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Books > Biography
The first collection of memoirs from the author who inspired the
BBC and Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small. This
edition contains If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen to
a Vet. Fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, to the young James
Herriot 1930s Yorkshire seems to offer an idyllic pocket of rural
life in a rapidly changing world. But from his erratic new
colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, to
incomprehensible farmers, herds of semi-feral cattle, a pig called
Nugent and an overweight Pekingese called Tricki Woo, James finds
he is on a learning curve as steep as the hills around him. And
when he meets Helen, the beautiful daughter of a local farmer, all
the training and experience in the world can't help him . . . Since
they were first published, James Herriot's memoirs have sold
millions of copies and entranced generations of animal lovers.
Charming, funny and touching, All Creatures Great and Small is a
heart-warming story of determination, love and companionship from
one of Britain's best-loved authors. 'I grew up reading James
Herriot's books and I'm delighted that thirty years on, they are
still every bit as charming, heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny
as they were then' - Kate Humble 'Herriot's enchanting tales of
life in the Dales are deservedly classics. Full of extraordinary
characters, animal and human, the books never fail to delight' -
Amanda Owen, bestselling author of The Yorkshire Shepherdess
The book is my story of the first 53 years of my life, starting in
Trinidad and Tobago where I was born, and joining Hilton
International in March 1962. I worked in Trinidad & Tobago,
Canada, London, Barbados, Jamaica and the United Arab Emirates
before retiring from Hilton International in March 1993. I started
in the storerooms of the Trinidad Hilton and eventually achieved
the position of General Manager with Hilton International after
leaving school at 14 with only the most basic education. The name
of the book, "Never say another" comes from a dislike I have of
waiters approaching guests and saying "Would you like another
drink?" I was able to get my employees to drop the word "another"
which sounded so much better, but it was hard going.
UPDATED & EXPANDED EDITION of the NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER,
including A full-color, sixteen-page insert with photos that
capture Syd & Shea's journey An epilogue about life and
business post-pandemic and the success of the hit Netflix show
Dream Home Makeover Make Life Beautiful is the autobiography from
Syd and Shea McGee, which offers fans a new and intimate look into
how they built their business. Want to live the best version of
your life? Read this book and learn how Syd and Shea prioritized
their values, defined their goals, and put their dreams into
action--going from flat broke to design superstars--all while
following their motto to "make life beautiful." Most importantly,
discover how you can do the same! For the one million-plus
followers who turn to Syd and Shea McGee for advice on building a
beautiful home and life, Make Life Beautiful is a behind-the-scenes
look into how the couple transformed Shea's small room of fabric
samples and big dream of becoming a designer into one of the most
successful and fastest-growing interior design businesses in the
country. Both longtime and new fans will not only gain insight into
how the McGees built such a successful company but also be inspired
to build an authentic life by applying design principles such as
Embrace the process Get to the next level Find balance Elevate the
everyday This is an essential book for Entrepreneurs Interior
designers Working parents Couples building family and career
Self-starters Anyone chasing their dreams
The huge Sunday Times number one bestselling inspirational memoir
from rugby league legend Rob Burrow on his extraordinary career and
his battle with motor neurone disease. 'A pocket rocket of a player
and a giant of a character . . . He is one in a million and his
story is truly inspirational' - Clare Balding 'I'm not giving in
until my last breath' - Rob Burrow Rob Burrow is one of the
greatest rugby league players of all time. And the most
inspirational. As a boy, Rob was told he was too small to play the
sport. Even when he made his debut for Leeds Rhinos, people wrote
him off as a novelty. But Rob never stopped proving people wrong.
During his time at Leeds, for whom he played almost 500 games, he
won eight Super League Grand Finals, two Challenge Cups and three
World Club Challenges. He also played for his country in two World
Cups. In December 2019, Rob was diagnosed with motor neurone
disease, a rare degenerative condition, and given a couple of years
to live. He was only thirty-seven, not long retired and had three
young children. When he went public with the devastating news, the
outpouring of affection and support was extraordinary. When it
became clear that Rob was going to fight it all the way, sympathy
turned to awe. This is the story of a tiny kid who adored rugby
league but never should have made it - and ended up in the Leeds
hall of fame. It's the story of a man who resolved to turn a
terrible predicament into something positive - when he could have
thrown the towel in. It's about the power of love, between Rob and
his childhood sweetheart Lindsey, and of friendship, between Rob
and his faithful teammates. Far more than a sports memoir, Too Many
Reasons to Live is a story of boundless courage and infinite
kindness.
Here at last in paperback is Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed
and bestselling book about how his thirty-year teaching career
shaped his second act as a writer. "Teacher Man" is also an urgent
tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose
featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt
records the trials, triumphs and surprises of teaching in public
high schools. "Teacher Man" shows McCourt developing his
unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week,
five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of
unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents.
For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and
in "Teacher Man" the journey to redemption--and literary fame--is
an exhilarating adventure.
Sarah Heckford, born a Victorian lady in 1839, defied convention. Despite disability and the confines of upper-class expectations, she broke all boundaries; first to volunteer at a cholera hospital; then to start a children’s hospital in London’s East End with her husband. Newly widowed, she left first for Italy and India, and then for South Africa.
Arriving at Durban in 1878, Sarah set out for the Transvaal. Here she became a governess and then a farmer; later she became a transport-rider, trading goods with hunters and miners in the Lowveld. She made a life for herself in Africa despite considerable drawbacks, all the while trying to find ways of bettering the lives of those around her.
Author Vivien Allen has brought this remarkable woman to life in a riveting biography.
'A gorgeously candid account of acting and show business. And an
intimate and heartfelt story of love, loss and a life spent
together. It is an honour to be invited in on these diaries. I
cannot remember being so moved by a book' Dolly Alderton
'Fascinating, funny and heart wrenching' Dame Julie Walters 'An
emotional rollercoaster - profoundly moving and wonderfully
entertaining. A brilliant memoir about living, loving and losing'
Bernardine Evaristo 'One of the bravest, strongest, funniest
memoirs I've ever read' Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of
Lessons in Chemistry 'A deeply moving memoir from one of our
greatest actors' David Walliams Richard E. Grant emigrated from
Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor,
when he unexpectedly met and fell in love with renowned dialect
coach Joan Washington. Their relationship and marriage, navigating
the highs and lows of Hollywood, parenthood and loss, lasted almost
forty years. When Joan died in 2021, her final challenge to him was
to find 'a pocketful of happiness in every day'. This honest and
frequently hilarious memoir is written in honour of that challenge
- Richard has faithfully kept a diary since childhood, and in these
entries he shares in raw detail everything he has experienced :
both the pain of losing his beloved wife, and the excitement of
their life together, from the role that transformed his life
overnight in Withnail & I to his thrilling Oscar nomination
thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me? Told with candour
in Richard's utterly unique style, A Pocketful of Happiness is a
powerful, funny and moving celebration of life's unexpected joys.
From one of our most acclaimed new biographers--the first full life
of the leader of Lincoln's "team of rivals" to appear in more than
forty years.
William Henry Seward was one of the most important Americans of the
nineteenth century. Progressive governor of New York and outspoken
US senator, he was the odds-on favorite to win the 1860 Republican
nomination for president. As secretary of state and Lincoln's
closest adviser during the Civil War, Seward not only managed
foreign affairs but had a substantial role in military, political,
and personnel matters.
Some of Lincoln's critics even saw Seward, erroneously, as the
power behind the throne; this is why John Wilkes Booth and his
colleagues attempted to kill Seward as well as Lincoln. Seward
survived the assassin's attack, continued as secretary of state,
and emerged as a staunch supporter of President Andrew Johnson,
Lincoln's controversial successor. Through his purchase of Alaska
("Seward's Folly"), and his groundwork for the purchase of the
Canal Zone and other territory, Seward set America on course to
become a world empire.
Seward was not only important, he was fascinating. Most nights this
well-known raconteur with unruly hair and untidy clothes would
gather diplomats, soldiers, politicians, or actors around his table
to enjoy a cigar, a drink, and a good story. Drawing on hundreds of
sources not available to or neglected by previous biographers,
Walter Stahr's bestselling biography sheds new light on this
complex and central figure, as well as on pivotal events of the
Civil War and its aftermath.
Published to coincide with Mother Teresa's expected canonization in
early September 2016
"American Prometheus is the first full-scale biography of J. Robert
Oppenheimer, "father of the atomic bomb," the brilliant,
charismatic physicist who led the effort to capture the awesome
fire of the sun for his country in time of war. Immediately after
Hiroshima, he became the most famous scientist of his
generation-one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, the
embodiment of modern man confronting the consequences of scientific
progress.
He was the author of a radical proposal to place international
controls over atomic materials-an idea that is still relevant
today. He opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb and
criticized the Air Force's plans to fight an infinitely dangerous
nuclear war. In the now almost-forgotten hysteria of the early
1950s, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive
nuclear buildup, and, in response, Atomic Energy Commission
chairman Lewis Strauss, Superbomb advocate Edward Teller and FBI
director J. Edgar Hoover worked behind the scenes to have a hearing
board find that Oppenheimer could not be trusted with America's
nuclear secrets.
"American Prometheus sets forth Oppenheimer's life and times in
revealing and unprecedented detail. Exhaustively researched, it is
based on thousands of records and letters gathered from archives in
America and abroad, on massive FBI files and on close to a hundred
interviews with Oppenheimer's friends, relatives and colleagues.
We follow him from his earliest education at the turn of the
twentieth century at New York City's Ethical Culture School,
through personal crises at Harvard and Cambridge universities. Then
to Germany, where he studied quantum physics with the world's
mostaccomplished theorists; and to Berkeley, California, where he
established, during the 1930s, the leading American school of
theoretical physics, and where he became deeply involved with
social justice causes and their advocates, many of whom were
communists. Then to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he transformed a
bleak mesa into the world's most potent nuclear weapons
laboratory-and where he himself was transformed. And finally, to
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which he directed
from 1947 to 1966.
"American Prometheus is a rich evocation of America at midcentury,
a new and compelling portrait of a brilliant, ambitious, complex
and flawed man profoundly connected to its major events-the
Depression, World War II and the Cold War. It is at once biography
and history, and essential to our understanding of our recent
past-and of our choices for the future.
From one of America's most respected journalists and modern
historians comes the highly acclaimed, "splendid" (The Washington
Post) biography of Jimmy Carter, the thirty-ninth president of the
United States and Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian. Jonathan Alter
tells the epic story of an enigmatic man of faith and his
improbable journey from barefoot boy to global icon. Alter paints
an intimate and surprising portrait of the only president since
Thomas Jefferson who can fairly be called a Renaissance Man, a
complex figure-ridiculed and later revered-with a piercing
intelligence, prickly intensity, and biting wit beneath the
patented smile. Here is a moral exemplar for our times, a flawed
but underrated president of decency and vision who was committed to
telling the truth to the American people. Growing up in one of the
meanest counties in the Jim Crow South, Carter is the only American
president who essentially lived in three centuries: his early life
on the farm in the 1920s without electricity or running water might
as well have been in the nineteenth; his presidency put him at the
center of major events in the twentieth; and his efforts on
conflict resolution and global health set him on the cutting edge
of the challenges of the twenty-first. "One of the best in a
celebrated genre of presidential biography," (The Washington Post),
His Very Best traces how Carter evolved from a timid, bookish
child-raised mostly by a Black woman farmhand-into an ambitious
naval nuclear engineer writing passionate, never-before-published
love letters from sea to his wife and full partner, Rosalynn; a
peanut farmer and civic leader whose guilt over staying silent
during the civil rights movement and not confronting the white
terrorism around him helped power his quest for racial justice at
home and abroad; an obscure, born-again governor whose brilliant
1976 campaign demolished the racist wing of the Democratic Party
and took him from zero percent to the presidency; a stubborn
outsider who failed politically amid the bad economy of the 1970s
and the seizure of American hostages in Iran but succeeded in
engineering peace between Israel and Egypt, amassing a historic
environmental record, moving the government from tokenism to
diversity, setting a new global standard for human rights and
normalizing relations with China among other unheralded and
far-sighted achievements. After leaving office, Carter eradicated
diseases, built houses for the poor, and taught Sunday school into
his mid-nineties. This "important, fair-minded, highly readable
contribution" (The New York Times Book Review) will change our
understanding of perhaps the most misunderstood president in
American history.
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