'Drama, betrayal, religion and sex, it's all here ... Fascinating' GUARDIAN
'Beautifully paced, impeccably written ... Don't miss it' INDEPENDENT
'Fraser is at her best here, lucid, authoritative and compassionate' SUNDAY TIMES
'Superbly researched ... the definitive work on the ill-fated queen' CATHOLIC HERALD
Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse mixed emotions. To many people, she is still 'la reine méchante', whose extravagance and frivolity helped to bring down the French monarchy; her indifference to popular suffering epitomised by the (apocryphal) words: 'let them eat cake'. Others are equally passionate in her defence: to them, she is a victim of misogyny.
Antonia Fraser examines her influence over the king, Louis XVI, the accusations and sexual slurs made against her, her patronage of the arts which enhanced French cultural life, her imprisonment, the death threats made against her, rumours of lesbian affairs, her trial (during which her young son was forced to testify to sexual abuse by his mother) and her eventual execution by guillotine in 1793.
The wildly entertaining Sunday Times bestseller
'This book deserves to be seeded No. 1' Daily Mail
Fifteen years after his massive bestseller Serious, John McEnroe is back and ready to talk.
Who are the game's winners and losers? What's it like playing guitar onstage with the Rolling Stones, hitting balls with today's greats, breaking bread with his former on-court nemeses, getting scammed by an international art dealer, and raising a big family while balancing McEnroe-sized expectations?
But Seriously is a richly personal account, blending anecdote and reflection with razor sharp and brutally honest opinions. This is the sports book of the year: brilliantly funny, surprisingly touching, and 100% McEnroe.
Cette biographie est un vrai roman et presque un poème... (Frederic Mistral)
Se coneissèm Mistral sustot per son òbra poetica, son òbra en pròsa es tanben plan digna d'interès, e mai que mai Mon espelida - Memòrias e Racòntes, interès literari e interès « biografic ». Çaquelà, los sovenirs que nos liura, los causiguèt pas deliberadament mas se daissèt guidar, per necessitat interiora, per los que s'impausèron pr'amor qu'avián una significacion dins lo present, valent a dire los que farguèron l'òme e lo poèta que venguèt. L'autor nos relata d'eveniments de sa pichòta enfança, puèi de son mitan familial, sas aspiracions, sos sentiments, lo desvolopament de son engenh poetic, son amor per la terra provençala e sa lenga, la naissença del movement felibrenc e son espandiment, fins a las circonstàncias de la creacion de Mirèlha e son succès. Aquí, la formacion principala del poèta es acabada, lo poèta es nascut, ne testimònia la causida d'una partida del títol d'aquel obratge : Mon espelida. La valor literària d'aquel obratge ten a la granda qualitat de sas evocacions e a lor poténcia emocionala, portadas per un equilibri establit entre una lenga populara e familiara d'una riquesa espectaclosa e la poesia qu'emana de l'estil narratiu de l'autor qu'embelina lo legeire. Lo ton poetic del libre faguèt dire a d'unes que i'aviá una part d'afabulacion dins aquelas Memòrias. Es plus juste de dire coma Albert Thibaudet - critic literari francés - « Les Mémoires et Récits sont vrais, mais d'une vérité de poète ».
Frederic Mistral (1830-1914), nascut e mòrt a Malhana (Bocas dau Ròse), es l'inlassable artesan de la renaissença de la lenga d'òc, a comptar del mitan del sègle XIX. Es cofondator del Felibritge e publica un diccionari monumental de l'occitan dins sas variantas dialectalas : Lou Tresor dóu Felibrige. Es son òbra literària - coronada per un prèmi Nobèl de Literatura en 1904 - que tornarà sas letras de noblesa a l'occitan dins sa varianta provençala.
Enchanting memoir of a struggling writer living and working in the eccentric Parisian bookshop, 'Shakespeare and Company'
'Completely riveting ...a vivid picture of modern Paris' OBSERVER
'Shakespeare and Company' in Paris is one of the world's most famous bookshops. The original store opened in 1921 and became known as the haunt of literary greats, such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Bernard Shaw, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and James Joyce.
Sadly the shop was forced to close in 1941, but that was not the end of 'Shakespeare and Company'... In 1951 another bookshop, with a similar free-thinking ethos, opened on the Left Bank. Called 'Le Mistral', it had beds for those of a literary mindset who found themselves down on their luck and, in 1964, it resurrected the name 'Shakespeare and Company' and became the principal meeting place for Beatnik poets, such as Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, through to Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell.
Today the tradition continues and writers still find their way to this bizarre establishment, one of them being Jeremy Mercer. With no friends, no job, no money and no prospects, the thrill of escape from his life in Canada soon palls but, by chance, he happens upon the fairytale world of 'Shakespeare and Co' and is taken in.
What follows is his tale of his time there, the curious people who came and went, the realities of being down and out in the 'city of light' and, in particular, his relationship with the beguiling octogenarian owner, George.
The Sunday Times bestselling autobiography from the greatest tennis player of his generation
'A winner' Independent
'A terrific sporting memoir, full of memorable anecdotes' New Statesman
'As exciting as Rafa himself' Woman's Own
No tennis player since Andre Agassi has captivated the world like Rafael Nadal. He's a rarity in today's sporting arena - a true sportsman who chooses to let his raw talent, dedication and humility define him. With a remarkable 16 grand slam victories under his belt, and with friend and rival Roger Federer's record haul of 20 in his sights, Nadal is an extraordinary competitor whose ferocity on court is made even more remarkable by his grace off it.
This book takes us to the heart of Nadal's childhood, his growth as a player, and his incredible career. It includes memorable highs and lows, from victory in the 2008 Wimbledon final - a match that John McEnroe called the 'greatest game of tennis ever played' - to the injury problems that have frequently threatened his dominance of the sport, to becoming the youngest player of the open era to complete a career Grand Slam in 2010.
It transports us from Nadal's lifelong home on the island of Majorca to the locker room of Centre Court as he describes in detail the pressures of competing in the greatest tournament in the world. It offers a glimpse behind the racquet to learn what really makes this intensely private person - who has never before talked about his home life - tick. And it provides us with a story that is personal, revealing and every bit as exciting as Nadal himself.
« Ecco la mia storia, quella di una persona che, sebbene nata in un contesto di precarietà, finisce per diventare fonte d'ispirazione. È il resoconto di un'infanzia particolare e di un percorso inaspettato. Da Baleveng, il mio villaggio natale situato nella Regione Ovest del Camerun, passando per Yaoundé, la capitale politica dello Stato, e fino all'Italia, propongo al lettore un tragitto atipico, condividendo con lui gli obiettivi che mi sono prefisso, nella consapevolezza delle difficoltà da sormontare. Non importa il punto di partenza, quello di arrivo può sfidare ogni previsione e questo racconto-verità è dedicato a quanti mi hanno dato i mezzi per eludere il fato a cui, probabilmente, ero predestinato. »
« Voici mon histoire, celle d'une personne qui, bien que née dans la précarité, finit par devenir source d'inspiration. Vous y trouverez le compte-rendu d'une enfance particulière et d'une trajectoire inattendue. De Baleveng, mon village natal dans la Région Ouest du Cameroun, en passant par Yaoundé, la capitale politique du Pays, pour atteindre enfin l'Italie, vous aurez la possibilité de découvrir un parcours atypique, orienté par une vision consciente des difficultés à surmonter. Peu importe le point de départ, celui d'arrivée peut déjouer tous les pronostics et ce récit est dédié à ceux qui m'ont donné les moyens de modifier le sort auquel j'étais probablement prédestiné. »
Il pensiero cristiano soffre oggi, specie in Europa occidentale, di un certo discredito. È stato però il grande studioso RENÉ GIRARD (1923-2015) a mettere le cose a posto, riscoprendo ciò che ne costituisce il vero fondamento. Il merito del suo lavoro intellettuale è reso più notevole dal fatto che, nonostante fosse cresciuto nella fede cattolica, Girard se ne era - come capita a tanti adolescenti - dapprima allontanato, rivenendovi in seguito, per ragioni strettamente letterarie e antropologiche, connesse alla sua attività accademica, maturata in Francia e soprattutto negli Stati Uniti.
La rivalutazione del pensiero cristiano, e cattolico in particolare, è cruciale in quanto, nell'ottica di Girard, non costituisce solo uno strumento per prevenirci dalle terribili catastrofi che sembrano pesare sul mondo, ma rappresenta un'occasione preziosa per leggere in modo critico le correnti e gli autori più diversi, fra i quali: san Tommaso d'Aquino, Joseph de Maistre, Louis de Bonald, G.W.F. Hegel, Ernst Bloch, Claude Tresmontant e Fëdor Dostoevskij.
Au fil de l'histoire, des règles et des lois ont été édictées pour conforter la propriété privée naissante. Enfin, la construction des Etats et des Nations s'est concrétisée par l'élaboration des frontières. Qu'en est-il des populations nomades ? Quelle est la réalité de l'immigration légale et illégale ? Comment l'Europe accueille les migrants et combat l'immigration clandestine ? Les politiques d'intégrations sont-elles à la hauteur des enjeux ? Peut-on imaginer une société cosmopolite sans frontière et sans passeport ? (Articles en français et en anglais).
This book invites each one of us to learn from the mistakes of people who are victimes of AIDS. It also contains basic information on AIDS, various messages to specific categories of people, a strong appeal to repeal traditional evils against women, secret messages by various people to their sexual partner, an appendix that consists of texts which further encourage us to lead a safe sexual behavior.
Aujourd'hui, on parle beaucoup des « droits de la femme et de l'enfant » au Burundi. La justice se veut incorruptible et protectrice. Mais la réalité du quotidien est tout autre. En témoigne ce récit d'Angélique Gisèle Nshimirimana, un cas parmi tant d'autres. Le présent livre relate le combat de l'épouse bafouée qui lutte pour sa dignité de femme et de mère ainsi que pour la protection des droits de ses enfants. L'histoire d'Angélique a ému Salvator Nahimana, qui a décidé de la présenter.
Eine Kiste, alte Dokumente, ein paar Fotos: Pltzlich taucht ein 1944 deportierter Großvater auf, über den nie jemand gesprochen hat, mehr noch, der im Mai 1945 am Ende eines Todesmarsches von der Bildfläche verschwunden ist. Angespornt von der Hoffnung, ihn wiederzufinden, beginnt ein 33 Jahre langes Abenteuer auf Pierres Spuren. Von Albi nach Grabow-Below, aus Südfrankreich bis in den Norden Deutschlands ...
From Ben Mezrich, the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House, comes Bitcoin Billionaires - the fascinating story of brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss's big bet on crypto-currency and its dazzling pay-off.
Ben Mezrich's 2009 bestseller The Accidental Billionaires is the definitive account of Facebook's founding - and the basis for the Academy Award-winning film The Social Network. Two of the story's iconic characters are Harvard students Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss: identical twins, Olympic rowers, and legal foils to Mark Zuckerberg. Bitcoin Billionaires is the story of the brothers' redemption and revenge in the wake of their epic legal battle with Facebook - and the first great book from the world of bitcoin.
Planning to start careers as venture capitalists, the brothers quickly discover that no one will take their money for fear of alienating Zuckerberg. While nursing their wounds in Ibiza, they accidentally run into a shady character who tells them about a brand new idea: cryptocurrency. Immersing themselves in what is then an obscure and sometimes sinister world, they begin to realize "crypto" is, in their own words, "either the next big thing or total bulls--t." There's nothing left to do but make a bet.
From the Silk Road to the halls of the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Facebook boardroom, Bitcoin Billionaires will take us on a wild and surprising ride while illuminating a tantalizing economic future. On November 26th, 2017, the Winklevoss brothers became the first bitcoin billionaires. Here's the story of how they got there - as only Ben Mezrich could tell it.
From the bestselling author of ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET? (Radio 2 Book of the Year & voted Amazon Customers' Fave Kindle Read 2011) comes a new hilarious and touching story of travel chaos.
Chosen as one of Amazon's Best Kindle Books of 2013 Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining. Ten thousand miles later his family's been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-cult and, after a near drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy, his own marriage is in jeopardy. A combination of obsessions about mosquitoes, French gravel and vegetable theme parks mean it's a bumpy ride as Ben takes a stand against tyrannical French pool attendants, finds himself running with the bulls in Pamplona and almost starring in a snuff movie after a near fatal decision to climb into a millionaire's Chevrolet Blazer.
Funny and poignant, Road to Rouen asks important questions about life, marriage and whether it's ever acceptable to tape baguette to your children's legs to smuggle lunch into Disneyland Paris.
Biography of one of the greatest of modern playwrights, Arthur Miller (1915-2005).
This is the long-awaited biography of one of the twentieth century's greatest playwrights whose postwar decade of work earned him international critical and popular acclaim.
Arthur Miller was a prominent figure in American literature and cinema for over sixty years, writing a wide variety of plays - including The Crucible, A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman - which are still performed, studied and lauded throughout the world.
Born in 1915 to moderately affluent Jewish-American parents, Miller wrote during a fascinating time in American history. The Great Depression was a period of deprivation for many that left an indelible mark on the national psyche, and, like many, Miller found hope for the beleaguered common man in Communism. The Second World War elevated the common man to war hero, but when the Cold War subsequently began, the ugly elements of American conservatism freely persecuted writers and artists who had embraced Communism. Miller was among them. His refusal to give evidence against others to the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 gave him a heroic role to play. In that same year, Arthur Miller momentously married the young actress Marilyn Monroe, a marriage that remains famous to this day.
Christopher Bigsby's gripping, meticulously researched biography, based on boxes of papers made available to him before Miller's death, offers new insights into their marriage, and sheds new light on how their relationship informed Miller's subsequent great plays.
After his death in 2005, many respected actors, directors and producers paid tribute to Miller, calling him 'the last great practitioner of the American stage'. Christopher Bigsby's supremely authoritative biography does full justice to Miller's life and art.
Signs of Life is Natalie Taylor's story. It starts the day her husband dies and ends sixteen months later on her son's first birthday.
Natalie's journey from wife to widow to mother is heartbreaking, blackly funny and will move you to laughter and tears as she makes it across that finish line. And you have no doubt she will make it because Natalie is a warrior and a woman to cheer for.
Intelligent, witty and moving, this is the very best kind of indie movie in a book. A book to delight, to treasure and to press into the hands of your best friend.
Ground-breaking biography of the creator of fiction's best loved detective
Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognised the world over, for decades he was overshadowed by his creation, Sherlock Holmes - one of literature's most enduring characters.
Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and foolhardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena.
Lycett combines access to new material with assiduous research and penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous author to ardent spiritualist.
Nana Mouskouri, the Greek singer and one of the world's most popular entertainers, tells her life story for the first time.
For more than 40 years Nana Mouskouri has been a global singing sensation, from her earliest childhood memories of mid-Thirties Greece to her unstoppable rise to the summit of her profession. She tells of life as a child, experiencing the horrors of war and privation, victimised by bitter parental discord, stigmatised by her father's fatal addiction to gambling.
She was a shy inhibited teenager with a passion for singing, a girl compelled to choose between her love of classical music and her fascination with popular song. As a highly successful adult, she has been racked by uncertainty and the torments of love, a woman struggling to balance music - her raison d'etre - with her role as wife and mother.
Here she describes the life of the star we all know, from her beginnings in the nightclubs of Athens to her triumphs on the world's most glittering stages. Nana launches us into her international tours, taking us to Canada, the United States, Japan and Australasia as well as every country in Europe. She describes how she fought to win over audiences everywhere. In Britain, for example, she enjoyed dazzling success after her first English album Over and Over was released. In quick succession, twenty-three of her titles appeared in the charts. In Australia, she achieved fourteen gold discs in 1974 alone.
Hers is a rich and astonishing life, studded with exceptional encounters and friendships: the incomparable trumpeter Quincy Jones, a musician Nana had secretely worshipped since childhood, introduced her to the United States and became her producer; Yvonne Littlewood, the BBC producer, made Nana a leading star of British television in the 1960s and remains one of her closest friends. Queen Elizabeth II, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, and the Empress Farah Diba of Iran are among the galaxy of extraordinary figures who played a vital part in Nana's career.
Intimate, rich in humanity and music, a spotlit global tour, Nana's book is an event.
Ever since Maurice Richard dazzled hockey fans, fighting his way to hockey's summits, the issue of discrimination against Quebec hockey players has simmered on. NHL veteran Bob Sirois now demonstrates that unless Quebec hockey players are superstars they are less likely to be drafted than other players in Canada. They can also expect shorter careers and less pay, while some teams just don't want them. Using statistics covering nearly 40 years, Sirois shatters those tenacious myths such as "Quebecers are smaller," "they play poor defensive hockey" or "they are the best goalies." His solutions: an NHL team for Quebec City and a Quebec national junior team for international events. Our great sport stands to gain from Bob Sirois' search for the truth.
Why is Christina Rossetti, probably the major woman poet of Victorian Britain, so invisible today? This is the central question addressed in this biography. Rossetti, author of Goblin Market , My Heart Is Like a Singing Bird and In the Deep Midwinter has often been overshadowed by her brother Dante Gabriel. Drawing on many sources, this study enables the reader to piece together a more complete picture of this woman whose nature was passionate and contradictory.
This report analyses the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in terms of the promotion of cultural diversity, as championed by the Council of Europe particularly through its "White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue" (2008). The Court's views on the governance principles and preconditions of intercultural dialogue - and particularly the case law on freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly - provide guidelines for politicians, academics and practitioners alike.
Migration to and within Europe has profoundly changed the life and image of the continent. This guide offers theoretical and practical tools for an innovative approach to a key political issue: how, along with our immigrant fellow-citizens, can we build a fair and plural society that ensures the well-being or all?
By moving beyond rigid categories like "foreigner", "immigrant" and "illegal , and ambiguous concepts like "identity", "diversity , "immigration control and "integration", this guide suggests that policy makers, civil servants and citizens need to question their own vocabulary if they are to grasp the complexity and uniqueness or people's migration paths.
Perceiving migrants simply from the host country's point or view - the security, well-being and life-style of its nationals - has limitations. We cannot see people of foreign origin only as a threat or a resource to be exploited. If we see them as stereotypes, we are seeing only a mirror of European fears and contradictory aspirations. This guide helps readers decode and address the structural problems of our society, looking at the accusations made against migrants and the utilitarian view or the advantages that immigrants bring to host societies.
In publishing this guide, the Council or Europe is seeking to initiate an in-depth debate on the migration issue, which is so high on the European political agenda.
About 190 million people around the world live outside their country of birth. These migrants bring energy, entrepreneurship and fresh ideas to our societies. But there are downsides: young migrants who fail in education, adults who don't find work and, of course, unregulated migration. Such challenges can make migration a political lightning rod and a topic for angry debate.
Drawing on the unique expertise of the OECD, this book moves beyond rhetoric to look at the realities of international migration today: Where do migrants come from and where do they go? How do governments manage migration? How well do migrants perform in education and in the workforce? And does migration help - or hinder - developing countries?
Is the founder of WikiLeaks the ministering angel of press freedom as his pale appearance might suggest? Or is he the demonic leader of the most dangerous hacker collective on the web? As one outspoken critic suggests, is he "worse than the Stasi," o r does he represent hope for those struggling against oppression? Either way, by the end of 2010 it became clear that a hitherto unknown organization had forever changed the global media landscape. Within a few months, some of the best-known newspapers - The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, Le Monde - began to woo this small group of enthusiastic members of information transparency movement.
To understand this movement, one that overturns the hierarchy of information and threatens the interests of American diplomacy, it's necessary to dig into the stories of these men and women, their ideology, and their unique activism. For months Olivier Tesquet, journalist at OWNI.fr, followed Assange's clan from London to Berlin. Working long hours to complete his investigation, Olivier was able to unveil WikiLeaks' goals and the personalities of its key leaders.
His full immersion into the most creative part of the web breaks down certain misconceptions - for better or for worse.
