Selvbiografier

This intimate personal engagement, by an eminent Austen authority, shows how living with Jane Austen can transform the way we look at the world. Janet Todd discusses all Austen's works - fragments, childhood writings, novels and letters - uncovering a timeless writer whose themes and prose continue powerfully to speak to us.

The biography of a leader of the campaign for moral education which had been conducted for several decades in Britain and in the USA.

Edmund Gosse: Father and Son

The story of Joanna - princess, pioneer, captive and queen - and of the wider twelfth-century world that she inhabited.

This study of the last pagan Roman emperor provides remarkable insight into the man and his times.

This ground-breaking anthology brings together a wide selection of women's writings from the Victorian period (excluding fiction and drama), most of which cannot be easily found elsewhere.

This biography of the Muslim scholastic and humanist Ibn 'Aqil sheds light on one of the most important periods of classical Islam, one which has had a significant impact on religious and intellectual culture in the Christian Latin West.

Can booze really talk to you? Many people suffering from addiction can hear their drug or drink of choice calling to them—and they feel compelled to listen.For thirty years of his life, Dr. Larry Smith was in an unhealthy and shackling master-slave relationship with Johnnie—a jealous lover who insisted that the relationship be kept a secret. Who was Johnnie? Johnnie was the voice within Larry, guiding him from deep within throughout his addiction.In Johnnie and Me, alcoholism and addiction are presented from a unique perspective. Dr. Smith’s misadventures, near-death experiences, and dramatic recovery are written in chilling and exquisite detail. His message is clear: recovery is possible for anybody suffering from addiction if they take responsibility for their past actions and wholeheartedly commit to the recovery process.

First published in 1988, Triumph over Darkness is a stirring story of determination and tenacity in the face of adversity. Lennard Bickel researched this story in Paris and in the small village where Louis Braille was born.

Prince Harry often found himself in the shadow of his older brother, Prince William. This was especially true as the sun set over Balmoral Castle. A series of events began that would shape Prince Harry's future.The whole British monarchy and the world waited for Queen Elizabeth II's passing. But Prince Harry, who was far away, didn't make it to her side in time.As the hours passed, emotions soared and tensions within the royal family reached a boiling point. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were on a tour in Europe. King Charles told Harry not to bring Meghan to Balmoral, causing a big upset.Learning of the Queen's death online made things even harder for Harry. This event was not just a personal loss but also widened the gap in the royal family.The Sussexes had already made a big change in March 2020 by stepping down as working royals. They moved to the United States. The queen's death brought even more tension, showing the challenges faced by Prince Harry as the 'spare' heir. The absence of Prince Harry at Queen Elizabeth II's bedside during her final moments serves as a stark symbol of the growing tensions within the British royal family. This estrangement, rooted in complex personal and institutional conflicts, has been deepened by several events over the years, particularly the Sussexes' departure from royal duties.In March 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, officially stepped down from their roles as senior members of the royal family. This departure, often referred to as "Megxit," marked a profound shift in the British monarchy's dynamic. It was a move that reflected not only their desire for independence but also signified a break from royal tradition and expectations. For the royal institution, it was a public acknowledgment of the challenges of balancing personal freedom with royal duties, especially as media scrutiny continued to weigh heavily on the Sussexes.One particularly poignant moment of tension arose during Queen Elizabeth II's final days. King Charles III reportedly directed that Meghan Markle not be present at Balmoral, where the Queen was being cared for. This decision, whether driven by personal or institutional motives, only served to highlight the existing familial discord. The exclusion of Meghan from the Queen's bedside was symbolic of the deeper divides within the family, particularly between Harry and the rest of the royal institution.Perhaps the most emotionally charged detail of this strained relationship was how Prince Harry learned of his grandmother's passing. It was reported that he was informed of Queen Elizabeth II's death not through family communication, but via the internet. This underscores the poignant reality of Prince Harry's current standing in the royal family-estranged from the inner circle that once defined his life, and learning of monumental family events in the same way as the general public. Such a moment symbolizes the emotional and physical distance that has grown between Harry and the monarchy.

Out of the Darkness reveals a grittier side of football. Former Leicester and Sunderland winger Matt Piper retired aged 24, after 16 knee operations, and his life soon spiralled out of control. His daily existence became dependent on alcohol and Valium, culminating in an ugly rock bottom. But after the darkness came light.

There's something about Jane... Jane Austen lived only just into her forties, never married, never had children, lived all her life in the south of England and rarely strayed far from the genteel and orthodox social circle into which she was born.

Mary Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, lived a remarkable life. A princess, duchess and queen, she was known as the English Rose for her beauty. Mary Tudor, Queen of France, aims to explore the life of one of the few who stood up to Henry VIII and lived to tell the tale. Henry VIII is well known, but his larger-than-life character often overshadows that of his sisters. Mary Tudor was born a princess, married a king and then a duke, and lived an extraordinary life. This book focuses on Mary's life, her childhood, her relationship with Henry, her marriages and her relationship with her husbands. Mary grew up in close proximity to Henry, becoming his favourite sister, and later, after her marriage to the French king, she married his best friend, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The events impacting the siblings will be reviewed to examine how they may have changed and shaped their relationship.

During the pandemic, Marjorie Perloff, one of our foremost scholars of global literature, found her mind ineluctably drawn to the profound commentary on life and death in the wartime diaries of eminent philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). Upon learning that these notebooks, which richly contextualize the early stages of his magnum opus, the Tractatus-Logico-Philosophicus, had never before been published in English, the Viennese-born Perloff determinedly set about translating them. Beginning with the anxious summer of 1914, this historic, en-face edition presents the first-person recollections of a foot soldier in the Austrian Army, fresh from his days as a philosophy student at Cambridge, who must grapple with the hazing of his fellow soldiers, the stirrings of a forbidden sexuality, and the formation of an explosive analytical philosophy that seemed to draw meaning from his endless brushes with death. Much like Tolstoy's The Gospel in Brief, Private Notebooks takes us on a personal journey to discovery as it augments our knowledge of Wittgenstein himself.

'An exciting lifetime' barely captures the extraordinary adventures of this boy-turned-86-year-old as he journeys from childhood to old age. His tales of diving throughout the wild, beautiful Pacific include terrifying encounters with large sharks, a feeding frenzy of orcas, and surviving a crush of whales. Touching stories humanize the fish and sea creatures he encountered while diving, building, and sailing his self-made ocean-going yachts along the Pacific Coast of NSW. The narrative vividly captures the region's varied moods and beauty, from rough seas to dangerous rocks. Sydney, with its stunning headlands, towering trees, unique wildflowers, and strings of white sand beaches, also plays a starring role. The extreme yachting opportunities of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park and Sydney's four natural harbours - Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, Botany Bay, and Port Hacking - are celebrated as some of the most beautiful, diverse, and unique places in the world. Growing up here during WWII, with the freedom to explore and choose his path, shaped an extraordinary life filled with unparalleled adventures.