Preventa de eBooks de Biografías

From the hopeful beginnings of Britains entry into the European project to the bitterness of Brexit, Continental Drift is a vivid, personal account of a political life spent at the heart of the European Parliament.As Europes longest-serving MEP, Bill Newton-Dunn offers a front-row view of the shifting tides in Britains often uneasy relationship with its continental neighbours. Spanning the four decades from 1979 to 2020, this lively memoir chronicles the currents of Euroscepticism, internal wranglings of UK delegations and the complex dance between Westminster and Brussels.But Continental Drift is more than political history: it is also rich with behind-the-scenes stories, sharp observations and colourful pen portraits of the characters who shaped Europe, from British premiers and fiery backbenchers to European visionaries and bureaucratic bruisers, not to mention impassioned Communists and rumoured Mafiosi. With dry wit and unsparing honesty, Newton-Dunn brings to life the dramas, debates and diplomatic showdowns that marked a turbulent era.Candid, compelling and frequently funny, Continental Drift is a timely reflection on Britains place in Europe and what was lost when the flag came down.

Henrietta Moraes first discovered Soho when she was eighteen or so she tells us. Her favourite sport was social climbing (heaven knows she enjoyed the exercise) and she was good at it, going to all the right parties and simply gate-crashing others. From the summit of the 1950s bohemian scene she surveyed the life and times of those who broke all the rules, such as the artists Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon (for whom she became a muse). But thats not all she did as a key counter-culture figure in the 1960s Chelsea Set, no other woman was more indefatigable in becoming a bohemian legend.Through Hen, youll learn how to steal your best friends boyfriend; enchant and ensnare a husband; blossom into a magnificent muse; dress like a comic book superhero; become a connoisseur of every illicit drug known to medical science and dose a Rolling Stones concert with them; join the caravan set and head along the gypsy trail in search of the Holy Grail, before rematerialising as the minder for a mind-blowing pop iconAlong the way youll indulge in the gentle art of cadging drinks; the feline felony of cat burglary; the canny craft of charity shop shoplifting and the haphazardness of steamy sex in second-hand bookshops.Hen, Mistress of Mayhem takes you to the epicentre of Sohos Golden Age; stage by stage it forms a complete guide to a hell-raising companion.

Greenvile Collins (1643-94) is the most important Royal Navy officer you have never heard of. But he was well known to Samuel Pepys, and worked personally for Charles II, James II and William III as hydrographer, navigation instructor and royal yacht captain. The charts by themselves would ensure his place in history, but Collins also made history through his actions. As navigator of the Kings flagship during the Glorious Revolution he perpetrated an ingenious deception, granting the Dutch army crucial extra time to mount their invasion. This has never been written about, perhaps because historians tend not to be navigators, yet its all there, in Collins 1688 journal, hiding in plain sight. This new study both explores for the first time Collins charts as navigation aids, as well as how he changed the course of history.

Arabic erotic literature has a long and rich history, which goes back as far as the ninth century. Far from being the pursuit of prurient pornographers, eroticism and sexuality received considerable attention from scholars.Written by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201 - 1274), one of the leading scientists of the age, The Sultans Sex Potions is part of a relatively small group of works devoted to aphrodisiacs, as well as sexual stimulants, sexual practices and positions. Sober and measured in tone, the work was intended to be a manual, which would allow the patient to dispense with the services of a physician. Written at the request of the ruler, its potions, electuaries, syrups and enemas enjoyed a royal warrant of appointment to arouse the lust for coitus and enhance sexual potency.This bilingual volume includes a critical edition of three manuscripts (Berlin, Cairo and Glasgow) and is accompanied by a translation, as well as an introduction to Arabic erotic literature, a biography of the author and extensive indexes.

A revealing and controversial exposé of international white-collar crime.Alexander Lebedev continues his investigation of banksters (gangster-bankers) scams which he started in his autobiographical book, Hunt the Banker. Each chapter examines a different sophisticated fraudulent scheme whereby stolen billions are laundered in offshore tax havens and deposited in secret accounts with the major UK and US banks, invested in shares of blue-chip companies, and converted into mansions, yachts, private jets, works of art and luxury goods.The topics covered include the cheating of their customers by supposedly respectable financial institutions in Europe and America, their complicity in laundering illegal proceeds of corrupt officials from all over the world, the financial pyramid schemes of Bernie Madoff and other mega-fraudsters, and black holes in the charity universe.Lebedev investigates the phenomenon of the symbiosis of dirty money and the latest information technologies of the blockchain, which threatens the global financial system with a cryptocurrency apocalypse, and he describes the degradation of political elites inebriated by biased mainstream media and fake news stories.

EL LIBRO MÁS ESPERADO DEL AÑO Las memorias en primera persona de Su Majestad el Rey Don Juan Carlos.«Mi padre siempre me aconsejó que no escribiera mis memorias. Los reyes no se confiesan. Y menos, p

A fresh look at Labours greatest ever Prime Minister

In 1999 my expedition found George Mallorys body on Mount Everest. The intense public interest in his tragic fate obscured the other actors in that dramatic story.The pioneers who attempted the first climbs in 1922 and 1924 knew nothing about the mountain other than its height. They had to learn the hard way about the lack of oxygen, the jet-stream winds, the illnesses of altitude, and the vital importance of the Sherpas. They fought cerebral oedema, frostbite, hypothermia and raging thirst in the cold, thin air. They had to find a route, avoid avalanches, and work out what to do when confronted by an insuperable rock climb at extreme altitude. Many of them died.Howard Somervell was Mallorys closest friend on the mountain in 1922 and 1924. He was an exceptionally gifted man: he had a double first at Cambridge, he was a talented artist and an accomplished musician. He served as a surgeon at the Battle of the Somme during the First World War and was one of the foremost alpinists of the day when he was invited to join the 1922 Mount Everest expedition. After Everest he was awarded an Olympic gold medal for Alpinism in 1924. But in India he will be remembered as a surgeon who dedicated the remainder of his life to healing the sick.Those pioneers showed the way. Somervell took part in the first attempt to climb the mountain, and his oxygen-free height record in 1924 stood for over 50 years. On his descent he sat down alone suffocating from a frost-bitten larynx. He prepared to die, but at the last moment performed a medical manoeuvre which cleared his airway. He survived to struggle back down.Howard Somervell was my cousin, and I am one of the last Everesters left alive to have spoken with a climber from George Mallorys party.

Mary Boleyn has long been dismissed as the "great and infamous whore"her story overshadowed by scandal and myth. But what if everything we thought we knew about her was wrong?Drawing on newly re-translated original sources and rare archival material, this ground-breaking book peels away centuries of rumour to reveal the true Mary Boleyn. Far from the reckless wanton of legend, she emerges as a woman of ambition, resilience, and intelligence. Through meticulous research and fresh analysis, this book challenges out-dated narratives, uncovering the real extent of Marys relationships with Henry VIII and Francis I, her role in the rise and fall of her younger sister Anne, and her life beyond the royal spotlight.A must-read for Tudor history enthusiasts, this revelatory biography rewrites Mary Boleyns storyproving she was far more than "the great and infamous whore" of myth.

On 13 March 1996 Thomas Hamilton walked into the gym hall of a primary school in Dunblane armed with four legally owned handguns and in less than four minutes fired 105 bullets, killing 16 young children, their teacher and injuring many more. It was a crime that first shocked the world then changed the nation.Based on original archival research and exclusive interviews with parents, politicians and police, One Morning in March tells for the first time the incredible and powerful true story of how, in their darkest hour, a band of parents used their grief as fuel in a fight to forever ban handguns in Britain, and create the tightest gun laws in the world.

During the golden age of science, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there was a dedicated drive to accurately categorise nature and explain the natural world. Many enthusiastic naturalists, amateur and professional, set off to collect and classify plants and animals across the New World, and many of these finds still bear the names of those who discovered them today.The Noble Quest, previously Sightseers & Scholars: Scientific Travellers in the Golden Age of Discovery, features a new introduction that considers the growing catastrophic trend in species extinction today. The nine important individuals featured in the book encompass early naturalists William Bartram and Alexander von Humboldt; inquisitive aristocrats Charles Waterton and Prince Maximilian of Wied; professional collectors David Douglas, John Kirk Townsend and John Richardson; and the last of the field naturalists Henry Walter Bates and John Wesley Powell. All faced great adventures and hardship as they undertook their groundbreaking work, which makes for great armchair travel today.

In 1945, for the first time in history, women joined the ranks of the Royal Society, the UKs premier scientific academy. Over the following decade, eleven women would break through its barriers to become Fellows of the Royal Society. Few of these women are well known, yet they all made extraordinary contributions to science, helping shape the post-war world.From Dame Honor Fell, whose research laid the foundations for IVF, to Dorothy Hodgkin, who worked out the structure of penicillin, these women battled prejudice and hardship but ultimately made cracks in the glass ceiling of science, paving the way for later generations of women to enjoy careers in areas traditionally dominated by men.Breaking the Glass Ceiling of Science pays tribute to these remarkable women and their achievements and asks why many have slipped from our memories, even though their legacies have endured.

Filled with sparkling anecdotes and tales of living life to the full, featuring previously unseen photographs from Lady Glenconners personal collection.Lady Anne Glenconner, Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Margaret and Maid of Honour at the Queens Coronation, returns with a rich, sparkling memoir told through an A to Z of her life. From affairs of the heart and Basils Bar to dinners with the King and the art of entertaining each chapter reveals a vivid moment of joy, mischief or resilience.Whether offering tips on getting out of the bath with grace, or how to lose at cards with Princess Margaret, she shares wisdom and memory in equal measure. This book is a love letter to a disappearing world and a reminder that life, at any age, should be faced with laughter, a stiff upper lip, and the odd vodka tonic.

Una guía comprobada para escapar de las prisiones ocultas de la vida. Shaka Senghor autor bestseller de The New York Times y experto en resilienciaTodos vivimos en prisiones ocultas: el duelo, la ira, la verguenza, el trauma, la inseguridad, la ansiedad. Incluso virtudes como el amor, el honor, el deber y la lealtad, pueden convertirse sigilosamente en murosque nos encierran. Pero no importa cuan imponente sea la prision, siempre hay una puerta de salida.Inspirado por su extraordinaria historia, desde el encarcelamiento hasta convertirse en autor bestseller experto en resiliencia y empresario, Shaka Senghor revela la mentalidad y las practicas que transformaron su viday que pueden ayudarte a construir tu propia libertad.Guiado por las obras transformadoras de autores como Brene Brown, Thich Nhat Hanh, Eckhart Tolle y James Allen, y combinando sabiduria ancestral con experiencias en carne propia, Shaka propone una audaz hoja de ruta hacia una nueva filosofia de libertad y un plan claro para cambiar tu vida.No tengo que esperar a ser libre. Soy libre ahora mismo. Soy libre del peso de mi pasado. No debo mi futuro a antiguos errores.

Todas las reinas de Cristina Morató reunidas en este estuche. Porque los mejores reyes de la Historia fueron reinas.Cristina Morató es periodista, escritora, fotógrafa y una incansable exploradora de vidas femeninas olvidadas por la historia oficial. A lo largo de su extensa obra ha revindicado un espacio central para las mujeres, ya fueran viajeras intrepidas, actrices inolvidables o reinas inmortales como las que protagonizan este estuche especial compuesto por dos titulos emblematicos de la autora: Reinas malditas y Reinas de leyenda.Reinas inmortales nos invita a descubrir las vidas de once mujeres cultas y valientes que alcanzaron el poder en un mundo de hombres: La Emperatriz Sissi, Alejandra Romanov, Cristina de Suecia, Eugenia de Montijo, Victoria de Inglaterra, Maria Antonieta, Catalina de Aragon, Isabel I de Inglaterra, Catalina la Grande, Carlota de Mexico y la emperatriz Cixi.

A true story based on a false storyLate one night in February 2018, the award-winning Irish journalist Olaf Tyaransen returned home to find his name trending on Twitter.To his horror, he discovered that Brooke Magnanti - controversial author of the Belle de Jour books - had published an article accusing him of physically and sexually assaulting another woman a few years earlier.Tyaransen had never met Magnanti, and the woman in question had recently died in tragic circumstances. While the allegation was completely untrue, it was already going viral. Hundreds of people were rushing to judgement and sharing Magnantis article.In a painfully honest and compelling memoir, Tyaransen details the emotional, social and professional impact of that false accusation.His lacerating, unflinching account highlights the importance of due process, the mindless cruelty of crowds and the potentially fatal consequences of online vigilantism

"Pierces startling candour makes for tough but cathartic reading, particularly for those whove lost family members too early. The results are both brutal and beautiful" - Publishers WeeklyIn 2017, Sophie Pierces world changed forever when her twenty-year-old son Felix died suddenly and unexpectedly. Thrown into this new reality, she had to find a way to keep on living. By writing a series of letters to Felix - composed during walks and swims taken close to his burial place by the River Dart - Sophie gradually learned how to dwell in the landscape of sudden loss, navigating the weather and tides of grief.The Green Hill collects these letters alongside Sophies account of the years following Felixs death, into which she weaves poignant memories of his life. What results is a deeply moving, beautifully captured record of how - amid the plants and rivers of Dartmoor, and in the sea off the South Devon coast - Sophie was able to hold on to and nurture her bond with Felix, both in her mind and through a physical engagement with the landscape: actively mourning, rather than grieving.The book is a celebration of the natural world and the role it plays in our lives and relationships, as well as examining how beauty, a sense of place and the passing seasons can help us contend with our own mortality. Above all, though, The Green Hill is one womans story of navigating through trauma and loss, and towards a fragile, complicated kind of joy.

Raised in a Yorkshire coal-mining town, Jeremy Granthams iconoclastic investment career was launched into the stratosphere by a few simple ideas: buy cheap, watch for bubbles, and stick to your guns when you know youre right.Grantham created one of the first index funds in the 1970s, pioneered quantitative investment in the 1980s, and embraced emerging markets before other firms saw their potential. He became famous when he accurately predicted and sidestepped a series of bubbles, and his firm skyrocketed to a peak of $155 billion in assets under management. But as his wealth grew, so did his concerns about the deficiencies of capitalism and the unfolding climate crisis. He decided - at the top of his game - to donate nearly all his wealth to environmental protection.With wit thats as cutting against himself as his critics, Grantham reveals how hunting for bargains requires understanding the inefficiencies of the market and the human behaviour that drives it. Ultimately, Grantham offers a deeply human, often heretical and quietly profound lens on investing today.

Paul Martins Grand Tour is the story of the life of the popular Flog It! presenter, from his life as a musician and antiques dealer on the Portobello Road to being the star of the BBCs daytime schedules.It is also a Grand Tour, as Paul takes the reader on a journey through many of Britains regions, uncovering and celebrating the most intriguing and often previously unknown places, stories and people across the country. Fully illustrated in colour, Paul Martin highlights, in his own distinctive and enthusiasts voice, the very best of the sites, subjects and stories featured in his six years of travels filming one of the most beloved daytime shows in Britain.

?Stanley G. Payne es catedrático emérito de Historia en la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison. Ha publicado más de treinta libros sobre Historia de España y Europa contemporánea, además de numerosos ensayos y centenares de articulos academicos. Entre sus obras destacan: ¿Por que la Republica perdio la guerra?, La Europa revolucionaria. Las guerras civiles que marcaron el siglo XX, En defensa de España, El camino al 18 de Julio, El fascismo, La guerra civil española, Franco y Jose Antonio, y las publicadas en La Esfera de los Libros: El colapso de la Republica, 40 preguntas fundamentales sobre la Guerra Civil, Franco y Hitler, Franco, mi padre y Franco, una biografia personal y politica, escritos ambos junto a Jesus Palacios. Es miembro de la American Academy of Arts and Sciences y correspondiente de las reales academias de Historia y Ciencias Morales y Politicas de España. Ha sido codirector durante mas de veinticinco años del Journal of Contemporary History y es miembro del consejo editorial de la revista www.kosmos-polis.com. Jesus Palacios es periodista e historiador especializado en Historia Contemporanea. Ha sido profesor de Ciencia Politica en la Facultad de CCPP (UCM), colaborador y conferenciante en diversas universidades e instituciones. Presidente y miembro del consejo editorial de la revista www.kosmos-polis.com y autor, entre otros, de Los papeles secretos de Franco, La España totalitaria, 23-F. El golpe del Cesid, Las cartas de Franco, Franco y Juan Carlos. Del franquismo a la monarquia y 23-F. El rey y su secreto. Es coautor junto con Stanley G. Payne de Franco, mi padre, y Franco, una biografia personal y politica, publicados ambos en La Esfera de los Libros.