Självbiografier

The extraordinary life of the man who founded Islam, and the world he inhabited - and remade.

The amazing life of Madness frontman and national treasure, Suggs

Drawing heavily on their 15-year correspondence, this book is the first English-language biography of Carlos Kleiber ever written. Charles Barber offers unique insights into how Kleiber worked. This biography considers Kleiber's singular aesthetic, his playful and often erudite sense of humor, his reputation for perfectionism, his much-studied baton technique, and the famous concert and opera performances he conducted. It explores the great conductor's musical lineage and the contemporary contexts in which he worked, and it repudiates myths that inevitably crop up around genius and reflects on Kleiber's contribution to modern musical performance.

Finally in paperback comes Mo' Meta Blues Questlove's New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed psychedelic, punch-drunk memoir

In this extraordinary memoir we look at Africa's wonders through the eyes of a visionary, live through hair-raising adventure and personal sorrow, and also bear witness to a natural world now largely lost from view.

Tommy Porter, came into this world whilst the Second World War was in full flow. His home was the heavily bombed docks area of Liverpool called Bootle.Poverty was rife and times were hard for Tommy and his family; but life was good and his was full of love and fun. Until, that is, tragedy struck the family. This is the true story of how two brothers endured the cruel world of the children's homes and orphanages of the time. An inspiring story of love, sadness and the unbreakable bond between brothers which simply must be read.

After his conversion, this African boy is sent by God to prepare an American university for its mission in the world.

An autobiography of George Grosz, one of the twentieth century's greatest satirical artists. It presents a graphic portrait of Germany in chaos after the Treaty of Versailles. It includes a chapter on Grosz's experience in the Soviet Union as well as writings about his twenty-year self-imposed exile in America, and a fable written in English.

The long-awaited memoir of Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp, whose autobiography is as unique and special as the player himself

From the time she saw the movie Fame, the author wanted to be a star. A line from the theme song stayed with her - 'I'm gonna live for ever, I'm gonna learn how to fly.' This book gives us the chance to fly alongside her on her journey from lonely teenager to international star.

The life of Karl Dane was a Cinderella story gone horribly wrong. The immigrant from Copenhagen was transformed from a machinist to a Hollywood star after his turn as the tobacco-chewing Slim in ""The Big Parade"". This biography tells the tale of a daring yet tragic man who aimed for his wildest dreams and succeeded, if only for a short time.

Presents the fascinating life of the father of the New Germany. This book tells how, in an astonishing political career that spanned six decades including fourteen years as chancellor of West Germany, Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) was instrumental in shaping the modern political landscape, both of his own country and of Europe.

A catalogue of history's greatest military leaders - from the Classical Age to the Napoleonic Era - and what drove them to victory.

';A superb biography, not to be missed either by armchair explorers or students of human naturereveals the famed missionary and explorer as he really was.'Cleveland Plain DealerDavid Livingstone is revered as one of history's greatest explorers and missionaries, the first European to cross Africa, and the first to find Victoria Falls and the source of the Congo River. In this exciting new edition of his biography, Tim Jeal, author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Stanley, draws on fresh sources and archival discoveries to provide the most fully rounded portrait of this complicated mandogged by failure throughout his life despite his full share of success.Using Livingstone's original field notebooks, Jeal finds that the explorer's problems with his African followers were far graver than previously understood. From recently discovered letters he elaborates on the explorer's decision to send his wife, Mary, back home to England. He also uncovers fascinating information about Livingstone's importance to the British Empire and about his relationship with the journalist-adventurer Henry Morton Stanley. In addition, Jeal here evokes the full pathos of the explorer's final journey. This masterful, updated biography also features an excellent selection of new maps and illustrations.';Fascinating.'Los Angeles Times';A thrilling and in the end moving workThe Livingstone who emerges is a man of terrifying dimensions.'Irish Press

Saxon brings together more than 300 letters written by the self-styled "Prince of Humbugs." Here we see him, opinionated and exuberant, with only the rarest flashes of introspection and self-doubt, haggling with business partners, blustering over politics, and attempting to get such friends as Mark Twain to endorse his latest schemes.

Translated by Audie E. Bock."A first rate book and a joy to read.... It''s doubtful that a complete understanding of the director''s artistry can be obtained without reading this book.... Also indispensable for budding directors are the addenda, in which Kurosawa lays out his beliefs on the primacy of a good script, on scriptwriting as an essential tool for directors, on directing actors, on camera placement, and on the value of steeping oneself in literature, from great novels to detective fiction."--Variety"For the lover of Kurosawa''s movies...this is nothing short of must reading...a fitting companion piece to his many dynamic and absorbing screen entertainments."--Washington Post Book World

Benjamin Britten was one of the outstanding British composers of 20th century. He shot to international fame with his operas, performed by his own English Opera Group, and a series of extraordinary instrumental works. His music won a central place in the repertoire and affection of successive generations of listeners. This title tells his story.

His story, based on new archival sources and told with verve and wit, is sure to become the definitive work on a man and his era.

Mackinnon recounts his own fascinating journey from north Wales to the Black Sea in a small Mirror dinghy. A marvelous madcap adventure, told with verve and humor by the indefatigable 'captain.'

This provocative biography tells the story of how an ambitious young Londoner became England's greatest novelist. Focused on the 1830s, it portrays a restless, uncertain Dickens who could not decide on a career path. Through twists and turns, the author traces a double transformation: in reinventing himself Dickens reinvented the form of the novel.

Britain's leading cycling writer, William Fotheringham, goes back to speak to those who were there at the time and those who knew Merckx best to find out what made Eddy Merckx so invincible. 'The full unvarnished of one man's heaven, and hell, on wheels' Independent

Céleste Albaret was Marcel Proust''s housekeeper in his last years, when he retreated from the world to devote himself to In Search of Lost Time. She could imitate his voice to perfection, and Proust himself said to her, "You know everything about me." Her reminiscences of her employer present an intimate picture of the daily life of a great writer who was also a deeply peculiar man, while Madame Albaret herself proves to be a shrewd and engaging companion.

John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough (1644-1722), was one of the greatest military commanders and statesman in the history of England. His descendant, Sir Winston Churchill wrote this work as both an act of homage, and as an historical insight into the man behind the statesman.

The definitive biography, by a long way, of the most influential blues musician of them all. In a nutshell: no Muddy Waters, no Rolling Stones

Victor Bockris's much admired biography of Keith Richards has been constantly revised since its original publication, now with an additional 12,000 words for a new edition of the Omnibus Press paperback that brings the story up to the present day.

Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international bestseller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's bestselling authors. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was seventeen in order to amuse her convalescent brother. This title tells her story.

This highly acclaimed, prize-winning biography of one of the foremost political philosophers of the twentieth century is here reissued in a trade paperback edition for a new generation of readers. In a new preface the author offers an account of writings by and about Arendt that have appeared since the book's 1982 publication, providing a reassessment of her subject's life and achievement. "Praise for the earlier edition: ""Both a personal and an intellectual biography . . . It represents biography at its best."--Peter Berger, front page, "The New York Times Book Review ""A story of surprising drama . . . . At last, we can see Arendt whole."--Jim Miller, "Newsweek""Indispensable to anyone interested in the life, the thought, or . . . the example of Hannah Arendt."--Mark Feeney, "Boston Globe""An adventure story that moves from pre-Nazi Germany to fame in the United States, and . . . a study of the influences that shaped a sharp political awareness."--Richmond (Va.) "Times-Dispatch"