Självbiografier

An illuminating account of Jack Ma and Alibaba - one of China's leading entrepreneurs and an Internet giant in today's world.

New Directions is proud to present Fleur Jaeggy's strange and mesmerizing essays about the writers Thomas De Quincey, John Keats, and Marcel Schwob. A renowned stylist ofhyper-brevity in fiction, Fleur Jaeggy proves herself an even more concise master of the essay form, albeit in a most peculiar and lapidary poetic vein. Of De Quincey's early nineteenth-century world we hear of the habits of writers: Charles Lamb "spoke of 'Lilliputian rabbits' when eating frog fricassse"; Henry Fuseli "ate a diet of raw meat in order to obtain splendid dreams"; "Hazlitt was perceptive about musculature and boxers"; and "Wordsworth used a buttery knife to cut the pages of a first-edition Burke." In a book of "blue devils" and night visions, the Keats essay opens: "In 1803, the guillotine was a common child's toy." And poor Schwob's end comes as he feels "like a 'dog cut open alive'": "His face colored slightly, turning into a mask of gold. His eyes stayed open imperiously. No one could shut his eyelids. The room smoked of grief." Fleur Jaeggy's essays-or are they prose poems?-smoke of necessity: the pages are on fire.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE CROSS SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR The definitive biography of one of the greatest, most extraordinary runners and Olympic heroes of all time, from the author of running classic Feet in the Clouds.

Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line, 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In this deeply funny and personal memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, in the curious world of 1950s Middle America.

Charting his rise to power, his struggle to unify the warring factions of his faith, and his battles to retake Jerusalem and expel Christian influence from Arab lands, Saladin explores the life and the enduring legacy of this champion of Islam, and examines his significance for the world today.

A thoroughly researched, balanced new biography of author, journalist and adventurer Ernest Hemingway.

The life and times of the great eighteenth-century judge and statesman, whose legacy continues to influence Anglo-American law and society.

A warm, intimate account of the love between Eleanor Roosevelt and reporter Lorena Hickok—a relationship that, over more than three decades, transformed both women''s lives and empowered them to play significant roles in one of the most tumultuous periods in American historyIn 1932, as her husband assumed the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt entered the claustrophobic, duty-bound existence of the First Lady with dread. By that time, she had put her deep disappointment in her marriage behind her and developed an independent life—now threatened by the public role she would be forced to play. A lifeline came to her in the form of a feisty campaign reporter for the Associated Press: Lorena Hickok. Over the next thirty years, until Eleanor’s death, the two women carried on an extraordinary relationship: They were, at different points, lovers, confidantes, professional advisors, and caring friends.    They couldn''t have been more different. Eleanor had been raised in one of the nation’s most powerful political families and was introduced to society as a debutante before marrying her distant cousin, Franklin. Hick, as she was known, had grown up poor in rural South Dakota and worked as a servant girl after she escaped an abusive home, eventually becoming one of the most respected reporters at the AP. Her admiration drew the buttoned-up Eleanor out of her shell, and the two quickly fell in love. For the next thirteen years, Hick had her own room at the White House, next door to the First Lady.    These fiercely compassionate women inspired each other to right the wrongs of the turbulent era in which they lived. During the Depression, Hick reported from the nation’s poorest areas for the WPA, and Eleanor used these reports to lobby her husband for New Deal programs. Hick encouraged Eleanor to turn their frequent letters into her popular and long-lasting syndicated column "My Day," and to befriend the female journalists who became her champions. When Eleanor’s tenure as First Lady ended with FDR''s death, Hick pushed her to continue to use her popularity for good—advice Eleanor took by leading the UN’s postwar Human Rights Commission. At every turn, the bond these women shared was grounded in their determination to better their troubled world.  Deeply researched and told with great warmth, Eleanor and Hick is a vivid portrait of love and a revealing look at how an unlikely romance influenced some of the most consequential years in American history.

Even after his death, Tupac Shakur maintains star status as his books and music are hotter than ever. Finally, fans can read this collection of letters which offers insight into the psyche of the rap icon.

Paul Hollywood is the charismatic face of Britain's most popular food show, wowing foodies with his consummate bakery skills and setting hearts aflutter with undeniable screen presence. This biography will give fans the inside story on the man himself.

The life of Syncletica is one of the oldest lives of a woman saint and provides rare testimony to the life of female sanctity in the fifth century. This translation of the life forms Part One of a two-part set, while Part Two provides the first full-length study of the teachings and spiritual background of this most remarkable woman. Anchored firmly in the Scriptures and in everyday, human experience, Syncletica's teachings are as pertinent today as they were fifteen centuries ago. Her meditations, based on astute psychological insights, still have the power to inspire, to encourage, and to challenge latter-day disciples to live authentic Christian lives.

Though a well-regarded physicist Carl Sagan is best-known as a writer of popular nonfiction and science fiction and as the host of the series Cosmos. In interviews and profiles, Sagan discusses with verve a wide variety of topics - the environment, nuclear disarmament, religion, politics, extraterrestrial life, astronomy, physics, robotics.

The great Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) believed that the dawn of the twentieth century would bring an end to the old atheistic and positivistic worldview and the beginning of a new era of the spirit. His philosophy goes beyond mere rational conceptualization and tries to attain authentic life itself: the profound layers of existence in contact with the divine world. He directed all his efforts-philosophical as well as in his personal and public life-at replacing the kingdom of this world with the kingdom of God. According to him, we can all attempt this by tapping the divine creative powers that constitute our true nature. Our mission is to be collaborators with God in His continuing creation of the world.Nikolai Berdyaev describes this book as "a philosophical autobiography or a history of spirit and self-knowledge." This book is not only autobiographical; it is also a work of critical self-inquiry: Berdyaev subjects his ideas and his life to philosophical scrutiny, in order to discover his "own image and ultimate destiny." In passing, he elucidates the most important elements of his personalistic philosophy: freedom, creativeness, and divine-humanity. By plumbing the depths of his soul, Berdyaev felt that he could help formulate and resolve certain crucial problems concerning human destiny and contribute to the understanding of our era."Nikolai Berdyaev's writings are always insightful, penetrating, passionate, committed-expressions of the whole person. They are as intensely alive now as when they were first written."-Richard Pevear, translator of War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov"Nikolai Berdyaev's writings retain their freshness as vehicles for thinking not just about the future of Russia, but about the spiritual challenges facing the modern world."-Paul Vallier, author of Modern Russian Theology: Bukharev, Soloviev, Bulgakov"Nikolai Berdyaev is one of the few who have found the Christian answer, and yet do not cease to question with those whose lives are still torn asunder by disbelief, doubt, and sufferings; one of the few who dare to be, as thinkers, Christians and, as Christians, thinkers."-Evgeny Lampert, author of The Apocalypse of HistoryBoris Jakim has translated and edited many books in the field of Russian religious thought. His translations include S. L. Frank's The Unknowable, Pavel Florensky's The Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Vladimir Solovyov's Lectures on Divine Humanity, and Sergius Bulgakov's The Bride of the Lamb.

"I am disposed to regard as my duty to a faithful friend, as well as to the great community of which Mr. Tilden had been for full half a century a devoted servant and benefactor. "His public life spanned a larger portion of the history of our Republic than that of any other eminent American statesman, and he occupied the unique position in our history of being the only one selected by the nation for its chief magistracy, who was never clothed with its responsibilities. "Mr. Tilden's place among the foremost and wisest statesmen of our country will be cheerfully recognized. If, however, I owe to his memory, as I suppose I do, any further duty as a friend and patriot, it is a duty which my increasing years admonish me must not be deferred." ...John Bigelow, Author

The definitive biography of Tom Paine, published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of his death

Elizabeth Prout stands at both the heart and the crossroads of nineteenth-century history. From her birth in 1820 as the daughter of a cooper in a brewery, beside a cotton mill and an ironworks in the suburbs of Shrewsbury, to her death of tuberculosis, beside the glass and chemical works of St Helens, in 1864, she experienced the industrial, educational, social, economic and religious changes that transformed English society at that time. It was, however, her close friendships with those two giants of the spiritual life, the Passionists Blessed Dominic Barberi and Father Ignatius Spencer, that transformed her own life, enabling her, in turn, to transform her own environment. Slight in build, fragile in health, Elizabeth Prout spent her life in the service of the poor: the mill girls of Manchester, the refugees from the Irish Potato Famine, the needy of Sutton, St Helens and the unemployed of Ashton-under-Lyne during the Lancashire Cotton Famine. Through her work she implemented educational changes that raised up the Catholic population. She provided Homes for the motherly care of Catholic working girls. Most important of all, in partnership with Father Gaudentius Rossi CP and Father Robert Croskell of the Diocese of Salford, she founded a religious Order for the poor, the Sisters of the Cross and Passion - enabling others, too, to educate, to nourish family life in parish visitation and the instruction of converts and to enrich the drabness of people's lives with the beautiful vestments they made for their churches. In 1994 the Cause for the Canonisation of Elizabeth Prout (Mother Mary Joseph of Jesus) was opened by Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool in the Church of St Anne and Blessed Dominic Barberi, Sutton, St Helens, where her remains are interred, like those of Father Ignatius Spencer CP, in the shrine of Blessed Dominic. In 2008 Archbishop Patrick Kelly completed the Liverpool Archdiocesan Process and forwarded Elizabeth Prout's Cause to Rome.