Biografier

The celebrated Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of America. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life, he carries the reader through Washington's troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian Wars, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention and his magnificent performance as America's first president.Despite the reverence his name inspires Washington remains a waxwork to many readers, worthy but dull, a laconic man of remarkable self-control. But in this groundbreaking work Chernow revises forever the uninspiring stereotype. He portrays Washington as a strapping, celebrated horseman, elegant dancer and tireless hunter, who guarded his emotional life with intriguing ferocity. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, he orchestrated their actions to help realise his vision for the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency. Ron Chernow takes us on a page-turning journey through all the formative events of America's founding. This is a magisterial work from one of America's foremost writers and historians.

One of the bestselling memoirs of all time, David Niven's The Moon's a Balloon is an account of one of the most remarkable lives Hollywood has ever seen. Beginning with the tragic early loss of his aristocratic father, then regaling us with tales of school, army and wartime hi-jinx, Niven shows how, even as an unknown young man, he knew how to live the good life. But it is his astonishing stories of life in Hollywood and his accounts of working and partying with the legends of the silver screen - Lawrence Oliver, Vivien Leigh, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, Noel Coward and dozens of others, while making some of the most acclaimed films of the last century - which turn David Niven's memoir into an outright masterpiece. An intimate, gossipy, heartfelt and above all charming account of life inside Hollywood's dream factory, The Moon is a Balloon is a classic to be read and enjoyed time and again..

George Orwell was an inveterate keeper of diaries. The Orwell Diaries presents eleven of them, covering the period 1931-1949, and follows Orwell from his early years as a writer to his last literary notebook. An entry from 1931 tells of a communal shave in the Trafalgar Square fountains, while notes from his travels through industrial England show the development of the impassioned social commentator. This same acute power of observation is evident in his diaries from Morocco, as well as at home, where his domestic diaries chart the progress of his garden and animals with a keen eye; the wartime diaries, from descriptions of events overseas to the daily violence closer to home, describe astutely his perspective on the politics of both, and provide a new and entirely refreshing insight into Orwell's character and his great works.

An extraordinary collection of thematically linked essays, including THE UNCANNY, SCREEN MEMORIES and FAMILY ROMANCES.Leonardo da Vinci fascinated Freud primarily because he was keen to know why his personality was so incomprehensible to his contemporaries. In this probing biographical essay he deconstructs both da Vinci's character and the nature of his genius. As ever, many of his exploratory avenues lead to the subject's sexuality - why did da Vinci depict the naked human body the way hedid? What of his tendency to surround himself with handsome young boys that he took on as his pupils? Intriguing, thought-provoking and often contentious, this volume contains some of Freud's best writing.

'Only with the greatest of simplifications, for the sake of convenience, can we say Africa. In reality, except as a geographical term, Africa doesn't exist'. Ryszard Kapuscinski has been writing about the people of Africa throughout his career. In a study that avoids the official routes, palaces and big politics, he sets out to create an account of post-colonial Africa seen at once as a whole and as a location that wholly defies generalised explanations. It is both a sustained meditation on the mosaic of peoples and practises we call 'Africa', and an impassioned attempt to come to terms with humanity itself as it struggles to escape from foreign domination, from the intoxications of freedom, from war and from politics as theft.

Mass-market edition of the first authoritative single-volume biography of John F. Kennedy to be written in nearly four decades. Drawing upon first-hand sources and never-before-opened archives, prize-winning historian Robert Dallek reveals more than we ever knew about Jack Kennedy, forever changing the way we think about his life, his presidency and his legacy.Dallek also discloses that, while labouring to present an image of robust good health, Kennedy was secretly in and out of hospitals throughout his life, soill that he was administered last rites on several occasions. He never shies away from Kennedy's weaknesses, but also brilliantly explores his strengths. The result is a full portrait of a bold, brave and truly human John F. Kennedy.

In late 1888, only weeks before his final collapse into madness, Nietzsche (1844-1900) set out to compose his autobiography, and Ecce Homo remains one of the most intriguing yet bizarre examples of the genre ever written. In this extraordinary work Nietzsche traces his life, work and development as a philosopher, examines the heroes he has identified with, struggled against and then overcome - Schopenhauer, Wagner, Socrates, Christ - and predicts the cataclysmic impact of his 'forthcoming revelation of all values'. Both self-celebrating and self-mocking, penetrating and strange, Ecce Homo gives the final, definitive expression to Nietzsche's main beliefs and is in every way his last testament.

'Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything even die.Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram mountains, PakistanIn 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools especially for girls in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.

Read about the life of Britain's most beloved vet, who charmed us all with his bestselling tales of veterinary life in Yorkshire. After qualifying as a vet in 1939, Alf Wight, aka James Herriot, moved to a veterinary practice in Thirsk, Yorkshire. It wasn't until he was over fifty when his first book of stories about life as a Yorkshire vet, If Only They Could Talk, was published, giving birth to some of Yorkshire's most famous and much-loved literary characters, and later becoming the popular BBC television series All Creatures Great and Small. Not only did his books have great success, but they also inspired many to take up the profession, in what was known as the 'Herriot effect'. Although he brought fame and fortune to himself and those around him, he remained an intensely private person, respected and trusted by those whose animals he cared for, and adored by millions of fans. This illuminating biography reveals the real man behind the title 'The World's Most Famous Vet'.

In 1929 Robert Graves went to live abroad permanently, vowing 'never to make England my home again'. This is his superb account of his life up until that 'bitter leave-taking': from his childhood and desperately unhappy school days at Charterhouse, to his time serving as a young officer in the First World War that was to haunt him throughout his life. It also contains memorable encounters with fellow writers and poets, including Siegfried Sassoon and Thomas Hardy, and covers his increasingly unhappy marriage to Nancy Nicholson. Goodbye to All That, with its vivid, harrowing descriptions of the Western Front, is a classic war document, and also has immense value as one of the most candid self-portraits of an artist ever written.Includes illustrations and explanatory footnotes.

The exhilarating, life-affirming call to spiritual arms from world-renowned spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff'Gurdjieff's voice is heard as a call.He calls because he suffers from the inner chaos in which we live.He calls to us to open our eyes.He asks us why we are here, what we wish for, what forces we obey. He asks us, above all, if we understand what we are . . .'Part adventure narrative, part travelogue, part spiritual guide, Meetings with Remarkable Men is suffused with Gurdjieff's unique perspective on life. With vivacity and charm, he organizes his account around portraits of the remarkable men and women who accompanied him through remote parts of the Near East and Central Asia, and who aided his search for hidden knowledge. Among them are Gurdjieff's own father (a traditional bard), a Russian prince dedicated to the search for Truth, a Christian missionary who entered a World Brotherhood deep in Asia, and a woman who escaped slavery to become a trusted member of Gurdjieff's group of fellow seekers.Meetings with Remarkable Men conveys a haunting sense of what it means to live fully - with conscience, with purpose and with heart.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Boy by Roald Dahl, read by Dan Stevens. Throughout his young days at school and just afterwards, a number of things happened to Roald Dahl, which made such a tremendous impression he never forgot them. Boy is the remarkable story of Roald Dahls childhood; tales of exciting and strange things - some funny, some frightening, all true.

In 1940 Steinbeck sailed in a sardine boat with his great friend the marine biologist, Ed Ricketts, to collect marine invertebrates from the beaches of the Gulf of California. The expedition was described by the two men in SEA OF CORTEZ, published in 1941. The day-to-day story of the trip is told here in the Log, which combines science, philosophy and high-spirited adventure. An exhilarating and highly entertaining read.

One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school was a bestseller when it was first published in 1977, and has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it brings alive the anxiety and competitiveness - with others and, even more, with oneself - that set the tone in this crucible of character building. Turow's multidimensional delving into his protagonists' psyches and his marvellous gift for suspense prefigure the achievements of his bestselling first novel, Presumed Innocent. Each September, a new crop of students enter Harvard Law School to begin an intense, often gruelling, sometimes harrowing year of introduction to the law. Turow's group of One Ls are fresh, bright, ambitious, and more than a little daunting. Even more impressive are the faculty: Perini, the dazzling, combative professor of contracts, who presents himself as the students' antagonist in their struggle to master his subject; Zechman, the reserved professor of torts who seems so indecisive the students fear he cannot teach; and Nicky Morris, a young, appealing man who stressed the humanistic aspects of law. Will the One Ls survive? Will they excel? Will they make the Law Review, the outward and visible sign of success in this ultra-conservative microcosm? With remarkable insight into both his fellows and himself, Turow leads us through the ups and downs, the small triumphs and tragedies of the year, in an absorbing and thought-provoking narrative that teaches the reader not only about law school and the law but about the human beings who make them what they are.

The fifth volume of memoirs from the author who inspired the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. During his decades spent as a country vet in Yorkshire, James Herriot has seen huge advances in medical science, technological leaps, and a world irrevocably changed by war. Yet some things have always stayed the same - gruff farmers, hypochondriac pet owners, and animals that never do quite what you expect them to. From a green young man in his first job in the 1930s, to an experienced veterinary surgeon, married with two children, James has spent his entire career among the people and animals of Darrowby. And there's nowhere else he'd rather be. Since they were first published, James Herriot's memoirs have sold millions of copies and entranced generations of animal lovers. Charming, funny and touching, Every Living Thing is a heart-warming story of determination, love and companionship from one of Britain's best-loved authors.

'It isn't likely that this collection of journal entries will pass the censors. If it can't be published, I hope my friends will circulate it among themselves. I'll leave Vietnam tomorrow...' Thus Thich Nhat Hanh begins his 11 May 1966 journal entry. Since that time, he has been unable to return to his homeland but, now based in France, he has become one of the world's most respected spiritual leaders. Fragrant Palm Leaves reveals a vulnerable and questioning young man reflecting on the many difficulties he and his fellow monks faced in Vietnam trying to make Buddhism relevant to the people's needs. We follow him, in 1964, as he helps establish the movement known as 'engaged Buddhism': starting self-help villages, a new university, a Buddhist order and many other efforts for peace. Fragrant Palm Leaves is regarded by many Vietnamese as Thich Nhat Hanh's most endearing and stimulating book. It offers readers a glimpse into the mind of a great thinker and activist and shows how to live fully, with awareness, during a time of challenge and upheaval.

Jim Morrison's electrifying live performances, and appetite for sexual and psychedelic experience enflamed the spirit of a generation. In Jim Morrison, critically acclaimed journalist Stephen Davis brings together insights gleaned from dozens of original interviews, long-lost recordings, and Morrison's own unpublished journals to create a vivid portrait of a misunderstood genius. Each page brims with new details on every phase of Morrison's life, from his troubled youth in a strict military household, to his coming of age in the avant-garde scene of 1960s LA, his epic alcohol and drug binges, and sexual affairs.In a gripping final chapter, Davis synthesizes new evidence recently uncovered in Paris to resolve at last many of the mysteries surrounding Morrison's death, and reconstructs the final days and hours of America's greatest rock star. Compelling and harrowing, intimate and revelatory, Jim Morrison is the definitive biography of the rock god who defined the 1960s.

'At the turn from our bedroom into the hallway, there is an old full-length mirror in a wooden frame ... This reflected version of myself, shaking, rumpled, pinched and slightly stooped, would be alarming were it not for the self-satisfied expression pasted across my face. I would ask the obvious question, "e;What are you smiling about?"e; but I already know the answer: "e;It just gets better from here."e;'Struck with Parkinson's - a debilitating, degenerative disease - at the height of his fame, Michael J. Fox has taken what some might consider cause for depression and turned it into a beacon of hope for millions. In Always Looking Up, Michael's Sunday Times bestselling memoir, he writes with warmth, humour and incredible honesty about the journey he has undertaken since he came to terms with his condition.

Pitched into the maelstrom of air fighting in the summer of 1940, twenty-four-year-old Gordon Olive barely lived to tell this extraordinary tale of courage and endurance. As Britain fought alone for its survival, 'the Few' of RAF Fighter Command took to the air grievously outnumbered, many reaching breaking point, exhausted physically and mentally by unreleting, intense combat. Gordon Olive flew the iconic Spitfire for over 125 missions above London and the south-east in the white heat of the aerial battle for supremacy of the skies. One of the most heavily engaged pilots of the Battle, he shot down ten enemy aircraft. This is his story of what it was like to dogfight with Messerschmitts at speeds of 400 mph, experiencing G forces close to blackout, at one moment to be drenched in sweat with exertion, the next to be freezing at 25,000 feet, to smell the cordite of your own fighter's machine guns and feel cannon shells explode against the back of your armoured seat. Illustrated in colour with forty unique paintings of the aerial battle of summer 1940 by the author.

The case of Jack the Ripper and his savage serial killing and horrendous mutilation of five women in the East End of Victorian London is the greatest of all unsolved murder mysteries. For over 100 years the long line of candidates for the bloodstained laurels of Jack the Ripper has been paraded before us. Policemen and Ripperologists have tried in vain to put a name to the faceless silent killer. Richard Whittington-Egan, one of the founding fathers of the search, published, in 1975, his Casebook on Jack the Ripper, now eagerly sought after but long out of print and virtually unobtainable (except at mammoth prices), in which he documented the history, the crimes, the investigations and the investigators. He also included some fundamentally new discoveries and points, such as the real story of the kidney in Mr Lusk's renal post-bag, wrongly said to be that of Catherine Eddowes (Ripper Victim No. 4). The endless nightmare of Jack the Ripper has rolled on, unstoppable, and now Richard Whittington-Egan, in a completely revised and very considerably enlarged edition of the 1975 Casebook, has taken a new look, from a longer perspective, at the theories and the personages who advanced them, from the time of the murders right up to the present day.

The incredible and heartwarming sequel to the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob'Close proximity to animals does wonders for your mental health. Close proximity to this book will do wonders for it, too.' (Daily Mail)* * * * * * *'Since Bob has appeared, I've made huge strides in my life. For more than a decade I was a homeless drug addict. I was lost to the world and had forgotten what was important in life. Now I've got myself back on my two feet, but as I put the past behind me, I'm still stepping unsteadily into the future. I still need help in the right direction. Bob is always there to offer guidance and friendship.' (James, on Bob)James and his street cat Bob have been on a remarkable journey together. In the years since their story ended in the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob, James, with Bob's help, has begun to find his way back to the real world.Almost every day, Bob provides moments of intelligence, bravery and humour, at the same time opening his human friend's eyes to important truths about friendship, loyalty, trust - and the meaning of happiness. In The World According to Bob, the continuing tale of their life together, James shows the many ways in which Bob has been his protector and guardian angel through times of illness, hardship, even life-threatening danger. As they high five together for their crowds of admirers, James knows that the tricks he's taught Bob are nothing compared to the lessons he's learnt from his street-wise cat.For more stories from James and Bob's adventures, don't miss The Little Book of Bob, a pocket-friendly compilation of wisdom from the world's favourite street-wise cat.

In the last years of the millennium, Michael Lewis, bestselling author of The Big Short and The Undoing Project, sets out to find the world's most important technology entrepreneur, the man who embodies the spirit of the coming age. He finds him in Jim Clark, the billionaire who founded Netscape and Silicon Graphics and who now aims to turn the healthcare industry on its head with his new billion-dollar project. Lewis accompanies Clark on the maiden voyage of his vast yacht and, on the sometimes hazardous journey, takes the reader on the ride of a lifetime through a landscape of geeks and billionaires. Through every brilliant anecdote and funny character sketch, Michael Lewis allows us an inside look at the world of the super-rich, whilst drawing a map of free enterprise in the twenty-first century.

'Bright, breezy and unpretentious' Guardian'A loving and faithful portrait of Almina and her world' Countryfile magazine* * * * * *The story of the real Downton Abbey, told by Lady Fiona Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle where the phenomentally successful TV series was filmed.Lady Fiona Carnarvon became the chatelaine of Highclere Castle - the setting of the hit series Downton Abbey - eight years ago. In that time she's become fascinated by the rich history of Highclere, and by the extraordinary people who lived there over the centuries. One person particularly captured Fiona's imagination - Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Almina was the illegitimate daughter of banking tycoon Alfred de Rothschild. She was his only daughter and he doted on her. She married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, at 19, with an enormous dowry. At first, life at Highclere was a dizzying mix of sumptuous banquets for 500 and even the occasional royal visitor. Almina oversaw 80 members of staff - many of whom came from families who had worked at Highclere for generations. But when the First World War broke out, life at Highclere changed forever. History intervened and Almina and the staff of Highclere were thrown into one of the most turbulent times of the last century. Almina was forced to draw on her deepest reserves of courage in order to ensure her family, the staff and the castle survived. This is the remarkable story of a lost time. But Highclere remains and in this book, Fiona weaves Almina's journey and those of her family into the heritage and history of one of England's most exquisite Victorian castles.

'To write a book that makes the reader sit in a trance, lost in his passionate desire to pack a suitcase and go to the fabulous place - that, in the end, is something one would give a sack of nutmeg for' Philip Hensher, The SpectatorIn 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world's nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth.A beautifully told adventure story and a fascinating depiction of exploration in the seventeenth century, NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history

Jimi Hendrix continues to fascinate, and sell huge quantities of albums, even 35 years after his death. Quite apart from his influence on musicians and fans, a large part of the appeal of his sensational life story lies in the thrill of the era whose values he came to stand for. The Sixties still exert a massive pull over pop culture and this is genuinely a book for anyone interested, not only in Hendrix but also in anything to do with the pop culture of the last 40 years. Meticulously researched and sensitively and beautifully written, this is a labour of love that reveals the nuances, foibles and tragedies of the human being behind the iconic image. This is the sweeping, authoritative and colourful biography that Jimi Hendrix deserves and that his legions of fans, young and old have been waiting for.

A patron of art since the 1930s, Peggy Guggenheim, in a candid self-portrait, provides an insiders view of the early days of modern art, with revealing accounts of her eccentric wealthy family, her personal and professional relationships, and often surprising portrayals of the artists themselves. Here is a book that captures a valuable chapter in the history of modern art, as well as the spirit of one of its greatest advocates.

UFC fighter, Georges Rush St. Pierre, shares the lessons he learned on his way to the top, in The Way of the Fight, revealing how he overcame bullying and injury to become an internationally celebrated athlete and champion.The reigning UFC welterweight champion, St. Pierre seemed untouchable until injury derailed him and jeopardized his title and his career. Determined to make his comeback,he embarked on a careful regimen of physical therapy. He alsoused thishealing period to assess his life, where hes been, what hes achieved, where he wants to go, and and lessons that helped shape who he is.In The Way of the Fight, Canadian championship fighter St. Pierre invites fans into the circle of his life, sharinghis most closely guarded memories. A compelling memoir that offers anintimate, gritty look at a fighters journey, told through inspiring vignettes, GSP isa movingaccount of commitmentand power, achievement and pain, dedication and conviction from one of the worlds greatest champions.

Drawing on her own memory, her parents written reflections, interviews with contemporaries, and newly-available documents, former US Secretary of State and New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Albright recounts a tale that is by turns harrowing and inspiring.Before she turned twelve, Madeleine Albrights life was shaken by some of the most cataclysmic events of the 20th century: the Nazi invasion of her native Prague, the Battle of Britain, the attempted genocide of European Jewry, the allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War. In Prague Winter, Albright reflects on her discovery of her familys Jewish heritage many decades after the war, on her Czech homelands tangled history, and on the stark moral choices faced by her parents and their generation. Often relying on eyewitness descriptions, she tells the story of how millions of ordinary citizens were ripped from familiar surroundings and forced into new roles as exile leaders and freedom fighters, resistance organizers and collaborators, victims and killers. These events of enormous complexity are shaped by concepts familiar to any growing child: fear, trust, adaptation, the search for identity, the pressure to conform, the quest for independence, and the difference between right and wrong.Prague Winteris an exploration of the past with timeless dilemmas in mind, a journey with universal lessons that is simultaneously a deeply personal memoir and an incisive work of history.Itserves as a guide to the future through the lessons of the past, as seen through the eyes of one of the international communitys most respected and fascinating figures. Albright and her familys experiences provide an intensely human lens through which to view the most political and tumultuous years in modern history.

Vivian Gornick's relationship with her mother is difficult. At the age of forty-five, she regularly meets her mother for strolls along the streets of Manhattan. Occasionally they'll hit a pleasant stride - fondly recalling a shared nostalgia or chuckling over a mutual disgust - but most often their walks are tinged with contempt, irritation, and rages so white hot her mother will stop strangers on the street and say, 'This is my daughter. She hates me'. Weaving between their tempestuous present-day jaunts and the author's memories of the past, Gornick traces her lifelong struggle for independence from her mother - from growing up in a blue-collar tenement house in the Bronx in the 1940s, to newlywed grad student, to established journalist - only to discover the many ways in which she is (and always has been) her mother's daughter. Fierce Attachments is a searingly honest and intimate memoir about coming of age in a big city, and the perpetual bonds that keep us forever linked to our family. 'Admired, rightly, as "e;timeless"e; and "e;classic"e; . . . Fierce Attachments demands honour as the work of a breathtaking technician.' - Jonathan Lethem 'A fine, unflinchingly honest book . . . The story of an abiding, difficult love, full of grace and fire.' - New York Times 'Brimming with life . . . Fierce Attachments is a work of emotional cartography, charting influences and mapping out a proximate territory of the Self.' - Los Angeles Times 'One hesitates to traffic in such stock reviewer's adjectives as "e;brilliant"e;, "e;an American classic"e;, but there are only so many words with which to say how very good this book is.' - Washington Post

Conor McGregor's trainer tells the amazing story of his long road to success in the world's fastest-growing sportGrowing up in Dublin, John Kavanagh was a skinny lad who was frequently bullied. As a young man, after suffering a bad beating when he intervened to help a woman who was being attacked, he decided he had to learn to defend himself. Before long, he was training fighters in a tiny shed, and promoting the earliest mixed-martial arts events in Ireland. And then, a cocky kid called Conor McGregor walked into his gym ...In Win or Learn, John Kavanagh tells his own remarkable life story - which is at the heart of the story of the extraordinary explosion of MMA in Ireland and globally. Employing the motto 'win or learn', Kavanagh has become a guru to young men and women seeking to master the arts of combat. And as the trainer of the world's most charismatic champion, his gym has become a magnet for talented fighters from all over the globe. Kavanagh's portrait of Conor McGregor - who he has seen in his lowest moments, as well as in his greatest triumphs - is a revelation. What emerges from Win or Learn is a remarkable portrait of ambition, discipline, and persistence in the face of years and years of disappointment. It is a must read for every MMA fan - but also for anyone who wants to understand how to follow a dream and realize a vision.'For anyone interested in following their dream to the end of the line' Tony Parsons'It kept me up well past my bedtime' Sean O'Rourke, RTE Radio One'Remarkable' Irish Times'Kavanagh is open and honest about his upbringing ... The journey hasn't been easy, but Kavanagh's inbuilt determination has carried him all the way' Irish Examiner