Popular European Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (93)
21.
BulgariaDescription:
Figuring explores the complexities of love and the human search for truth and meaning through the interconnected lives of several historical figures across four centuries—beginning with the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion, and ending with the marine biologist and author Rachel Carson, who catalyzed the environmental movement. Stretching between these figures is a cast of artists, writers, and scientists—mostly women, mostly queer—whose public contribution have risen out of their unclassifiable and often heartbreaking private relationships to change the w... continue
22.
Floreana by Margret Wittmer EN
GermanyDescription:
The true story of the author's 56 years spent living on Floreana in the Galapagos Islands. The story begins in 1932, when Margret Wittmer arrived on the island with her husband, stepson and two dogs.
23.
Free : A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi EN
AlbaniaDescription:
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
24.
George Frideric Handel by Paul Henry Lang EN
HungaryDescription:
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.
25.
Gnarr : How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jón Gnarr EN
IcelandDescription:
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.
26.
IrelandDescription:
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait delivers a luminous portrait of a marriage, a family ravaged by grief, and a boy whose name was given to one of the most celebrated plays of all time. • “Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare’s life ... here is a novel ... so gorgeously written that it transports you." —The Boston Globe England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, bu... continue
27.
DenmarkDescription:
Comedian Sofie Hagen shares how she removed fatphobic influences from her daily life and found self-acceptance in a world where judgement and discrimination are rife. Sofie conquered a negative relationship with her body and provides practical tips for readers to do the same drawing wisdom from other Fat Liberation champions. Part-memoir, part-social commentary, this book looks at how taking up space in a culture that is desperate to reduce you can be radical, emboldening and life-changing
28.
I Am, I Am, I Am : Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O'Farrell EN
Description:
Presents a memoir told entirely in seventeen near-death experiences stemming from a dangerous childhood illness, accidents, an encounter with a disturbed person, and the author's daily efforts to protect her daughter from the vulnerabilities of a high-risk condition.
29.
I, Francis by Carlo Carretto EN
ItalyDescription:
"The 40th anniversary edition of an Orbis classic-Francis of Assisi's spirituality and life explained in the inimitable voice of Carlo Carretto"--
30.
In Search of Amrit Kaur : A Lost Princess and Her Vanished World by Livia Manera Sambuy EN
Description:
As she builds her own life anew, an Italian writer embarks on an all-consuming search for the true story of the mysterious princess H. H. Amrit Kaur of Mandi. On a sweltering day in 2007, having just lost her brother to illness, Livia Manera Sambuy finds herself standing before a 1924 photograph of a stunningly elegant Indian princess at a museum in Mumbai. What’s written in the caption will change her life forever. This gorgeous Punjabi princess, it’s said, sold her jewels in occupied Paris to save Jewish lives, only to be arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp, where she di... continue