Selvbiografier

From a child slave put to hard labor to a college president and advisor to presidents, Booker T. Washington¿s autobiography powerfully describes his journey and what it taught him about the possible future of Blacks in the United States.This autobiography is a cornerstone work of African-American literature. Washington tells of his experience in bondage as a child-slave, the hard labor he performed in salt mines post-slavery, and the role of his mother in demonstrating the strength and values that enabled him to continue to strive and rise above these often brutal circumstances. His hard-won education led him to become a teacher and build Tuskegee University with bare minimum resources, much of it literally one brick at a time. Despite these challenges, and encountering white opposition to the very concept of educating blacks, Washington believed that failing to make the university a reality would be a disservice to blacks nationwide. Inspiring throughout, the author advocates self-reliance through productive work, community service, and perseverance, and without bravado presents himself as a worthy example of how successful this path can be. His book still generates controversy as his conception of the rise of blacks through personal industry, leading gradually to their advancement in society, was deemed by some to be a slow and costly compromise. Others saw it as an example of pragmatic realism borne of necessity in the Reconstruction era South. Regardless of latter-day interpretations, Up From Slavery is a powerful document of how one man rose to prominence against terrible odds, then used his success and fame in a sustained attempt to better the lives of his fellows. This is an indispensable document of Black lives in an era scarcely more than 100 years in the past and its account of courage and dedication will not be forgotten.With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Up From Slavery is both modern and readable.

My Own Story (1914) is a memoir by English political activist and suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Written at the onset of the First World War, My Own Story brings attention to Pankhurst¿s cause while defending her decision to cease activism until the end of the war. Notable for its descriptions of the British prison system, My Own Story is an invaluable document of a life dedicated to others, of a historical moment in which an oppressed group rose up to advocate for the simplest of demands: equality.Born in a politically active household, Emmeline Pankhurst was introduced to the women¿s suffrage movement at a young age. In 1903, she founded the Women¿s Social and Political Union (WSPU), an organization dedicated to the suffragette movement. As their speeches, rallies, and petitions failed to make headway, they turned to militant protest, and in 1908 Emmeline was arrested for attempting to enter Parliament to deliver a document to Prime Minister H.H. Asquith. Imprisoned for six weeks, she observed the horrifying conditions of prison life, including solitary confinement. This experience changed her outlook on the struggle for women¿s suffrage, and she increasingly saw imprisonment as a means of radical publicity. Over the next several years, she would be arrested seven times for rioting, destroying property, and assaulting police officers, and while in prison staged hunger strikes in order to gain the attention of the press and political establishment. My Own Story is a record of one woman¿s tireless advocacy for the sake of countless others.With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Emmeline Pankhurst¿s My Own Story is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Confessions (401) is the work of Saint Augustine, a Roman theologian and bishop responsible for some of the core doctrines of today¿s Catholic church. His literary works, including The Confessions, The Enchiridion, and On Christian Doctrine, are commonly viewed as foundational works of Christian theology and Western philosophy. Bishop of Hippo Regius¿in modern day Algeriäfrom 395 to his death in 430, Augustine helped to justify and consolidate the role of Christianity in the Roman Empire and was canonized as a saint for his efforts.A young man does poorly in school, steals from his neighbor¿s orchard, and has a son with a woman to whom he is not married. These are some of the core personal experiences detailed by Augustine in his autobiographical and theological work Confessions, in which he grows from a life of sin to accepting God and the Christian faith. Interspersed with stories of his life and conversion are descriptions and critiques of Neoplatonism, Manichaeism, and astrology, systems of belief and understanding which, for Augustine, fall short of the vision of humanity and salvation offered by Christianity. Throughout this text, Augustine encourages readers¿especially those who have led troubled lives¿not only to convert to Christianity, but to understand the inherent imperfection of all humanity and to envision the ultimately hopeful message of transformation and forgiveness offered by faith in God. Confessions is at heart a Christian text, but it is also essentially human. Augustine is remembered not just as a saint and Christian leader, but as a figure who precipitated the evolution of Western thought.Augustine¿s Confessions is a foundational work of autobiographical and philosophical writing, influencing such writers as Blaise Pascal, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Aquinas, Bertrand Russell, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Its personal nature and depth of honesty are considered formal innovations in autobiography and memoir writing, and its meditations on God and human nature have made it an essential text for philosophers and theologians for centuries.With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Saint Augustine¿s Confessions is a classic of autobiography and Christian theology reimagined for modern readers.

Jane Addams, the co-founder of Hull House, the famous settlement home, writes about her experiences and insights in her autobiography, Twenty Years at Hull House. As a child growing up in Illinois, Addams suffered from Pott's Disease, which was a rare infection in her spine. This disease caused her to contract many other illnesses, then because of these aliments, Addams was self-conscious of her appearance. She explains that she could not play with other children often due to a limp, a side effect to her illnesses. Still, she is able to provide relatable and even amusing childhood anecdotes. Addams was very close to her father. She admired him for his political work, which likely inspired her own interest and attention to the social problems of her society. In a time invested with xenophobia and cruelty towards immigrants, Addams bought land in Chicago and co-founded a settlement house named Hull House. There, Addams sought to improve the lives of immigrants and the poor by providing shelter, essential social services, and access to education. Addams served as an advocate not only for the impoverished and immigrants, but also for women. She was a leader within the women's suffrage movement, determined to expand the work she did for her community to a national scale. Twenty Years at Hull House provides both a conversation about social issues and an example of how to act against them. Though originally published in 1910, Addams autobiography provides social discourse that is not only still relevant, but also considered radical by some. Addams' autobiography was well received when it was first released, impacting many key reform movements. Twenty Years at Hull House still carries that effect today, inspiring its readers to improve their community and advocate for those in need. This edition of Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in a readable font, ready to inspire readers to follow the footsteps and musings of activist Jane Addams.

The Promised Land is a compelling account of one woman¿s journey from Polotsk to Boston and her attempts to embrace a new culture and identity. Author Mary Antin highlights the old values and contemporary views that shaped her immigrant experience. In The Promised Land, Antin recounts the many obstacles she encountered before and after emigrating to the U.S. Arriving in 1894, she details the years in Boston where she attempted to assimilate while facing religious, political and financial challenges. Despite hidden pitfalls and social barriers, Antin continued to make strides towards her American dream.Although it centers a specific experience, The Promised Land is an aspirational story that speaks to a universal audience. Upon its release, the book was a resounding success for Antin, eventually selling more than 80,000 copies. It propelled her into a career of public speaking, which she used to address anti-immigration sentiment and invoke policy change. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Promised Land is both modern and readable.

Published posthumously in 1766, A Journal to Stella by Jonathan Swift is a complete collection consisting of sixty-five letters he wrote to Esther Johnson, whom he bestowed the name of Stella. It is known that Stella is the name Swift gave to Esther Johnson. They met when she was only eight years old and knew each other for the entirety of the rest of their lives. Swift was first a mentor to young Esther. He taught her to read and write then introduced her to the arts. Jonathan's relationship to Esther is intriguing. While they shared a friendship for many years, Jonathan left her in Ireland when he moved to London for some time. In that time, he drew interest from several other women, but nothing came of those relationships. However, when a man showed interest in Esther and wished to propose, the letters disclose how Jonathan prevented this from happening. Such interference provides greater evidence for the affection he felt for Stella. There are no accounts from Stella herself, but Swift depicts her character wonderfully as a loyal, kind, and clever woman. The sixty-five letters to Stella that compose A Journal to Stella, explores Swift and Johnson's relationship and history. A Journal to Stella is an interesting study on the relationship between the highly esteemed classical author, Jonathan Swift and a woman who was very dear to him. Written with affection and detailed prose, the letters that are featured in A Journal to Stella also reveal insights on the culture of 18th century London and features many of the prominent men that Swift met. As he wrote of his daily routine and life, readers are allowed a privileged glimpse of how this famous author lived day to day, including the intimate details of his relationships. Containing the wit and humor Swift is famous for, A Journal to Stella reveals the author for who he really was, allowing even modern readers to know this incredible 18th century man. This edition of Jonathan Swift's A Journal to Stella features an eye-catching cover design and is printed in a readable font, making it both accessible and modern.

Memoirs of Casanova (1792) is the autobiography of Italian adventure and socialite Giacomo Casanova. Written at the end of his life, the Memoirs capture the experiences of one of Europe¿s most notorious figures, a man whose escapades as a gambler, womanizer, and socialite are matched only by his unique gift for sharing them with the world. More than perhaps any other man, Casanova sought to emulate the lessons of the Enlightenment on the level of everyday life, a sentiment captured perfectly in the opening sentence of his Memoirs: ¿I will begin with this confession: whatever I have done in the course of my life, whether it be good or evil, has been done freely; I am a free agent.¿Memoirs of Casanova Volume III covers the young adulthood of Giacomo Casanova. When his religious career ends in disgrace and imprisonment, Casanova joins the Venetian military at Corfu. Following a brief sojourn in Constantinople, he enters the service of the Republic of Venice and slowly rises through the ranks to become an officer. Casanova soon grows tired of military life, however, and spends most of his time in Corfu gambling and socializing with the local elite. When he is arrested for disobedience, he begins looking for a way out of military life, and devotes much of his time to the service of Madame F., a beautiful noblewoman who enlists his services around the home. When an injury leaves her bedridden, his duties bring him closer to her than ever before, and soon threaten to turn a professional relationship into a forbidden romantic tryst. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Giacomo Casanoväs Memoirs of Casanova is a classic of European literature reimagined for modern readers.

"'So how do you discern a shape for / what is often called god' asks the poet in a book that is as metaphysical as it is very much of this moment, of this, our crisis. How so? Because every crisis is first of all metaphysical. Kazim Ali speaks in the same breath of the injustice of our world and of 'the actual syllables Orpheus sang/ to the dead to be allowed into hell.' This is a metaphysics of a scream. It speaks against world that wrongs us, yes-but also of 'what language cannot / hold onto,' of 'ecstatic sound aiming to reach from the muck of the earth.' What is this speech like? It takes many forms: lyrical, cinematic, choral. The Voice of Sheila Chandra is a sequence of sequences, a book where three long poems come together to make a statement that is far larger than the sum of its parts. It is a brilliant book." -Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa

'Was Bowie an aloof and unavailable artist, or a 'Starman' who descended to bring good news to the masses? This book presents Bowie as revealed by the testimony of his closest friends and partners, a Bowie with humour, grace and humility and a highly focused Bowie - a borrower of ideas combining ideas from multiple sources creating new visions.

By the time Marcus Taylor graduated from veterinary school at age 23, a sheep, a cow, a hawk, innumerable dogs, cats, parrots and even a fish had locked their mandibles onto his flesh. Each bite only intrigued him further. From his first entanglement with a cow in ketosis in Canterbury to a beagle in heart failure in Newfoundland, and all manner of adventures and heartbreak in between, this memoir of the early career of a young New Zealand vet is both heartwarming and hilarious.

The story of how a boy came to be infected with blood borne viruses, and in spite of multiple death sentences, lived to become the world's first ever LGBTQ+ Ambassador for Haemophilia, winning the battle to secure a public enquiry into the Infected Blood Scandal, which is finally due to report in 2024.

This riveting book is an astonishing testimony of what befell two sisters, Whitehouse's own mother-in-law and aunt, who managed to escape the killing fields in Vichy France against all odds.

"Gaza has always been rebellious... stubborn, addictive. I'm her daughter, and I look like her."

In My Early Life, Churchill describes his education and his experience in four wars on three continents as a young officer and newspaper correspondent, including his cavalry charge against the Dervishes at Omdurman in the Sudan and his capture and escape from a Boer prisoner of war camp in South Africa. He explains how he wrote his first five books and launched his political career before taking his seat in the House of Commons at twenty-six. By the time he wrote this book, the First World War had ushered in many changes, not all of them good, and Churchill perceived a low spirit in his countrymen. He thinks a time may come when young Britons will need more love of "adventure, and adventure for adventure's sake," which his early life exemplifies, and he offers "the new generation" his own "story of youthful endeavour" to encourage and rekindle the spirited part of their souls. Giving an account of his own life is a summons to young people who are drifting in an eddy of mass effects to surmount their fear of death, aiming to stir up unselfish endeavor in them. Lest anyone mistake his intention in writing the book, he dedicates it "TO A NEW GENERATION." This edition of My Early Life includes "The Dream." This short story was first mooted at a family meal at Churchill's country house at Chartwell in late November 1947, in the company of Winston and Clementine Churchill's children, Diana and Randolph. Diana asked her father, if he could conjure up anyone, who would fill an empty chair in the dining room. He replied that he would choose to dine with his own father, Lord Randolph Churchill, who had died more than fifty years earlier. He went on to describe a story he meant to write, based on a dream in which Lord Randolph returned to his son's painting studio to inquire what had occurred in the intervening half-century. Encouraged by his family's enthusiasm, Churchill wrote the story soon afterwards but, after revising it, set it aside to be published later. This "Private Article," as he styled it, first appeared a year after his death in the Sunday Telegraph, January 30, 1966, which described it as "his last story--locked away in a box for years--now published for the first time." By permission of Churchill College, it is reprinted, with explanatory editorial notes, as a fitting epilogue to Churchill's autobiography.

An intimate and illuminating account of queer lives and migration, homemaking and community in the Gulf, from a brilliant new voice in narrative non-fiction'An eye-opening tour de force' ALEX ESPINOZA'Exhilarating' SUSAN ORLEAN'Tender and insightful' MOHAMED TONSEY'I was captivated and carried' ADAM ZMITHUpon moving to the Gulf States - where penalties for queer acts include deportation, imprisonment, torture and death - Gaar Adams wants to understand why LGBTQ+ migrants might choose to live amid such peril. From the UAE to Bahrain and Oman to Saudi Arabia - a region where four out of five residents are noncitizens - he begins riskily gathering interviews outside the tightly controlled state media, leading with what he thinks is a simple question:Isn't it harder for you to make a life here?But as unforgettable residents share a kaleidoscope of stories - from uproarious Filipino salon workers throwing secret drag parties to a courageous Pakistani farmhand helping his compatriots smuggle themselves across borders - cracks emerge in the framing of his enquiry, revealing disquieting assumptions about the motivations, places and identities of others. As Gaar begins his own clandestine queer relationship, fault lines and deeper questions begin to emerge: about what we perpetuate and refuse to examine, and how we balance opportunity, risk, subversion and assimilation. Weaving revealing memoir with unprecedented reportage, Guest Privileges is a decade-long journey of dislocation not just through the Gulf States - one of the most maligned and misunderstood regions in the world - but into the very nature of home, belonging and how we form a life and community.

Identity Theft (2nd Edition) is an award-winning book that follows Stanford professor Debra Meyerson's journey to recover from a severe stroke that initially left her physically incapacitated and unable to speak. In addition to providing realistic expectations for the hard work needed to regain everyday capabilities, Meyerson and Zuckerman focus on the less frequently documented emotional journey as she, and her family, rebuild identity in recovery. Virtually every stroke survivor is haunted by questions like "Who am I now?" and "How do I rebuild a meaningful and rewarding life?" after losing so much of what they had before--capabilities, careers and jobs, relationships, and more. This is a book full of hope for survivors--from stroke or other life-changing injuries or illnesses--as well as their care partners, families and communities. The first edition of Identity Theft centers on Debra's experience: her stroke, her extraordinary efforts to recover, and her journey to redefine herself. But she also draws on her skills as a social scientist, sharing stories from several dozen fellow survivors, family members, friends, colleagues, therapists, and doctors she has met and interviewed. By sharing this diversity of experiences, Debra highlights how every stroke is different, and every recovery is different. She provides a valuable look at the broad possibilities for successfully navigating the challenging physical recovery--and the equally difficult and frequently uspoken emotional journey toward rebuilding one's identity, and a rewarding life after a trauma like stroke. This second edition is written by Debra and her husband, Steve Zuckerman. As they have shared in countless talks "just as the original book was headed to the printers we decided that 'the finish line had become a new starting line.'" They co-founded the nonprofit Stroke Onward, where they have been working side by side to build an organization that can catalyze change in the healthcare system to better integrate the emotional journey of rebuilding identity into a lifelong recovery process. This edition draws on five more years of experience as a post-stroke couple, and what they've learned from thousands more survivors, family members and healthcare professionals. They've added new insights about the long-term recovery process and how we can change the stroke system of care to better support all survivors and their families. Their 4,500-mile bike ride called "Stroke Across America" in 2021 helped raise awareness for Stroke Onward and stroke suvivorship care.

First published in 1921, this is a classic tale, in the vein of Slocum and Dana, of sailing the 45-foot yacht Typhoon across the Atlantic and back again "for the fun of the thing" and to prove the feat could be done in what was, at the time, considered a very small vessel.

Jack Kerouac was one of America's great writers of the latter half of the 20th century, yet he endured a life characterized by persistent hardship and disillusion. Leading Kerouac scholar Paul Maher Jr. targets the writer's embattled insight of self as central to his life and work. He reveals how Kerouac's troubled interactions with alcohol, drugs, and spirituality stamped its importance on his autobiographical prose and poetry and created a singular language that united thoughts on the human condition and spiritual liberation. Becoming Kerouac: A Writer In His Time affixes Kerouac's life and art in a fresh way, giving readers a rich perspective from which to understand this 20th-century literary genius.Using unpublished archival material, Becoming Kerouac focuses on the writer's critical formative years --1940 to 1957-- to demonstrate his growth as a novelist and poet. Maher contends that Kerouac developed his singular language to capture human consciousness as it never had before. His futilities catapulted American literature to reflect its restless post-World War II anxieties. Narrating the events that comprised Kerouac's life, biographers have long struggled to illustrate his complexness and the contradictions that shaped his determinations and dogged his relationships. But without consideration of the writing, the troubles in life fail to reveal their deeper resonances by skillfully analyzing the work while tracing the events. Maher achieves a full portrait, revealing struggles that problematize his work. Becoming Kerouac fuses Kerouac's life and art to comprehend this misunderstood literary genius.

A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.

This book shares the life narrative of Deysi Quiñones to shed light on the intricate relationship between her life and the wider cultural, political, social, and historical contexts of the Dominican Republic.

This is the first historical biography in English to be published on Egyptian scholar-diplomat, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the most intellectually accomplished of the nine UN secretaries-general.

This book depicts that autofictional texts often make use of humour and play in a productive and meaningful way, tackling issues like human rights violations, historical, collective and personal trauma, and struggle with psychological or physical illness and abuse. It was originally published as special issue of Life Writing.

This book examines the career of Sir Orme Sargent, one of the most important and distinguished British diplomats of the twentieth century.

This volume examines the use of Black popular culture to engage, reflect, and parse social justice, arguing that Black popular culture is more than merely entertainment.