Biography genre books (350)


91.

Free : A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi EN

Rating: 4 (15 votes)
Country: Europe / Albania flag Albania
Description:
For precocious 11-year-old Lea Ypi, Albania’s Soviet-style socialism held the promise of a preordained future, a guarantee of security among enthusiastic comrades. That is, until she found herself clinging to a stone statue of Joseph Stalin, newly beheaded by student protests. Communism had failed to deliver the promised utopia. One’s “biography”—class status and other associations long in the past—put strict boundaries around one’s individual future. When Lea’s parents spoke of relatives going to “university” or “graduating,” they were speaking of grave secrets Lea struggled to unveil. And wh... continue

92.

From Here to Eternity : Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
A New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestseller “Doughty chronicles [death] practices with tenderheartedness, a technician’s fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief.” —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American fune... continue

93.

From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Country: Asia / Myanmar flag Myanmar
Description:
A former Burma student rebel leader describes his tribal upbringing, experiences with political turmoil and poverty, participation in the insurrection of 1988, and flight to England, where he attended Cambridge University.

94.

Gaddafi's Harem by Annick Cojean EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Africa / Libya flag Libya
Description:
This shocking and moving investigation into the hidden abuses perpetrated by Colonel Gaddafi reveals an appalliing private life.

95.

Geisha : A Life by Mineko Iwasaki EN

Rating: 4.5 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A Kyoto geisha describes her initiation into an okiya at the age of four, the intricate training that made up most of her education, her successful career, and the traditions surrounding the geisha culture.

96.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The startling true history of how one extraordinary man from a remote corner of the world created an empire that led the world into the modern age—by the author featured in Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan. The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-five years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization. Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Gengh... continue

97.

George Frideric Handel by Paul Henry Lang EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Hungary flag Hungary
Description:
Exceptionally full, detailed study of the man, his music and times. Childhood, music training, years in London; analysis of Messiah and other works; much more. Introduction. Includes 35 illustrations.

98.

Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
Ghost Boy is a deeply moving story of recovery and the power of love. Through Martin's story we can know what it is like to be here and yet not here - unable to communicate yet feeling and understanding everything. Martin's emergence from his darkness enables us to celebrate the human spirit and is a wake-up call to cherish our own lives.

99.

Gnarr : How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jón Gnarr EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Iceland flag Iceland
Description:
Following the collapse of the Icelandic banking system in 2008, comedian Jn Gnarr was inspired to invent a political party and run for mayor of Reykjavik. He decided to satirise the current political parties and instead promised voters that he wanted to make their lives more fun. In this entertaining memoir Gnarr recounts his experiences with admirable candour, describing his career, his visions and the mistakes he made, while also sharing some lessons from his campaign and his time in office.

100.

Going to the Mountain : Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela by Ndaba Mandela EN

0 Ratings
Description:
The first-ever book to tell Nelson Mandela's life through the eyes of the grandson who was raised by him, chronicling Ndaba Mandela's life living with, and learning from, one of the greatest leaders and humanitarians the world has ever known. To the rest of the world, Nelson Mandela was a giant: an anti-apartheid revolutionary, a world-renowned humanitarian, and South Africa's first black president. To Ndaba Mandela, he was simply "Granddad." In Going to the Mountain, Ndaba tells how he came to live with Mandela shortly after he turned eleven--having met each other only once, years before, whe... continue