic preservationist David Wills has amassed one of the world's largest private collections of original Audrey Hepburn photographs. Now, inAudrey: The 60s, he has gathered spectacular museum-quality work from her key photographers—Richard Avedon, Bert Stern, Cecil Beaton, Douglas Kirkland, William Klein, Terry O'Neill, Howell Conant, Bob Willoughby, Pierluigi Pratulon, Bud Fraker, and many others—to create this stunning portfolio of images that pays homage to the most beloved and enduring style icon of the decade of change. Among the highlights: Rare and classic images digitally restored from their original negatives and transparencies. Never-before-seen publicity photos and candids from the sets ofBreakfast at Tiffany's, Charade, My Fair Lady, How to Steal a Million,andTwo for the Road. Unpublished outtakes and rarely seen images from Vogue fashion sessions, some not published since their original appearance. Previously unpublished photos by Bert Stern, Cecil Beaton, Douglas Kirkland, William Klein, Howell Conant, Bob Willoughby, Pierluigi Pratulon, and many others. Pairing more than two hundred first-generation photos with reflections and original quotes from friends, photographers, designers, work associates, and Audrey herself,Audrey: The 60sis an unforgettable showcase of the actress's timeless beauty and extraordinarily influential style.
Looking at Ansel Adams: The Photographs and the Man
Stillman, Andrea G.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $16.31
LOOKING AT ANSEL ADAMS is a personal and penetrating study that explores Ansel's life as an artist by looking closely at the stories behind 20 of his most significant images. Immediately recognizable photographs like Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, and Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake are turned on their axes and seen from a new angle, along with ancillary photographs, alternative versions, and letters and postcards that relate to these beloved icons. Less familiar but equally important photographs provide unexpected insight into Ansel's creative and personal life. For anyone with a love of the American wilderness and an interest in the life and work of the country's most revered landscape photographer and environmental advocate, LOOKING AT ANSEL ADAMS is an essential and deeply satisfying book.
They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators
Evans, Harold
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $16.31
- A major four part PBS series hosted by Evans, based on the book, will air in November 2004.- Evans is the author of the critically acclaimed bestseller The American Century, named a book of the year by both the New York Times and Publishers Weekly. "A sumptuous book....Breathes new life into even the best-remembered episodes." (Geoffrey Ward, Washington Post).- In 2002, British journalists voted Harold Evans the all-time greatest newspaper editor, and he was knighted in 2004.- A glorius full-color package and a major work of American history.
Imagine John Yoko
Grand Central Publishing
(Hardcover)
List Price: $50.00 Sale: $14.61
Written, compiled and curated by Yoko Ono this is the definitive inside story of the making of the Imagine album and all that surrounded it, and a tribute to one of the most important and creative collaborations of the 20th century.The story of the making of the seminal 19671 album Imagine with fresh new insights from the musicians, engineers and staff who were there when the album was conceived and made. Features exclusive, hitherto-unseen archive photos and unaired footage of all the key players and artefacts, together with artfully compiled narrative film sequences and stitched-together panoramas that recreate the interiors in exact and evocative detail.
The Mamba Mentality: How I Play
Bryant, Kobe
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $14.61
The first book from the basketball superstar Kobe Bryant - a lavish, deep dive inside the mind of one of the most revered athletes of all timeIn the wake of his retirement from professional basketball, Kobe “The Black Mamba” Bryant has decided to share his vast knowledge and understanding of the game to take readers on an unprecedented journey to the core of the legendary “Mamba mentality.” Citing an obligation and an opportunity to teach young players, hardcore fans, and devoted students of the game how to play it “the right way,” The Mamba Mentality takes us inside the mind of one of the most intelligent, analytical, and creative basketball players ever.For the first time, and in his own words, Bryant reveals his famously detailed approach and the steps he took to prepare mentally and physically to not just succeed at the game, but to excel. Readers will learn how Bryant studied an opponent, how he channeled his passion for the game, how he played through injuries. They’ll also get fascinating granular detail as he breaks down specific plays and match-ups from throughout his career.Bryant’s detailed accounts are paired with stunning photographs by the Hall of Fame photographer Andrew D. Bernstein. Bernstein, long the Lakers and NBA official photographer, captured Bryant’s very first NBA photo in 1996 and his last in 2016 - and hundreds of thousands in between, the record of a unique, twenty-year relationship between one athlete and one photographer.The combination of Bryant’s narrative and Bernstein’s photos make The Mamba Mentality an unprecedented look behind the curtain at the career of one of the world’s most celebrated and fascinating athletes.
Obama: The Call of History
Baker, Peter
(Hardcover)
List Price: $50.00 Sale: $14.61
Peter Baker’s authoritative history of the Obama presidency is the first complete account that will stand the test of time. Baker takes the measure of Obama’s achievements and disappointments in office and brings into focus the real legacy of the man who, as he described himself, “doesn’t look like all the presidents on the dollar bills.”With vivid color photographs by New York Times photographers and others of the events, major and minor, public and behind-the scenes, that defined Barack Obama’s eight years in office, Obama: The Call of History is a portrait in full of America’s first African-American president against the background of these tumultuous times.
Peter Clapham Sheppard: His Life and Work
Smart, Tom
(Hardcover)
List Price: $55.00 Sale: $14.61
This book is a celebration of the rediscovery of the masterworks of Toronto-born Peter Clapham Sheppard (1879-1965), an artist who played a leading role in the founding of Canada's national school of art. A contemporary and colleague of the Group of Seven, he was one of the finest artists of his generation and his work is among the best in Canadian art.The book is full of beautiful color reproduction of Sheppard's paintings, and his work shows a wide range of sources and influences. In the early years of the 20th century he was a Realist who captured the life and times of the city and people of Toronto. Later, he was inspired by the French Impressionists to capture with paint the effects of light and weather, particularly in winter, in urban settings, especially New York City.Termed a "radical" in his early career, rather than being inspired by his friends and contemporaries in the Group of Seven, Sheppard looked to New York painters of the urban and industrial scenes for inspiration. He was a forceful painter of urban development which he interpreted as a metaphor of national growth and resilience during World War I.He was skilled at drawing and painting the city, capturing the dynamism of urban life, but he also traveled into the woods and wilderness of Ontario, much like the Group of Seven, to paint scenes of woods and waterfalls.Although he was widely exhibited in national and important international exhibitions of Canadian art in his early career, over the course of the last century Sheppard has fallen into the shadow cast by the Group of Seven. From occupying a place among a generation of artists who established a national school, he died in relative obscurity.This book casts light on a unique talent, an artist of his times, whose art matched the quality of the Group, but found inspiration beyond the sources that inspired his more famous contemporaries. This book is the culmination of a 30-year effort to bring Sheppard's name and art to its rightful place in this country's art history.
Renia's Diary: A Holocaust Journal
Spiegel, Renia
(Compact Disc)
List Price: $50.99 Sale: $14.61
The long-hidden diary of a young Polish woman's life during the Holocaust, translated for the first time into EnglishRenia Spiegel was born in 1924 to an upper-middle class Jewish family living in southeastern Poland, near what was at that time the border with Romania. At the start of 1939 Renia began a diary. “I just want a friend. I want somebody to talk to about my everyday worries and joys. Somebody who would feel what I feel, who would believe me, who would never reveal my secrets. A human being can never be such a friend and that’s why I have decided to look for a confidant in the form of a diary.” And so begins an extraordinary document of an adolescent girl’s hopes and dreams. By the fall of 1939, Renia and her younger sister Elizabeth (née Ariana) were staying with their grandparents in Przemysl, a city in the south, just as the German and Soviet armies invaded Poland. Cut off from their mother, who was in Warsaw, Renia and her family were plunged into war.Like Anne Frank, Renia’s diary became a record of her daily life as the Nazis spread throughout Europe. Renia writes of her mundane school life, her daily drama with best friends, falling in love with her boyfriend Zygmund, as well as the agony of missing her mother, separated by bombs and invading armies. Renia had aspirations to be a writer, and the diary is filled with her poignant and thoughtful poetry. When she was forced into the city’s ghetto with the other Jews, Zygmund is able to smuggle her out to hide with his parents, taking Renia out of the ghetto, but not, ultimately to safety. The diary ends in July 1942, completed by Zygmund, after Renia is murdered by the Gestapo.Renia's Diary has been translated from the original Polish, and includes a preface, afterword, and notes by her surviving sister, Elizabeth Bellak. An extraordinary historical document, Renia Spiegel survives through the beauty of her words and the efforts of those who loved her and preserved her legacy.
Stalin - Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941
Kotkin, Stephen
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $14.61
Pulitzer Prize-finalist Stephen Kotkin has written the definitive biography of Joseph Stalin, from collectivization and the Great Terror to the conflict with Hitler's Germany that is the signal event of modern world history.
Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior
Herman, Arthur
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $14.10
A new, definitive life of an American icon, the visionary general who led American forces through three wars and foresaw his nation's great geopolitical shift toward the Pacific Rim--from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of Gandhi & Churchill Douglas MacArthur was arguably the last American public figure to be worshipped unreservedly as a national hero, the last military figure to conjure up the romantic stirrings once evoked by George Armstrong Custer and Robert E. Lee. But he was also one of America's most divisive figures, a man whose entire career was steeped in controversy. Was he an avatar or an anachronism, a brilliant strategist or a vainglorious mountebank? Drawing on a wealth of new sources, Arthur Herman delivers a powerhouse biography that peels back the layers of myth--both good and bad--and exposes the marrow of the man beneath. MacArthur's life spans the emergence of the United States Army as a global fighting force. Its history is to a great degree his story. The son of a Civil War hero, he led American troops in three monumental conflicts--World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Born four years after Little Bighorn, he died just as American forces began deploying in Vietnam. Herman's magisterial book spans the full arc of MacArthur's journey, from his elevation to major general at thirty-eight through his tenure as superintendent of West Point, field marshal of the Philippines, supreme ruler of postwar Japan, and beyond. More than any previous biographer, Herman shows how MacArthur's strategic vision helped shape several decades of U.S. foreign policy. Alone among his peers, he foresaw the shift away from Europe, becoming the prophet of America's destiny in the Pacific Rim. Here, too, is a vivid portrait of a man whose grandiose vision of his own destiny won him enemies as well as acolytes. MacArthur was one of the first military heroes to cultivate his own public persona--the swashbuckling commander outfitted with Ray-Ban sunglasses, riding crop, and corncob pipe. Repeatedly spared from being killed in battle--his soldiers nicknamed him "Bullet Proof"--he had a strong sense of divine mission. "Mac" was a man possessed, in the words of one of his contemporaries, of a "supreme and almost mystical faith that he could not fail." Yet when he did, it was on an epic scale. His willingness to defy both civilian and military authority was, Herman shows, a lifelong trait--and it would become his undoing. Tellingly, MacArthur once observed, "Sometimes it is the order one disobeys that makes one famous." To capture the life of such an outsize figure in one volume is no small achievement. With Douglas MacArthur, Arthur Herman has set a new standard for untangling the legacy of this American legend.
The White House
Goldberg, Vicki
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $14.10
THE WHITE HOUSE: THE PRESIDENT'S HOME IN PHOTOGRAPHS AND HISTORY covers every aspect of White House Life over the past 200 years. Witness multiple refurbishments to the house, media coverage and popular photography of the White House, and photos of its illustrious inhabitants, visitors, and even pets and illustrations. Accompanying the photographs is an incisive, informative text by renowned critic Vicki Goldberg. A rich visual history and a beautiful gift book, THE WHITE HOUSE is a must for photography and history buffs alike.
Women Chefs of New York
Arumugam, Nadia
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $14.10
Women Chefs of New York is a colorful showcase of twenty-five leading female culinary talents in the restaurant capital of the world. In a fiercely competitive, male-dominated field, these women have risen to the top, and their stories--and their recipes--make it abundantly clear why. Food writer Nadia Arumugam braves the sharp knives and the sputtering pans of oil for intimate interviews, revealing the chefs' habits, quirks, food likes, and dislikes, their proudest achievements, and their aspirations. Each chef contributes four signature recipes--appetizers, entrees, and desserts--to recreate the experience of a meal from their celebrated kitchens. This gorgeous full-color cookbook includes portraits of these inspiring women, inviting interior shots of their restaurants, and mouthwatering pictures of the featured dishes, styled by the chefs themselves--all captured by celebrated food photographer Alice Gao.Women Chefs of New York features all-stars such as Amanda Freitag, Jody Williams, April Bloomfield (The Spotted Pig, The Breslin), Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune), Christina Tosi (Momofuku Milk Bar), and Alex Raij (La Vara, Txikito, El Quinto) as well as up-and-coming players like Zahra Tangorra (Brucie), Ann Redding (Uncle Boons), and Sawako Ockochi (Shalom Japan). It's the ultimate gift for any cook or foodie--man or woman--interested in the food that's dazzling discerning palates in NYC now.
Letters to Vera
Nabokov, Vladimir
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $13.76
The letters of the great writer to his wife - gathered here for the first time - chronicle a decades-long love story and document anew the creative energies of an artist who was always at work.No marriage of a major twentieth-century writer is quite as beguiling as that of Vladimir Nabokov’s to Véra Slonim. She shared his delight in life’s trifles and literature’s treasures, and he rated her as having the best and quickest sense of humor of any woman he had met. From their first encounter in 1923, Vladimir’s letters to Véra form a narrative arc that tells a half-century-long love story, one that is playful, romantic, pithy and memorable. At the same time, the letters tell us much about the man and the writer. We see the infectious fascination with which Vladimir observed everything - animals, people, speech, the landscapes and cityscapes he encountered - and learn of the poems, plays, stories, novels, memoirs, screenplays and translations on which he worked ceaselessly. This delicious volume contains twenty-one photographs, as well as facsimiles of the letters themselves and the puzzles and doodles Vladimir often sent to Véra.
Orson Welles: One-Man Band (Volume 3)
Callow, Simon
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $13.76
The third volume of Simon Callow's acclaimed Orson Welles biography, covering the period of his exile from America (1947-1964), when he produced some of his greatest works, including Touch of Evil.In One-Man Band, the third volume in his epic and all-inclusive four-volume survey of Orson Welles's life and work, the celebrated British actor Simon Callow again probes in comprehensive and penetrating detail into one of the most complex, contradictory artists of the twentieth century, whose glorious triumphs (and occasional spectacular failures) in film, radio, theater, and television introduced a radical and original approach that opened up new directions in the arts.This volume begins with Welles's self-exile from America, and his realization that he could function only to his own satisfaction as an independent film maker, a one-man band, in fact, which committed him to a perpetual cycle of money raising. By 1964, he had filmed Othello, which took three years to complete; Mr. Arkadin, the most puzzling film in his output; and a masterpiece in another genre, Touch of Evil, which marked his one return to Hollywood, and like all too many of his films was wrested from his grasp and reedited. Along the way he made inroads into the fledgling medium of television and a number of stage plays, of which his 1955 London Moby-Dick is considered by theater historians to be one of the seminal productions of the century. His private life was as spectacularly complex and dramatic as his professional life. The book reveals what it was like to be around Welles, and, with an intricacy and precision rarely attempted before, what it was like to be him, answering the riddle that has long fascinated film scholars and lovers alike: Whatever happened to Orson Welles?
Pope John Paul II: The Biography
Szulc, Tad
(Paperback)
List Price: $38.95 Sale: $13.76
Pope John Paul II is one of the pivotal figures of this century, the spiritual head of more than one billion believers and a world statesman of immense stature and influence. Yet, at the age of seventy-six and in the eighteenth year of his papacy, he remains a mystery -- theologically, politically, and personally. Now, through unprecedented access to both the Pope himself and those close to him, veteran New York Times correspondent and award-winning author Tad Szulc delivers the definitive biography of John Paul II. This strikingly intimate portrait highlights the Polishness that shapes the Pope's mysticism and pragmatism, while providing a behind-the-scenes look at the significant events of his public and private life, including: The inside story of the negotiations involving John Paul II, Soviet President Gorbachev, and General Jaruzelski of Poland that led to Poland's and Eastern Europe's transition from communism to democracy John Paul II's secret diplomacy, which resulted in the establishment of relations between the Holy See and Israel The never-before-told story of how the Polish communist regime helped to "make" Karol Wojtyla an archbishop, the key step on his road to the papacy. Fascinating and thought-provoking, this biography of Pope John Paul II is vital reading not only for Roman Catholics, but for anyone interested in one of the most important figures of our time.
Two-Dimensional Man
Paul Sahre, Inc.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $37.50 Sale: $13.76
Paul Sahre shares deeply revealing stories that serve as the unlikely inspiration behind his extraordinary thirty-year design career. Sahre explores his most vain attempts to escape his "suburban Addams Family" upbringing and the death of his elephant-trainer brother. He also wrestles with the cosmic implications involved in operating a scanner, explains the disappearance of ice machines, analyzes a disastrous meeting with Steely Dan, and laments the typos, sunsets, and poor color choices that have shaped his work and point of view.Two-Dimensional Man portrays the designer's life as one of constant questioning, inventing, failing, dreaming, and ultimately making.
Warhol
Gopnik, Blake
(Hardcover)
List Price: $45.00 Sale: $13.76
The definitive biography of a fascinating and paradoxical figure, one of the most influential artists of his - or any - age
American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
Brinkley, Douglas
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $12.91
On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.Drawing on new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who were key to America’s success, Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as never before. American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giant leap possible, the technology that enabled us to propel men beyond earth’s orbit to the moon and return them safely, and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself fully to this audacious dream. Brinkley’s ensemble cast of New Frontier characters include rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn and space booster Lyndon Johnson.A vivid and enthralling chronicle of one of the most thrilling, hopeful, and turbulent eras in the nation’s history, American Moonshot is an homage to scientific ingenuity, human curiosity, and the boundless American spirit.
American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
White, Ronald C.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $12.91
In his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the "Trinity of Great American Leaders." But the battlefield commander–turned–commander-in-chief fell out of favor in the twentieth century. In American Ulysses, Ronald C. White argues that we need to once more revise our estimates of him in the twenty-first.Based on seven years of research with primary documents - some of them never examined by previous Grant scholars - this is destined to become the Grant biography of our time. White, a biographer exceptionally skilled at writing momentous history from the inside out, shows Grant to be a generous, curious, introspective man and leader - a willing delegator with a natural gift for managing the rampaging egos of his fellow officers. His wife, Julia Dent Grant, long marginalized in the historic record, emerges in her own right as a spirited and influential partner.Grant was not only a brilliant general but also a passionate defender of equal rights in post-Civil War America. After winning election to the White House in 1868, he used the power of the federal government to battle the Ku Klux Klan. He was the first president to state that the government’s policy toward American Indians was immoral, and the first ex-president to embark on a world tour, and he cemented his reputation for courage by racing against death to complete his Personal Memoirs. Published by Mark Twain, it is widely considered to be the greatest autobiography by an American leader, but its place in Grant’s life story has never been fully explored - until now.One of those rare books that successfully recast our impression of an iconic historical figure, American Ulysses gives us a finely honed, three-dimensional portrait of Grant the man - husband, father, leader, writer - that should set the standard by which all future biographies of him will be measured.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life
Dallek, Robert
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $12.91
In an era of such great national divisiveness, there could be no more timely biography of one of our greatest presidents than one that focuses on his unparalleled political ability as a uniter and consensus maker. Robert Dallek’s Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life takes a fresh look at the many compelling questions that have attracted all his biographers: how did a man who came from so privileged a background become the greatest presidential champion of the country’s needy? How did someone who never won recognition for his intellect foster revolutionary changes in the country’s economic and social institutions? How did Roosevelt work such a profound change in the country’s foreign relations?For FDR, politics was a far more interesting and fulfilling pursuit than the management of family fortunes or the indulgence of personal pleasure, and by the time he became president, he had commanded the love and affection of millions of people. While all Roosevelt’s biographers agree that the onset of polio at the age of thirty-nine endowed him with a much greater sense of humanity, Dallek sees the affliction as an insufficient explanation for his transformation into a masterful politician who would win an unprecedented four presidential terms, initiate landmark reforms that changed the American industrial system, and transform an isolationist country into an international superpower.Dallek attributes FDR’s success to two remarkable political insights. First, unlike any other president, he understood that effectiveness in the American political system depended on building a national consensus and commanding stable long-term popular support. Second, he made the presidency the central, most influential institution in modern America’s political system. In addressing the country’s international and domestic problems, Roosevelt recognized the vital importance of remaining closely attentive to the full range of public sentiment around policy-making decisions—perhaps FDR’s most enduring lesson in effective leadership.
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times
Walker, Alan
(Hardcover)
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Based on ten years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker’s monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker’s work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin. Fryderyk Chopin is an intimate look into a dramatic life; of particular focus are Chopin’s childhood and youth in Poland, which are brought into line with the latest scholarly findings, and Chopin’s romantic life with George Sand, with whom he lived for nine years.Comprehensive and engaging, and written in highly readable prose, the biography wears its scholarship lightly: this is a book suited as much for the professional pianist as it is for the casual music lover. Just as he did in his definitive biography of Liszt, Walker illuminates Chopin and his music with unprecedented clarity in this magisterial biography, bringing to life one of the nineteenth century’s most confounding, beloved, and legendary artists.
Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet
Roper, Lyndal
(Hardcover)
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On October 31, 1517, so the story goes, a shy monk named Martin Luther nailed a piece of paper to the door of the Castle Church in the university town of Wittenberg. The ideas contained in these Ninety-five Theses, which boldly challenged the Catholic Church, spread like wildfire. Within two months, they were known all over Germany. So powerful were Martin Luther’s broadsides against papal authority that they polarized a continent and tore apart the very foundation of Western Christendom. Luther’s ideas inspired upheavals whose consequences we live with today. But who was the man behind the Ninety-five Theses? Lyndal Roper’s magisterial new biography goes beyond Luther’s theology to investigate the inner life of the religious reformer who has been called “the last medieval man and the first modern one.” Here is a full-blooded portrait of a revolutionary thinker who was, at his core, deeply flawed and full of contradictions. Luther was a brilliant writer whose biblical translations had a lasting impact on the German language. Yet he was also a strident fundamentalist whose scathing rhetorical attacks threatened to alienate those he might persuade. He had a colorful, even impish personality, and when he left the monastery to get married (“to spite the Devil,” he explained), he wooed and wed an ex-nun. But he had an ugly side too. When German peasants rose up against the nobility, Luther urged the aristocracy to slaughter them. He was a ferocious anti-Semite and a virulent misogynist, even as he argued for liberated human sexuality within marriage. A distinguished historian of early modern Europe, Lyndal Roper looks deep inside the heart of this singularly complex figure. The force of Luther’s personality, she argues, had enormous historical effects—both good and ill. By bringing us closer than ever to the man himself, she opens up a new vision of the Reformation and the world it created and draws a fully three-dimensional portrait of its founder.
No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach
Bourdain, Anthony
(Hardcover)
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More than just a companion to the hugely popular show, No Reservations is Bourdain's fully illustrated journal of his far-flung travels. The book traces his trips from New Zealand to New Jersey and everywhere in between, mixing beautiful, never-before-seen photos and mementos with Bourdain's outrageous commentary on what really happens when you give a bad-boy chef an open ticket to the world. Want to know where to get good fatty crab in Rangoon? How to order your reindeer medium rare? How to tell a Frenchman that his baguette is invading your personal space? This is your book. For any Bourdain fan, this is an indispensable opportunity to hit the road with the man himself.
No Surrender
Edmonds, Christopher
(Compact Disc)
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Spanning seven decades and linking a sprawling cast of heroes from every corner of the country, No Surrender is an unforgettable story of a father's extraordinary acts of valor in the treacherous final days of World War II and a son's journey to discover them.
Who Loses, Who Wins: The Journals of Kenneth Rose (Volume Two 1979-2014)
Rose, Kenneth
(Hardcover)
List Price: $38.99 Sale: $12.91
Kenneth Rose was one of the most astute observers of the post-war Establishment. The wry and amusing journals of the royal biographer and historian made objective observation a sculpted craft.His impeccable social placement located him within the beating heart of the national elite for decades. He was capable of writing substantial history, such as his priceless material on the abdication crisis from conversations with both the Duke of Windsor and the Queen Mother. Yet he maintained sufficient distance to achieve impartial documentation while working among political, clerical, military, literary and aristocratic circles. Relentless observation and a self-confessed difficulty ''to let a good story pass me by'' made Rose a legendary social commentator, while his impressive breadth of interests was underpinned by tremendous respect for the subjects of his enquiry.Brilliantly equipped as Rose was to witness, detail and report, the second volume of his journals vividly portrays some of the most important events and people of the last century, from the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1979 to Kenneth Rose''s death in 2014.
The Andy Warhol Diaries
Hackett, Pat (Edt)
(Hardcover)
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In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the bestselling classic is introduced to a new generation - with an added preface by Warhol's diarist and long-time friend, Pat Hackett, contemplating Warhol's lasting cultural impact.This international literary sensation turns the spotlight on one of the most influential and controversial figures in American culture. Filled with shocking observations about the lives, loves, and careers of the rich, famous, and fabulous, Warhol's journal is endlessly fun and fascinating.
The Kinfolk Entrepreneur: Ideas for Meaningful Work
Williams, Nathan
(Hardcover)
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Nathan Williams introduces readers to 40 creative business owners around the globe, offering an inspiring, in-depth look behind the scenes of their lives and their companies. Pairing insightful interviews with striking images of these men and women and their workspaces, The Kinfolk Entrepreneur makes business personal. The book profiles both budding and experienced entrepreneurs across a broad range of industries (from fashion designers to hoteliers) in cities across the globe (from Copenhagen to Dubai). Readers will learn how today’s industry leaders handle both their successes and failures, achieve work-life balance, find motivation in the face of adversity, and so much more.
L. A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food
Choi, Roy
(Hardcover)
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Los Angeles: A patchwork megalopolis defined by its unlikely cultural collisions; the city that raised and shaped Roy Choi, the boundary-breaking chef who decided to leave behind fine dining to feed the city he loved--and, with the creation of the Korean taco, reinvented street food along the way. Abounding with both the food and the stories that gave rise to Choi's inspired cooking, L.A. Son takes us through the neighborhoods and streets most tourists never see, from the hidden casinos where gamblers slurp fragrant bowls of pho to Downtown's Jewelry District, where a ten-year-old Choi wolfed down Jewish deli classics between diamond deliveries; from the kitchen of his parents' Korean restaurant and his mother's pungent kimchi to the boulevards of East L.A. and the best taquerias in the country, to, at last, the curbside view from one of his emblematic Kogi taco trucks, where people from all walks of life line up for a revolutionary meal. Filled with over 85 inspired recipes that meld the overlapping traditions and flavors of L.A.--including Korean fried chicken, tempura potato pancakes, homemade chorizo, and Kimchi and Pork Belly Stuffed Pupusas--L.A. Son embodies the sense of invention, resourcefulness, and hybrid attitude of the city from which it takes its name, as it tells the transporting, unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.
Streets of Fire
Meola, Eric
(Hardcover)
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An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at Bruce Springsteen as you've never seen him before. This collection includes more than seventy black-and-white photographs by photographer Eric Meola, lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, and an essay by Joyce Millman. Eric Meola first saw Bruce Springsteen perform in 1973 at New York's legendary club Max's Kansas City. He began photographing Springsteen the following year, just before the release of his breakthrough album, Born to Run, for which Meola shot the cover album art. Meola continued photographing Springsteen throughout his early career, most notably from 1977 through 1979, when Springsteen was emerging as a bona-fide rock star. This carefully curated collection of images gives us a revelatory look at Springsteen as he was coming to terms with his newfound success and creating the music for his fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town. Complete with an introduction from Meola, an insightful end-of-book essay by Joyce Millman, and running lyrics to several of Springsteen's songs, this book also shows how Meola's evocative portraits reveal Springsteen as he really was - an artist at the crossroads of his fledgling career, writing about dark themes and finding redemption through his own words and image.
Abba Eban: A Biography
Siniver, Asaf
(Hardcover)
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A skilled debater, a master of language, and a passionate defender of Israel, Abba Eban’s diplomatic presence was in many ways a contradiction unlike any the world has seen since. While he was celebrated internationally for his exceptional wit and his moderate, reasoned worldview, these same qualities painted him as elitist and foreign in his home country. The disparity in perception of Eban at home and abroad was such that both his critics and his friends agreed that he would have been a wonderful prime minister - in any country but Israel. In Abba Eban, Asaf Siniver paints a nuanced and complete portrait of one of the most complex figures in twentieth-century foreign affairs. We see Eban growing up and coming into his own as part of the Cambridge Union, and watch him steadily become known as “The Voice of Israel.” Siniver draws on a vast amount of interviews, writings, and other newly available material to show that, in his unceasing quest for stability and peace for Israel, Eban’s primary opposition often came from the homeland he was fighting for; no matter how many allies he gained abroad, the man never understood his own domestic politics well enough to be as effective in his pursuits as he hoped. The first examination of Eban in nearly forty years, Abba Eban is a fascinating look at a life that still offers a valuable perspective on Israel even today.
The Adventurer's Son
Dial, Roman
(Hardcover)
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In the predawn hours of July 10, 2014, the twenty-seven-year-old son of preeminent Alaskan scientist and National Geographic Explorer Roman Dial, walked alone into Corcovado National Park, an untracked rainforest along Costa Rica’s remote Pacific Coast that shelters miners, poachers, and drug smugglers. He carried a light backpack and machete. Before he left, Cody Roman Dial emailed his father: “I am not sure how long it will take me, but I’m planning on doing 4 days in the jungle and a day to walk out. I’ll be bounded by a trail to the west and the coast everywhere else, so it should be difficult to get lost forever.”They were the last words Dial received from his son.As soon as he realized Cody Roman’s return date had passed, Dial set off for Costa Rica. As he trekked through the dense jungle, interviewing locals and searching for clues—the authorities suspected murder—the desperate father was forced to confront the deepest questions about himself and his own role in the events. Roman had raised his son to be fearless, to be at home in earth’s wildest places, travelling together through rugged Alaska to remote Borneo and Bhutan. Was he responsible for his son’s fate? Or, as he hoped, was Cody Roman safe and using his wilderness skills on a solo adventure from which he would emerge at any moment?Part detective story set in the most beautiful yet dangerous reaches of the planet, The Adventurer’s Son emerges as a far deeper tale of discovery—a journey to understand the truth about those we love the most.
American Spirit
Kyle, Taya
(Compact Disc)
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After losing her husband, "American Sniper" Chris Kyle bestselling author Taya Kyle entered a period of inconsolable grief. And yet this darkness has served as a catalyst for profound growth. Taya drew strength from the support of family and friends - and also many strangers across America, who selflessly shared their own stories of suffering, survival, and triumph. Inspired, Taya found her calling: spreading a message of how love, passion, and service can help us persevere over personal pain and heal our communities.American Spirit profiles more than thirty individuals, young and old, rich and not-so-rich, famous and unknown, who have overcome hardship and done extraordinary things. In the end, these stories teach us how to find purpose and heal the world, no matter the difficulty. "Every action, big or small," Taya writes, "has the potential to spark someone else's movement."Unabridged on 8 compact discs.
Clementine Churchill: A Life in Pictures
Purnell, Sonia
(Hardcover)
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Without Winston Churchill’s inspiring leadership Britain could not have survived its darkest hour. Without his wife Clementine, however, he might never have become Prime Minister. By his own admission, his role in the Second World War would have been impossible but for ‘Clemmie’. That Clementine should have become Britain’s First Lady was by no means preordained. She may have been born an aristocrat but her childhood was far from gilded. Deprived of affection, a secure home and sometimes even food on the table, by the time she entered high society she had become the target of cruel snobbery. Yet in Winston she discovered a partner as emotionally insecure as herself; and in his career she found her mission. Theirs was a marriage that was to change the course of history.Clementine gave Winston confidence, conviction and counsel. Not only was she involved in some of the most crucial decisions of the war, she also exerted an influence over her husband and his governments that might be judged scandalous today. Her ability to manage this exceptional man, and to charm Britain’s allies, earned her the deep respect of world leaders, ministers, generals and critics alike. While her tireless work to alleviate suffering on the Home Front and abroad made her a champion to many in the population at large.From the personal and political upheavals of the Great War, through the Churchills’ ‘wilderness years’ in the 1930s, to Clementine’s desperate efforts to sustain Winston during the struggle against Hitler, Clementine Churchill: A Life in Pictures continues to uncover the memory of one of the most remarkable women of modern times.
The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
Hornfischer, James D.
(Hardcover)
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With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in new primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender--and forever changed the art of modern war. With a close focus on high commanders, front-line combatants, and ordinary people, American and Japanese alike, Hornfischer tells the story of the climactic end stage of the Pacific War as has never been done before. Here are the epic seaborne invasions of Saipan, Tinian and Guam; the stunning aerial battles of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot; the first large-scale use of Navy underwater demolition teams; the largest banzai attack of the war; and daring combat operations large and small that made possible the strategic bombing offensive culminating in the atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.From the seas of the Central Pacific to the shores of Japan itself, The Fleet at Flood Tide is a stirring, authoritative, and cinematic portrayal of World War II's world-changing finale.
Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (Large Print)
Wood, Gordon S.
(Paperback)
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From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America's most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation, and whose subsequent falling out did much to fix its course.Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slaveowner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond. But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters. In their final years they were the last surviving founding fathers and cherished their role in this mighty young republic as it approached the half century mark in 1826. At last, on the afternoon of July 4th, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration, Adams let out a sigh and said, "At least Jefferson still lives." He died soon thereafter. In fact, a few hours earlier on that same day, far to the south in his home in Monticello, Jefferson died as well. Arguably no relationship in this country's history carries as much freight as that of John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Gordon Wood has more than done justice to these entwined lives and their meaning; he has written a magnificent new addition to America's collective story.
Imagine John Yoko
Lennon, John
(Hardcover)
List Price: $50.00 Sale: $12.06
Personally compiled and curated by Yoko Ono, this beautiful and definitive volume reveals the complete inside story of the making of the critically acclaimed album, and all that surrounded it, at their home, Tittenhurst Park, and in London and New York during 1971. With a message as pertinent today as it was when the album was written, this landmark book is a tribute to one of the most important creative collaborations of the twentieth century.
Lenin: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror
Sebestyen, Victor
(Hardcover)
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Victor Sebestyen's riveting biography of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin—the first major biography in English in nearly two decades—is not only a political examination of one of the most important historical figures of the twentieth century but also a fascinating portrait of Lenin the man.
The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality (Large Print)
Isenberg, Nancy
(Paperback)
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How the father and son presidents foresaw the rise of the cult of personality and fought those who sought to abuse the weaknesses inherent in our democracy, from the New York Times bestselling author of White Trash.John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth-tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results; and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson.When John Adams succeeded George Washington as President, his son had already followed him into public service and was stationed in Europe as a diplomat. Though they spent many years apart--and as their careers spanned Europe, Washington DC, and their family home south of Boston--they maintained a close bond through extensive letter writing, debating history, political philosophy, and partisan maneuvering.The problem of democracy is an urgent problem; the father-and-son presidents grasped the perilous psychology of politics and forecast what future generations would have to contend with: citizens wanting heroes to worship and covetous elites more than willing to mislead. Rejection at the polls, each after one term, does not prove that the presidents Adams had erroneous ideas. Intellectually, they were what we today call "independents," reluctant to commit blindly to an organized political party. No historian has attempted to dissect their intertwined lives as Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein do in these pages, and there is no better time than the present to learn from the American nation's most insightful malcontents.
Robin
Itzkoff, Dave
(Hardcover)
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From New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff, the definitive biography of Robin Williams – a compelling portrait of one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood entertainers.From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations – all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed.But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’s comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like Dead Poets Society; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Fisher King; Aladdin; and Mrs. Doubtfire, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in Good Will Hunting he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent.Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression – topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews – and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.
William Cameron Menzies: The Shape ofFilms to Come
Curtis, James
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $12.06
He was the consummate designer of film architecture on a grand scale, influenced by German expressionism and the work of the great European directors. He was known for his visual flair and timeless innovation, a man who meticulously preplanned the color and design of each film through a series of continuity sketches that made clear camera angles, lighting, and the actors’ positions for each scene, translating dramatic conventions of the stage to the new capabilities of film.Here is the long-awaited book on William Cameron Menzies, Hollywood’s first and greatest production designer, a job title David O. Selznick invented for Menzies’ extraordinary, all-encompassing, Academy Award–winning work on Gone With the Wind (which he effectively co-directed).
66 Square Feet
Viljoen, Marie
(Hardcover)
List Price: $29.95 Sale: $11.12
South Africa-born Marie Viljoen captures the hearts of her readers as she blogs about cooking and gardening on her tiny 66-square-foot terrace in Brooklyn. Named one of the top 10 gardening blogs by Apartment Therapy and the Discovery Channel, 66 Square Feet has also been covered in the New York Times. The book draws the reader into Viljoen's beautiful world of unfolding city seasons as she forages through New York City and harvests from her garden to create elegant and inspiring meals that encourage the reader to pause and savor life. Each chapter is a month, and ends in the kitchen, with a menu inspired by her terrace and roof gardens, farmer's markets, and the occasional weed. Set against a backdrop of growing up in South Africa and moving to the United States, meeting her French husband, and finding a culinary and emotional home in Brooklyn, Viljoen's book is a love letter to living seasonally in the most famous city on the planet.
All the Powers of Earth: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln Vol. III, 1856-1860
Blumenthal, Sidney
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $11.12
In All the Powers of Earth, Lincoln's incredible ascent to power in a world of chaos is newly revealed through the great biographer's extraordinary research and literary style.After a period of depression that he would ever find his way to greatness, Lincoln takes on the most powerful demagogue in the country, Stephen Douglas, in the debates for a senate seat. He sidelines the frontrunner William Seward, a former governor and senator for New York, to cinch the new Republican Party’s nomination.All the Powers of Earth is the political story of all time. Lincoln achieves the presidency by force of strategy, of political savvy and determination. This is Abraham Lincoln, who indisputably becomes the greatest president and moral leader in the nation’s history. But he must first build a new political party, brilliantly state the anti-slavery case and overcome shattering defeat to win the presidency. In the years of civil war to follow, he will show mightily that the nation was right to bet on him. He was its preserver, a politician of moral integrity.All the Powers of Earth cements Sidney Blumenthal as the definitive Lincoln biographer.
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Meacham, Jon
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $11.12
Andrew Jackson, his close group of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy. Jackson's election in 1828 ushered in a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites, were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made its stand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and fears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times at home and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson's presidency, acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House. Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he details the human drama - the family, the women, and the inner circle of advisers - that shaped Jackson's private world through years of storm and victory.
American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
Brinkley, Douglas
(Paperback)
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On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.Drawing on new primary source material and major interviews with many of the surviving figures who were key to America’s success, Brinkley brings this fascinating history to life as never before. American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giant leap possible, the technology that enabled us to propel men beyond earth’s orbit to the moon and return them safely, and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself fully to this audacious dream. Brinkley’s ensemble cast of New Frontier characters include rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn and space booster Lyndon Johnson.A vivid and enthralling chronicle of one of the most thrilling, hopeful, and turbulent eras in the nation’s history, American Moonshot is an homage to scientific ingenuity, human curiosity, and the boundless American spirit.
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Finnegan, William
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.95 Sale: $11.12
A deeply rendered self-portrait of a lifelong surfer by the acclaimed New Yorker writer Barbarian Days is William Finnegan’s memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life. Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. Barbarian Days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right under our noses—off the coasts of New York and San Francisco. It immerses the reader in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships annealed in challenging waves. Finnegan shares stories of life in a whitesonly gang in a tough school in Honolulu even while his closest friend was a Hawaiian surfer. He shows us a world turned upside down for kids and adults alike by the social upheavals of the 1960s. He details the intricacies of famous waves and his own apprenticeships to them. Youthful folly—he drops LSD while riding huge Honolua Bay, on Maui—is served up with rueful humor. He and a buddy, their knapsacks crammed with reef charts, bushwhack through Polynesia. They discover, while camping on an uninhabited island in Fiji, one of the world’s greatest waves. As Finnegan’s travels take him ever farther afield, he becomes an improbable anthropologist: unpicking the picturesque simplicity of a Samoan fishing village, dissecting the sexual politics of Tongan interactions with Americans and Japanese, navigating the Indonesian black market while nearly succumbing to malaria. Throughout, he surfs, carrying readers with him on rides of harrowing, unprecedented lucidity. Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting, little understood art. Today, Finnegan’s surfing life is undiminished. Frantically juggling work and family, he chases his enchantment through Long Island ice storms and obscure corners of Madagascar.
Churchill: The Statesman as Artist
Cannadine, David (Edt)
(Hardcover)
List Price: $30.00 Sale: $11.12
Across almost 50 years, Winston Churchill produced more than 500 paintings. His subjects included his family homes at Blenheim and Chartwell, evocative coastal scenes on the French Riviera, and many sun-drenched depictions of Marrakesh in Morocco, as well as still life pictures and an extraordinarily revealing self-portrait, painted during a particularly troubled time in his life. In war and peace, Churchill came to enjoy painting as his primary means of relaxation from the strain of public affairs.In his introduction to Churchill: The Statesman as Artist, David Cannadine provides the most important account yet of Churchill's life in art, which was not just a private hobby, but also, from 1945 onwards, an essential element of his public fame. The first part of this book brings together for the first time all of Churchill's writings and speeches on art, not only "Painting as a Pastime," but his addresses to the Royal Academy, his reviews of two of the Academy's summer exhibitions, and an important speech he delivered about art and freedom in 1937.The second part of the book provides previously uncollected critical accounts of his work by some of Churchill's contemporaries: Augustus John's hitherto unpublished introduction to the Royal Academy exhibition of Churchill's paintings in 1959, and essays and reviews by Churchill's acquaintances Sir John Rothenstein and Professor Thomas Bodkin, and the art critic Eric Newton. The book is lavishly illustrated with reproductions of many of Churchill's paintings, some of them appearing for the first time. Here is Churchill the artist more fully revealed than ever before.
Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years
Guy, John
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $11.12
Elizabeth was crowned at twenty-five after a tempestuous childhood as a bastard and an outcast, but it was only when she reached fifty and all hopes of a royal marriage were dashed that she began to wield real power in her own right. For twenty-five years she had struggled to assert her authority over advisers who pressed her to marry and settle the succession; now, she was determined not only to reign but also to rule. In this magisterial biography of England's most ambitious Tudor queen, John Guy introduces us to a woman who is refreshingly unfamiliar: at once powerful and vulnerable, willful and afraid. In these essential and misunderstood forgotten years, Elizabeth confronts challenges at home and abroad: war against the Catholic powers of France and Spain, revolt in Ireland, an economic crisis that triggered riots in the streets of London, and a conspiracy to place her cousin Mary Queen of Scots on her throne. For a while she was smitten by a much younger man, but could she allow herself to act on that passion and still keep her throne? For the better part of a decade John Guy mined long-overlooked archives, scouring court documents and handwritten letters to sweep away myths and rumors. This prodigious historical detective work has made it possible to reveal for the first time the woman behind the polished veneer: wracked by insecurity, often too anxious to sleep alone, voicing her own distinctive and surprisingly resonant concerns. Guy writes like a dream, and this combination of groundbreaking research and propulsive narrative puts him in a class of his own.
Following Atticus
Ryan, Tom
(Compact Disc)
List Price: $39.99 Sale: $11.12
Overview not currently available
Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
Wood, Gordon S.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $11.12
From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America's most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation and whose subsequent falling-out did much to fix its course.
Funny Man: Mel Brooks
McGilligan, Patrick
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $11.12
Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy award–winner Mel Brooks was behind (and sometimes in front the camera too) of some of the most influential comedy hits of our time, including The 2,000 Year Old Man, Get Smart, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. But before this actor, writer, director, comedian, and composer entertained the world, his first audience was his family.The fourth and last child of Max and Kitty Kaminsky, Mel Brooks was born on his family’s kitchen table in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926, and was not quite three-years-old when his father died of tuberculosis. Growing up in a household too poor to own a radio, Mel was short and homely, a mischievous child whose birth role was to make the family laugh.Beyond boyhood, after transforming himself into Mel Brooks, the laughs that came easily inside the Kaminsky family proved more elusive. His lifelong crusade to transform himself into a brand name of popular humor is at the center of master biographer Patrick McGilligan’s Funny Man. In this exhaustively researched and wonderfully novelistic look at Brooks’ personal and professional life, McGilligan lays bare the strengths and drawbacks that shaped Brooks’ psychology, his willpower, his persona, and his comedy.McGilligan insightfully navigates the epic ride that has been the famous funnyman’s life story, from Brooks’s childhood in Williamsburg tenements and breakthrough in early television - working alongside Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner - to Hollywood and Broadway peaks (and valleys). His book offers a meditation on the Jewish immigrant culture that influenced Brooks, snapshots of the golden age of comedy, behind the scenes revelations about the celebrated shows and films, and a telling look at the four-decade romantic partnership with actress Anne Bancroft that superseded Brooks’ troubled first marriage. Engrossing, nuanced and ultimately poignant, Funny Man delivers a great man’s unforgettable life story and an anatomy of the American dream of success.Funny Man includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert.
Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York
Chast, Roz
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.00 Sale: $11.12
For native Brooklynite Roz Chast, adjusting to life in the suburbs (where people own trees!?) was surreal. But she recognized that for her kids, the reverse was true. On trips into town, they would marvel at the strange world of Manhattan: its gum-wad-dotted sidewalks, honeycombed streets, and "those West Side Story things" (fire escapes) Their wonder inspired Going Into Town, part playful guide, part New York stories, and part love letter to the city, told through Chast's laugh-out-loud, touching, and true cartoons.
Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times
Whyte, Kenneth
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $11.12
The definitive biography of Herbert Hoover, one of the most remarkable Americans of the twentieth century - a wholly original account that will forever change the way Americans understand the man, his presidency, his battle against the Great Depression, and their own history.
I You We Them: Walking into the World of the Desk Killer (Volume 1)
Gretton, Dan
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $11.12
A landmark historical investigation into crimes against humanity and the nature of evilVast and revelatory, Dan Gretton’s I You We Them is an unprecedented study of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity: the “desk killers” who ordered and directed some of the worst atrocities of the modern era. From Albert Speer’s complicity in Nazi barbarism to Royal Dutch Shell’s role in the murders of the Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the rest of the Ogoni Nine, Gretton probes the depths of the figure “who, by giving orders, uses paper or a phone or a computer to kill, instead of a gun.”Over the past twenty years, Gretton has interviewed survivors and perpetrators, and pored over archives and thousands of pages of testimony. His insight into the psychology of the desk killer is contextualized by the journey he took to penetrate it. Woven into the narrative are his contemplative interludes - perspectives gleaned during walks in the woods, reminiscences about a lost love, and considerations of timeless moral conundrums. The result is a genre-bending work steeped as much in personal reflection as it is in literature and historical and psychological illumination.A synthesis of history, reportage, and memoir, I You We Them is the first volume of a groundbreaking journal of discovery that bears witness to and reckons with the largest and most pressing questions before humanity.
In God's Hands: The Spiritual Diaries of Pope John Paul II
Pope Saint John Paul II
(Hardcover)
List Price: $34.99 Sale: $11.12
Available for the first time in English, the private reflections of the modern pope recently elevated to sainthood - deeply personal writings that reveal a spiritual leader who agonized over his service to God, continually questioning whether he was doing enough.As the head of the Roman Catholic Church for twenty-five years, from the final decades of the twentieth century to the first years of the new millennium, Pope John Paul II significantly impacted our world. As famous as a rock star, this powerful leader who conferred with numerous heads of state was the ultimate model of wisdom and religious commitment for numerous Catholics around the globe.Throughout much of his adult life, from 1962 until two years before his death in 2003, John Paul II kept a series of private diaries in which he disclosed his innermost thoughts, impressions, and concerns. Written in his native Polish and never before available in English until now, these journals provide intimate and deeply moving insight into a man, a priest, and a saint’s spirituality and a life devoted completely to God.In God’s Hands lays bare the soul of this powerful, influential statesman, revealing a devout man untouched by his celebrity status; a selfless servant of God who spent decades questioning whether he was worthy of the role he was called to carry out. Over forty years, from his bishopric in Krakow to his election to the papacy to his final years, one question guided him: "Am I serving God?"Entrusted to his personal secretary - who defied John Paul II’s instructions to burn them after his death - these notebooks provide us with a privileged glimpse into the life of a humble man who never took for granted his mission or his exalted role in the church and in the world.
Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government
Harper, Christine
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.00 Sale: $11.12
The extraordinary life story of the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, whose absolute integrity provides the inspiration we need as our constitutional system and political tradition are being tested to the breaking point.As chairman of the Federal Reserve (1979-1987), Paul Volcker slayed the inflation dragon that was consuming the American economy and restored the world's faith in central bankers. That extraordinary feat was just one pivotal episode in a decades-long career serving six presidents.Told with wit, humor, and down-to-earth erudition, the narrative of Volcker's career illuminates the changes that have taken place in American life, government, and the economy since World War II. He vibrantly illustrates the crises he managed alongside the world's leading politicians, central bankers, and financiers. Yet he first found his model for competent and ethical governance in his father, the town manager of Teaneck, NJ, who instilled Volcker's dedication to absolute integrity and his "three verities" of stable prices, sound finance, and good government.
Kissinger - 1923-1968: The Idealist
Ferguson, Niall
(Hardcover)
List Price: $39.95 Sale: $11.12
The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger, based on unprecedented access to his private papers No American statesman has been as revered or as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as "Super K"--the "indispensable man" whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama--he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every "telcon" for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial two-volume biography, drawing not only on Kissinger's hitherto closed private papers but also on documents from more than a hundred archives around the world, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding. The first half of Kissinger's life is usually skimmed over as a quintessential tale of American ascent: the Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany who made it to the White House. But in this first of two volumes, Ferguson shows that what Kissinger achieved before his appointment as Richard Nixon's national security adviser was astonishing in its own right. Toiling as a teenager in a New York factory, he studied indefatigably at night. He was drafted into the U.S. infantry and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge--as well as the liberation of a concentration camp--but ended his army career interrogating Nazis. It was at Harvard that Kissinger found his vocation. Having immersed himself in the philosophy of Kant and the diplomacy of Metternich, he shot to celebrity by arguing for "limited nuclear war." Nelson Rockefeller hired him. Kennedy called him to Camelot. Yet Kissinger's rise was anything but irresistible. Dogged by press gaffes and disappointed by "Rocky," Kissinger seemed stuck--until a trip to Vietnam changed everything. The Idealist is the story of one of the most important strategic thinkers America has ever produced. It is also a political Bildungsroman, explaining how "Dr. Strangelove" ended up as consigliere to a politician he had always abhorred. Like Ferguson's classic two-volume history of the House of Rothschild, Kissinger sheds dazzling new light on an entire era. The essential account of an extraordinary life, it recasts the Cold War world.
Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of "The View"
Setoodeh, Ramin
(Compact Disc)
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When Barbara Walters launched The View, network executives told her that hosting it would tarnish her reputation. Instead, within ten years, she’d revolutionized morning TV and made household names of her co-hosts: Joy Behar, Star Jones, Meredith Vieira and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. But the daily chatfest didn’t just comment on the news. It became the news. And the headlines barely scratched the surface.Based on unprecedented access, including stunning interviews with nearly every host, award-winning journalist Ramin Setoodeh takes you backstage where the stars really spoke their minds. Here's the full story of how Star, then Rosie, then Whoopi tried to take over the show, while Barbara struggled to maintain control of it all, a modern-day Lear with her media-savvy daughters. You'll read about how so many co-hosts had a tough time fitting in, suffered humiliations at the table, then pushed themselves away, feeling betrayed—one nearly quitting during a commercial. Meanwhile, the director was being driven insane, especially by Rosie.Setoodeh uncovers the truth about Star’s weight loss and wedding madness. Rosie’s feud with Trump. Whoopi’s toxic relationship with Rosie. Barbara’s difficulty stepping away. Plus, all the unseen hugs, snubs, tears—and one dead rodent.Ladies Who Punch shows why The View can be mimicked and mocked, but it can never be matched.
The Light Within Me (Large Print)
Earhardt, Ainsley
(Paperback)
List Price: $27.99 Sale: $11.12
The celebrated Fox News star and #1 New York Times bestselling author offers a powerful, uplifting look at her life and her spiritual journey, reflecting on her family, her faith, and her successful career.In her bestselling children’s book Take Heart, My Child, Ainsley Earhardt drew on her childhood and the inspirational notes her father wrote her before school each morning. In this moving memoir, she reminisces about growing up with a father who loved his children unconditionally - a cherished model of parenthood she has adopted with her own daughter - how her Christian faith has shaped her life, and the dynamic journalism career that has made her a trusted household name.From her insightful political coverage, including a sit-down with Melania Trump, to her powerful reporting covering some of the most headline-making national events, to her live coverage, including Pope Francis’ visit to New York, Ainsley considers her career and the factors that have propelled her to the top of her field, becoming a cohost of Fox & Friends and contributor to Hannity. Ainsley credits her success to the values she learned from her parents, and to the enduring Christian faith that has been her ballast through thick and thin, in good times and in periods of great difficulty.Filled with inspirational quotes taken from Scripture and illustrated with sixteen pages of never-before-seen photos, her memoir is infused with her spiritual beliefs and will touch the hearts of all her fans, reminding them to count the blessings God has given them every day of their lives.
A Matter of Honor: Pearl Harbor: Betrayal, Blame, and a Family's Quest for Justice (Large Print)
Summers, Anthony
(Paperback)
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The Japanese onslaught on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 devastated Americans and precipitated entry into World War II. In the aftermath, Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, was relieved of command, accused of negligence and dereliction of duty—publicly disgraced.But the Admiral defended his actions through eight investigations and for the rest of his long life. The evidence against him was less than solid. High military and political officials had failed to provide Kimmel and his Army counterpart with vital intelligence. Later, to hide the biggest U.S. intelligence secret of the day, they covered it up.Following the Admiral’s death, his sons—both Navy veterans—fought on to clear his name. Now that they in turn are dead, Kimmel’s grandsons continue the struggle. For them, 2016 is a pivotal year.With unprecedented access to documents, diaries and letters, and the family’s cooperation, Summers’ and Swan’s search for the truth has taken them far beyond the Kimmel story—to explore claims of duplicity and betrayal in high places in Washington.A Matter of Honor is a provocative story of politics and war, of a man willing to sacrifice himself for his country only to be sacrificed himself. Revelatory and definitive, it is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of this pivotal event.
Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House
LoBianco, Tom
(Compact Disc)
List Price: $39.99 Sale: $11.12
In Piety & Power, LoBianco follows Pence from his evangelical conversion in college to his failed career as a young lawyer, to his thwarted attempts at politics until he hitched his wagon to far-right extremism, becoming the Congressional poster boy for faith-based policy and Tea Party rhetoric. Giving readers a minute-by-minute account of the selection process that made him Donald Trump’s unlikely running mate in 2016, Piety & Power traces Pence’s personal and political life, painting a picture of a man driven by faith and conviction, yes, but also a hunger for power.LoBianco crafts a revealing portrait of the real Mike Pence—a politician whose understated style masks a drive for power, but also a surprising political acumen—by drawing on years of research, over one hundred exclusive interviews with those closest to the vice president, and deep ties both within the Beltway and Indiana state politics. Highlighting Pence’s strained, at times obsequious, relationship with Trump; his marriage to Karen; his deeply repressed personality; his presidential aspirations and plans for America’s future; and his deep-rooted faith in his country, in God, and ultimately himself; Piety & Power provides insights and answers as it sheds light on this ambitious Midwestern politician, his past, and his possible future.
Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-Bye to All That (1895-1929)
Wilson, Jean Moorcroft
(Hardcover)
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The writer and poet Robert Graves suppressed virtually all of the poems he had published during and just after the First World War. Until his son, William Graves, reprinted almost all the Poems About War in 1988, Graves's status as a 'war poet' seems to have depended mainly on his prose memoir (and bestseller), Good-bye to All That. None of the previous biographies written on Graves, however excellent, attempt to deal with this paradox in any depth. Robert Graves the war poet and the suppressed poems themselves have been largely neglected – until now.Jean Moorcroft Wilson, celebrated biographer of poets Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Edward Thomas, relates Graves's fascinating life during this period, his experiences in the war, his being left for dead at the Battle of the Somme, his leap from a third-storey window after his lover Laura Riding's even more dramatic jump from the fourth storey, his move to Spain and his final 'goodbye' to 'all that'. In this deeply-researched new book, containing startling material never before brought to light, Dr Moorcroft Wilson traces not only Graves's compelling life, but also the development of his poetry during the First World War, his thinking about the conflict and his shifting attitude towards it.Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That casts new light on the life, prose and poetry of Graves, without which the story of Great War poetry is incomplete.
Saving Central Park: A History and a Memoir
Rogers, Elizabeth Barlow
(Hardcover)
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The story of how one woman's long love affair with New York's Central Park led her to organize its rescue from a state of serious decline, returning it to the beautiful place of recreational opportunity and spiritual sustenance that it is today.Elizabeth Barlow Rogers opens with a quick survey of her early life--a middle-class upbringing in Texas; college at Wellesley, marriage, a master's degree in city planning at Yale. And then her move to New York, where she starts a family and, when she finds being a mother and a housewife is not enough, pours herself into the protection and enhancement of the city's green spaces. Interwoven into her own story is a comprehensive history of Central Park: its design and construction as a scenic masterpiece; the alterations of each succeeding era; the addition of numerous facilities for sports and play; and finally, the "anything goes" phase of the 1960s and 70s, which was often fun but nearly destroyed the park. The two narratives continue to entwine as she finds a job in the administration of Central Park, founds the Central Park Conservancy, and transforms both the park and herself--a transformation that has led to the writing of her many books, to travels that have taken her to parks and gardens around the world, and to solidifying the prestige of one of New York's most conspicuous landmarks.
A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion
Segev, Tom
(Hardcover)
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As the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion long ago secured his reputation as a leading figure of the twentieth century. Determined from an early age to create a Jewish state, he thereupon took control of the Zionist movement, declared Israel’s independence, and navigated his country through wars, controversies and remarkable achievements. And yet Ben-Gurion remains an enigma - he could be driven and imperious, or quizzical and confounding.In this definitive biography, Israel’s leading journalist-historian Tom Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around the man. Segev’s probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion’s relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion’s secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel’s independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional “nutty moments” - from UFO sightings to plans for Israel to acquire territory in South America. Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance, and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers.The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state “at any cost” - at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev’s Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill?a twentieth-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a complex and contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.
The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President
Feldman, Noah
(Hardcover)
List Price: $35.00 Sale: $11.12
A sweeping reexamination of the Founding Father who transformed the United States in each of his political "lives"--as a revolutionary thinker, as a partisan political strategist, and as a presidentOver the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician he co-founded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.Now Noah Feldman offers an intriguing portrait of this elusive genius and the constitutional republic he created--and how both evolved to meet unforeseen challenges. Madison hoped to eradicate partisanship yet found himself giving voice to, and institutionalizing, the political divide. Madison's lifelong loyalty to Thomas Jefferson led to an irrevocable break with George Washington, hero of the American Revolution. Madison closely collaborated with Alexander Hamilton on the Federalist papers--yet their different visions for the United States left them enemies.Alliances defined Madison, too. The vivacious Dolley Madison used her social and political talents to win her husband new supporters in Washington--and define the diplomatic customs of the capital's society. Madison's relationship with James Monroe, a mixture of friendship and rivalry, shaped his presidency and the outcome of the War of 1812.We may be more familiar with other Founding Fathers, but the United States today is in many ways Madisonian in nature. Madison predicted that foreign threats would justify the curtailment of civil liberties. He feared economic inequality and the power of financial markets over politics, believing that government by the people demanded resistance to wealth. Madison was the first Founding Father to recognize the importance of public opinion, and the first to understand that the media could function as a safeguard to liberty.The Three Lives of James Madison is an illuminating biography of the man whose creativity and tenacity gave us America's distinctive form of government. His collaborations, struggles, and contradictions define the United States to this day.
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