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Books > Biography
Economists and bankers have long been much maligned individuals;
but never more so than in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.
Working as an economist for various financial institutions, for
more than 25 years Russell Jones had a foot in both camps, plying
his trade in a number of global financial centres and points in
between, and experiencing at first hand the extraordinary ebb and
flow of an industry that came to exert a disproportionate influence
on the lives of almost everyone on the planet. In the process, he
met some remarkable people, witnessed dramatic shifts in the
balance of global economic and political power, explored in detail
the labyrinthine complexities involved in managing modern day
macroeconomies, and observed all the arrogance, hubris and
day-to-day absurdities of an industry that was in effect allowed to
run out of control. It was quite a ride. And not one without its
moments of pathos and humour.
A portrait of the writer Mikhail Bulgakov, fighting for his work
and his life in a society riven with fear of Stalin's tyranny
Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kiev in 1891. He started as a career
writing articles and satiric short stories about the revolution and
the economic reconstruction in the young Soviet state. He drew on
these writings in many of his stage plays which brought him into
conflict with the authorities. He died in 1940.
Welcome to the story of Sami – entrepreneur, blêrie influencer and social media content creator. Throughout her time on Earth she has constantly asked herself what she believes to be the most important question in her life: ‘Why do these things always happen to me?’
From almost manslaughtering her teacher’s unborn baby, shattering her dad’s dream of an athlete spawn and almost being murdered by a goose, she certainly has some stories to tell.
In The Memoirs of a Clumsy Potato Sami Hall takes you through some of the life events – tough and challenging events – that changed her forever and shaped her into the weird, clumsy, constantly tired potato that we know and love. The road hasn’t always been easy and there have been several obstacles along the way, but as Sami herself would tell you, it was all part of the journey and that her story is far from finished.
Enjoy the funny, sad, weird and outlandish stories of Sami’s life and take a glimpse into her mind while we explore the million things that cause her to break into lengthy and passionate rants – loadshedding, potholes, and cell signal to name a few, and also get some answers to the internet’s most burning questions.
In this perceptive and original study of one of the most popular of
English poets, Douglas Kerr has written the life of Wilfred Owen's
language. The book explores the meaning in Owen's life of the
family, the Church, the army, and English poets of the past. It
examines the language of these four communities, and shows how
their discourses helped to mould the poet's own. The language in
which Owen's extraordinary poems and letters are written was
learned in and from these communities which shaped his short
career. But there were times too when he hated each of them. As
Douglas Kerr shows, much of the power of Owen's writing derives
from his desire to transform the communities which formed him.
Accessible and lucid, and informed by the insights of recent
theory, Wilfred Owen's Voices throws important new light on the
best-known of the English war poets, and on both the cultural
history and intense personal drama to be read in his work.
"The book is the product of a protracted, laborious and scrupulous
research and draws on a most extensive and varied assembly of
documents. But the archival evidence, factual accounts and even
personal narratives would have remained remote, dry and cold if not
for the author's remarkable gift of empathy. Barbara Engelking
gives the witnesses of the Holocaust a voice which readers of this
book will understand....Under her pen memories come alive
again."--from the Foreword by Zygmunt BaumanOriginally published in
Polish to great acclaim and based on interviews with survivors of
the Holocaust in Poland, Holocaust and Memory provides a moving
description of their life during the war and the sense they made of
it. The book begins by looking at the differences between the
wartime experiences of Jews and Poles in occupied Poland, both in
terms of Nazi legislation and individual experiences. On the Aryan
side of the ghetto wall, Jews could either be helped or blackmailed
by Poles. The largest section of the book reconstructs everyday
life in the ghetto. The psychological consequences of wartime
experiences are explored, including interviews with survivors who
stayed on in Poland after the war and were victims of anti-Semitism
again in 1968. These discussions bring into question some of the
accepted survivor stereotypes found in Holocaust literature. A
final chapter looks at the legacy of the Holocaust, the problems of
transmitting experience and of the place of the Holocaust in Polish
history and culture.
Pringle's autobiography offers a graphic and often painful account
of his experiences with major marathons, including the Marathon des
Sables and the Yukon Arctic Ultra. Journalists and scientists
monitor his progress as he pushes his body to the very limits, as
he competes in extreme sporting events which have already claimed
lives. A growing sense of self-knowledge and a sense of unity with
the natural world lead him to overcome his inner demons, and to
find a distinctive and transformational spiritual path.
Eoin O'Duffy was one of the most controversial figures of modern
Irish history. A guerrilla leader and protege of Michael Collins,
he rose rapidly through the ranks of the republican movement. By
1922 he was chief of staff of the IRA, a member of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood's Supreme Council, and a Sinn Fein deputy in
Dail Eireann. As chief of police, O'Duffy was the strongest
defender of the Irish Free State only to become, after his
emergence as leader of the Blueshirt movement in 1933, the greatest
threat to its survival. Increasingly drawn to international
fascism, he founded Ireland's first fascist party, and led an Irish
Brigade to fight under General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. He
died in wartime Dublin, a Nazi collaborator, and a broken man. This
study, the first ever biography of Eoin O'Duffy, draws on
unpublished archival and personal papers to trace his journey from
revolutionary republicanism to fascism. It examines the importance
of cultural forces, including the legacy of the Irish-Ireland
movement, Catholicism, anti-communism, and O'Duffy's ideas on
sports, morality, and masculinity to explain his descent into
extremism. McGarry peels away the public persona to reveal a
complex picture of the motives which drove this extraordinary
career. A crusading moralist and advocate of teetotalism, obsessed
with the need to counter public immorality, who was at the same
time a closet homosexual and alcoholic, O'Duffy's remarkable life
was characterised by self-aggrandisement, fantasy, and
contradiction. This fascinating biography explores themes as
diverse as cultural nationalism, violence, sectarianism,
militarism, and masculinity to shed new light on Irish
republicanism and the politics of interwar European fascist
movements. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand
the complexities of culture, politics, and society in interwar
Ireland.
In Fires Which Burned Brightly, Faulks, a reluctant memoirist, offers
readers a series of detailed snapshots from a life in progress. They
include a post-war rural childhood – ‘cold mutton and wet washing on a
rack over the range’ – the booze-sodden heyday of Fleet Street and a
career as one of the country’s most acclaimed novelists.
There are not one, but two daring escapes from boarding school; the
delirium of a jetlagged American book tour; the writing of Birdsong in
his brother’s house in 1992; and memorable trips across the channel to
France. Politics, psychiatry and frustrated ventures into the world of
entertainment are analysed with patience and rueful humour.
The book is driven by a desire ‘to arrive where we started and know the
place for the first time.’ It ends with a tribute to Faulks’s parents
and a sense of how his own generation was shaped by the disruptive
power of war and its aftermath.
Sharply perceptive and alive with a generous wit, Fires Which Burned
Brightly is a work of subtle yet profound intelligence and warmth.
Baek Sehee could never have predicted how many people I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki would reach across the world. A runaway bestseller in South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia and the UK, this record of conversations with her therapist demonstrated the realities of anxiety and depression in a uniquely intimate way.
But Baek's battle with dysthymia did not end there. Grappling with mental health is an everyday struggle.
In I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki, Baek's experiences become more complex, as she demonstrates that striving contentment is an ongoing journey.
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Twins X 3
(Paperback)
Fran Pitre
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R632
R591
Discovery Miles 5 910
Save R41 (6%)
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Ships in 18 - 22 working days
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This compelling, richly illustrated work recounts the African
journeys of the intrepid Dutch traveller Alexine Tinne (1835-1869).
Heiress to a huge fortune -she was at the time the richest woman in
the country - and bored with the royal court intrigues in The
Hague, Tinne left for Egypt and Sudan accompanied by her mother
Henriette Tinne-Van Capellen, ultimately settling in Khartoum. On
her expedition in 1862-64, Tinne was joined by the German zoologist
Theodor von Heuglin: the whole party set out for the as yet
uncharted Bahr-el-Ghazal, hoping to explore that region and
ascertain how far westward the Nile basin extended. After four
years of research in the Tinne archives, including hitherto unknown
correspondence, photos and other documents, Willink presents a
dramatic account of Tinne's eventful expedition, casting new light
on the events which ultimately ended with Tinne's murder, most
likely by the tribesmen who believed there was gold hidden in her
water tanks. In addition, Willink casts a new light on the
excitement and the dangers of travel in colonial Africa's uncharted
territories before and after Tinne's enterprise, revealing to what
extent her gruesome death had been foreshadowed in the earlier
years and how it would reverberate in the years to come. An
accomplished photographer and collector of artefacts, Tinne left a
wealth of material from her travels, and many items are reproduced
here in colour, bearing testimony to her fascination with Africa.
What ingredients do you need to brew a successful career in selling
and marketing consumer goods? The lessons found in Nick Millers
fascinating and motivating story will tell you.Nick Miller sold a
lot of beer in his many years in the UK beer industry. Starting in
the bingo halls and working mens clubs of East London, he soon
moved up to promoting world-class beer brands into nationwide pub
chains and supermarkets. Using a powerful blend of creativity,
dedication and discipline alongside a smart sales and marketing
strategy he and his team turned Peroni from a niche Italian import
into the UK's premier lager. Later he took the helm at the craft
beer minnow Meantime, where his magic touch led to the brand's
turnaround and eventual sale to SABMiller for GBP120 million.In the
Meantime distils all the lessons Nick picked up during his
impressive career to show any leader how you can: Think
strategically about selling and marketingMaximise the strengths of
your teamFind the benefits in setbacks and barriersAnalyse your own
strengths and weaknessesMotivate your team and enjoy yourself along
the way Unlock the confidence to believe in your own abilities and
your potential to aim high and succeed as you discover a
disciplined way of thinking that can enable you to become as
successful in your chosen industry as you want to be. And along the
way, lighten the load with some amusing anecdotes and engaging
tales from a career well lived. Cheers!
Once west, he would become a gunfighter, a gambler, and a saloon
keeper--and he would find his way into the legend of the West
through his associations with the Earps, Bat Masterson, Big Nose
Kate, and other colorful characters who helped shape the frontier.
Perhaps best known for his participation in the shoot out at the OK
Corral and his many portrayals in film, this new biography reveals
the many facets of his personality and proposes to set the record
straight--or at least to tell the story that Doc Holliday would
have preferred be told about himself. Key selling points: * The
ongoing popularity of westerns on TV and in the movies and of the
characters associated with the mythology of the Old West offers
room for this new telling of the story of Doc Holliday * Author is
a talented storyteller * Author will interview descendants of Doc
and his victims, providing a well-rounded picture of the
mythological character and the real man behind it
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