Selvbiografier

A gripping family saga and a portrait of a world in turmoilThe Princesses of Hesse were Queen Victoria's grandchildren. After the death of their mother, Queen Victoria's favourite daughter Alice, the Queen stepped in, taking an almost manic interest in the motherless girl's marriage prospects. Very little went according to plan. Fortunately, Queen Victoria did not live to see her direst fears for the girls spouses being realised. She died in January 1901, just before her beloved Hesse granddaughters became caught up in the maelstrom of early 20th century Europe. The youngest sister, Alix, married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia; she was assassinated, along with the rest of her family, in a cellar in Ekaterinburg. The second, Ella, married the Russian Grand Duke Serge. After he was assassinated, she became a nun, only to be assassinated by the Bolsheviks twenty-four hours after Alix in 1918. The third, Irene, married the Kaiser's brother, Prince Henry, and was entangled in the 1918 German uprisings. The eldest sister, Princess Victoria, married Prince Louis Battenberg, and became the mother of Lord Louis Mountbatten and grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.Their lives were all dramatic, but this book - the first full-length biography of the Princesses of Hesse - also shows how they interacted as sisters, forever jostling for status and relaying the politics and intrigues that surrounded them. Drawing on hundreds of previously unseen letters from the sisters as well as from their grandmother Queen Victoria, The Princesses of Hesse takes us on a sweeping journey across the tumultuous landscape of the turn of the century - from the dramas of the Russian Court to the Russian Revolution, and through both World Wars in which they often found themselves on opposing sides.Both intimate and epic in scope, Frances Welch's biography sheds new light on the four sisters' lives, illuminating a remarkable period of history in the process.

Autobiography of Addison Mizner, the esteemed and celebrated architect of Palm Beach. Born into an extraordinary family clan, Addison enjoyed the exploits of his early years before distinguishing himself as a remarkable figure of his time. This memoir reveals his early life in affluent, late nineteenth century California, his experiences in central America and his more adventurous times as a gold prospector in the Yukon. After further travels in Hawaii, Addison ends up in Australia and China before arriving in New York and reentering the life he was born to. Throughout his life, wherever he found himself, Mizner shows his eye for detail and flair for design and architecture. In the touching last chapter, Mizner details the hilarious last month's of his mother's life and realizes what it means to be a Mizner.

Based on newly available information, the son of famed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers presents the facts and dispels misinformation about the Cold War espionage program that turned his father into a Cold War icon..One of the most talked-about events of the Cold War was the downing of the American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960. The event was recently depicted in the Steven Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies. Powers was captured by the KGB, subjected to a televised show trial, and imprisoned, all of which created an international incident. Soviet authorities eventually released him in exchange for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. On his return to the United States, Powers was exonerated of any wrongdoing while imprisoned in Russia, yet, due to bad press and the government's unwillingness to heartily defend Powers, a cloud of controversy lingered until his untimely death in 1977. Now his son, Francis Gary Powers Jr. and acclaimed historian Keith Dunnavant have written this new account of Powers's life based on personal files that had never been previously available. Delving into old audio tapes, letters his father wrote and received while imprisoned in the Soviet Union, the transcript of his father's debriefing by the CIA, other recently declassified documents about the U-2 program, and interviews with the spy pilot's contemporaries, Powers and Dunnavant set the record straight. The result is a fascinating piece of Cold War history. This is also a book about a son's journey to understand his father, pursuing justice and a measure of peace.Almost sixty years after the fact, this will be the definitive account of one of the most important events of the Cold War.

The thrilling story of Joan LaCosta's wild life behind the wheel and escape into anonymity was untold, until now, and sits at a compelling intersection of auto racing history, gender equity in sports, and true crime, all set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties.

From simple beginnings, Amalia Kussner rose to fame as a talented and bold artist and ultimately became one of the most sought-after miniature portrait painters of the Gilded Age. At a time when the use of photography was on the rise, many still loved miniatures, which had a feeling and soul to them that photos could not duplicate. Miniatures could be worn as jewelry or carried between winter and summer homes and easily set out on display. Amalia's portraits provided a grandeur that matched how the Gilded Age elite perceived themselves: as royalty.Yet no female portrait artists had the notoriety or esteemed clientèle that Amalia did. Her subjects included members of the Astor family, Consuelo Vanderbilt, "dollar heiress" Minnie Paget, England's Edward VII, Russia's Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra, and diamond mine magnate Cecil Rhodes. At the height of her career, from the mid-1890s to early 1910, having a Kussner miniature was just as important an accessory as owning fine jewelry or a mansion in Newport. "Famous sitters, drawn to her by the accuracy and skill of her brush, never failed to become life-long friends," read her obituary.Amalia's style was also provocative for the late Victorian period. Her subjects were draped in off-the-shoulder fabrics, with their hair loosely pinned around their heads and tendrils framing their faces, and she often took the liberty to enhance their beauty. Amalia kept the women's best features but gave them an almost mythical appearance, akin to the fairy queen Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream.Amalia has been included, along with other nineteenth-century women artists, in the "first wave of feminism," in large part because she commanded very high commissions, comparable to male artists of the time. She was fascinating and sometimes mysterious-particularly with regard to her marriage to lawyer Charles du Pont Coudert-and her journey included not only fame and fortune, but also a few lawsuits, scandals, and lies.

A prominent American heiress exchanges her wealth and identity to become a Prussian countess and mentor to a queen. But amid the gathering clouds of World War II, she finds herself cut off from her funds in the US, divorced, and resisting the Nazis, who eventually force her to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save her two sons.

Burlingame interprets Lincoln's private life, discussing his marriage to Mary Todd, the untimely death of his son Willie to disease in 1862, and his recurrent anguish over the enormous human costs of the war.

'Anoscetia' - The anxiety of not knowing 'the real you' (John Koenig). McCabe never really knew her 'real Anna', going in search of this when she decided to go on the journey enclosed within these covers. A tale so common, yet so unfortunately rarely shared, McCabe details her life to share with those who might walk in similar (or not) shoes to her. McCabe's poignant yet unfussy account of abuse at the hands of her guardians deals with this 'taboo' subject in ways that will open the eyes of those who have never experienced it yet, allow those who have, to find their own voice. What will McCabe reveal? The taboo must be broken.

This diary gives a remarkably vivid description of the life of Doreen Bates, a professional young woman, who went against the social norms of her time to intentionally have twins fathered by an older married, but childless, colleague in the Inland Revenue, where they both worked as Income Tax Inspectors. At the time the twins were born Doreen did not know if their father could, or would, form part of the family. In the event, he was able to make frequent visits and helped practically, emotionally and financially with the childrens' upbringing. The diary commences a few months after the twins were born. Doreen lived with them and a live-in nanny in South London where they experienced relentless days and nights of enemy bombing. In 1944 the twins and their nanny were evacuated to the incomparably safer and beautiful rural setting of a Wiltshire village where Doreen joined them for every weekend. In contrast to the chaos and fear that accompanied the wartime conditions, Doreen's emotional life is much less turbulent than in the previous volume of her diary. This reflects the profound satisfaction she felt as a result of achieving her dream of having children. She was a remarkably enlightened parent. Her recording of their lives in this diary is detailed, intimate, and often humorous. Historical happenings are mentioned, but form only the incidental backdrop to her domestic and professional life. "Brimming with soul, passion, candour and wit, the diaries of Doreen Bates are an extraordinary read, giving a vivid insight into the life of a woman unvanquished by her time, a woman who leaps from the page so strikingly that you feel your pulse beating in time with hers. Edited in an act of great love and generosity by her children, they should take their place as one of the essential diaries of the twentieth century for the window they offer into another world, another heart." - Lucy Caldwell

"Wickedly indiscreet and elegant"Mail on Sunday"He will join Chips Channon, Duff Cooper and Alan Clark in the pantheon of truly great diarists"Matthew d'Ancona, Evening Standard

Both Sides of the Couch is a searingly honest account of how counselling shapes both clients and therapists. A unique window into therapy, it shows, for the first time, the journey through the eyes of both participants.

E.D.E.N. Southworth (Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte) was one of the nineteenth century's most prolific and successful authors, with more novels to her credit than Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Mark Twain combined. She was widely beloved by readers for her feisty heroines who rode horses, shot pistols or bows and arrows, captured notorious villains, became sea captains, and had other such grand adventures. Readers named their daughters, their boats, and their racehorses Capitola after their new favorite character in Emma's bestselling 1859 novel The Hidden Hand, which sold 10,000 copies in the first print run.In her fifty novels, Southworth wrote about unspeakable topics for the time: alcoholism, domestic violence, poverty, capital punishment, and other social issues-many of which readers still grapple with today-all nicely tucked away within the pages of her "domestic fiction." Despite being raised in a slave-owning family, her first works appeared in The National Era, a known abolitionist magazine. She supported emancipation and encouraged her longtime friend Harriet Beecher Stowe to publish Uncle Tom's Cabin. In a bold and daring life that spanned almost the entirety of the century, Emma advocated for better education for girls and better living conditions for the poor, nursed Union soldiers during the Civil War, and joined the early women's rights movement.Emma helped encourage generations of women readers to question and challenge the status quo. Yet although she achieved international fame in her lifetime, knowledge of Southworth and her novels virtually disappeared in the 1940s as readers were drawn to the new Modernism literary movement. For Emma, it was also partly because she had done so well at hiding her progressive ideas in the biographical pieces written during her life. This hidden-in-plain-sight approach worked for a single mother who needed to make money by her pen-her main means of providing for herself and her children after her husband abandoned them-but it helped incorrectly categorize Southworth well into the twentieth century as being against many of the causes she in fact supported in her novels.By meticulously combining details from Southworth's novels, partial biographies, newspapers, and hundreds of personal letters, Rose Neal has written the first-ever biography of E.D.E.N. and pieced together the fascinating life of a woman who was as determined as any of the heroines she created.

From Istanbul to Haifa This book is based on the true story of five siblings who played pivotal roles in the most significant political and historical events that unfolded in the Levant region between the years 1890 and 1948 CE. These events were instrumental in the emergence of entire nations in the Middle East, the collapse of others, and continue to be the primary influence on everything we have experienced and are living today. Within the pages of this book, we traverse a diverse geographical and historical landscape encompassing the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, and Iran. We witness the Arabs' attempts to realize their dream of building an independent unified Arab state, the Western occupier's conspiracies against them to assassinate that dream, and the establishment of the Zionist entity in Palestine. The reader is taken through historical events starting from the Balkan Wars and the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the establishment of the Arab state, the correspondences of Hussein McMahon, the role of Lawrence of Arabia, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and the onset of French and British mandates, culminating in the founding of the Zionist entity. It is worth noting that the information presented in this book is documented from the memoirs left by the five siblings, testimonies from many who lived through those times, and various historical sources. The information is presented in a captivating and dramatic narrative, bringing the characters to life in vivid detail, allowing you to experience history as if you are living it in all its intricacies.

Two facts: 1) in the 1970s, the Pacific Northwest had the highest percentage of serial killers anywhere; 2) the area had for the previous century been a hub of unregulated industry that ravaged nature and residents alike. Murder: A Memoir is a blend of true crime, memoir, and history, a comprehensive reckoning with the past. It will do something that's never been done before: connect actual murders to huge, slow, environmental crimes. It's not a memoir of one person's life - either Ted Bundy's or Caroline's - so much as a memoir of a vicious time and a deadly place. It will offer a highly specific portrait of an era when life was cheap, and industry, operating without restrictions, trumped all.

Richard Rohr's much-anticipated memoir offers teaching of profound importance for our fractured world

For Swifties of all ages, I Love Taylor Swift is exactly what you need to capture your love for this musical icon. Now updated for the Tortured Poets era and with fun coloring pages inspired by Taylor’s likes, life, and lyrics, you can celebrate your love of Taylor your own way!

Notice Me is a compelling and thought-provoking book that delves into the challenging journey of living with autism, dyslexia, bullying, alcohol, and violence, and having a hearing impairment. This powerful narrative explores the experiences of individuals facing multiple adversities and their relentless pursuit of success. Through heartfelt storytelling, Notice Me offers an intimate look into the characters' daily struggles, triumphs, and emotional turmoil. The book sheds light on the unique challenges and stigmas associated with autism, dyslexia, and hearing impairments, fostering an understanding and empathy among readers.

Once again, I find myself standing on a small piece of land, just big enough for my feet. It feels as if this land is teetering atop a tall, thin column of crumbling, rocky earth. I'm wobbling over a bottomless abyss while torrential rain pours from storm clouds that seem to hover directly above my head. Tears cascade from my eyes, and mascara runs in black rivers down my face. I can't help but think, 'What the hell has just happened?' I've lost count of how many times I've had this moment in my life. Join me on my journey from first love to last love, before becoming single again. Cry, laugh, and perhaps relate to some of the situations I found myself in as I take a stroll down memory lane, revisiting the relationships I've had in my life.

Reality TV star Pete Wicks faces his past in this candid, raw and honest account of his mental health journey.

A unique take on a son''s life through the eyes of his mother, interspersed with photographs that bring alive his story, this biography is an inspirational and compelling tale of how a boy from India made it to the forefront of research in physics.

On the occasion of the War''s twenty-fifth anniversary, Neha and Diksha Dwivedi, daughters of a Kargil War hero themselves, come together with Kenguruse''s brother, Neingutoulie, to tell us who Nimbu Saab was, about his life in uniform and beyond, and the act of bravery in which he lost his life.