Libros de Biografías, página 109 de 714

¿Has oído hablar de un hombre afeminado, meapilas, avaro e impotente que pasó sin pena ni gloria por la historia de España como su único rey consorte? ¿Sabes quién yace enterrado bajo tal retahíla de topicos, que hay de cierto en todos ellos? La insolita figura de Francisco de Asis de Borbon es, paradojicamente, una de las menos estudiadas y mas desconocidas de nuestra contemporaneidad. ¿Cual es el motivo de semejante destierro? ¿Hasta que punto nos explica el pasado reciente?Crecio en el viciado entorno de la fuerte endogamia borbonica; caso con su prima y fue testigo y protagonista de los esperpenticos entresijos de la corte isabelina; vivio en un escenario marcado por las guerras carlistas, los pronunciamientos militares y las conspiraciones palaciegas; conocio el exilio y murio apartado del mundo. Apodado despectivamente Paquita, durante años compartio hogar e intimidad con su fiel secretario. Conjugo un amor resuelto por la belleza masculina con un marcado conservadurismo y un legitimismo a la antigua. Principe diferente, ¿como rescatarlo de forma objetiva del silencio y la caricatura?Adentrate en la exquisita biografia del rey Francisco de Asis: una obra unica, fruto de una rigurosa investigacion, que arroja luz sobre la vida de un personaje fascinante despreciado por la historiografia. ¿Era el padre de los hijos de Isabel II? ¿Cual es el legado del culto esteta, apasionado de la decoracion y las artes, cosmopolita y gran viajero que reino, sin quererlo, como esposo de la polemica monarca? Asiste en primera persona a los hechos, descubre la correspondencia, se participe de las conversaciones y contempla ante ti el apasionante paisaje de uno de los momentos mas turbulentos de la singladura historica española.

¿Sabías que, concluida años atrás la cruenta guerra, en muchos montes de España aún se libraba una lucha sorda y encarnizada? ¿Alguna vez has oído hablar de ciertos hombres que prefirieron malvivir como alimañas y arma al brazo antes que aceptar el yugo del triunfal franquismo? Forajidos, criminales, libertadores, heroes, ¿como rescatarlos del mito? ¿Quien era realmente aquel al que llamaban Mario de Langullo?En 1936, la contienda civil asola al pueblo español y consuma su desmembramiento en dos bandos divididos por la infinita trinchera de la incomprension; de entre los vencidos, miles rehusan el exilio e ingresan en la guerrilla, en pos de la redencion o la mera supervivencia. Huido en el entorno de una recondita aldea de Ourense (Galicia) casi desde el alzamiento, O Pinche supo, al poco, del fusilamiento de su padre: habia comenzado para el una odisea de mas de tres decadas que lo convertiria en leyenda. Medio centenar de atracos, quince asesinatos y tres mujeres de rompe y rasga jalonan el historial de Mario Rodriguez Losada; una recompensa de un millon de pesetas y una entrevista con el lider comunista Santiago Carrillo completan la insolita peripecia vital de quien seria el ultimo de los maquis en abandonar territorio nacional.Como la maleza que camuflo y hasta bautizo a aquellos rebeldes indomitos, su silenciamiento bajo la etiqueta oficial de bandoleros los ha tornado casi irrastreables... pero en lugares y parroquias todavia se escuchan las gestas o tropelias de los hijos de la montaña y su huella permanece en cronicas y registros. Esta deliciosa biografia novelada, fruto de veinticinco años de investigacion y gracias a testimonios ineditos recabados in situ (empezando por el de su unica hija reconocida), nos descubre como nunca al jefe de una de las partidas mas temibles del pais, que tras serlo vivio para contarlo: Mario, el ultimo guerrillero antifranquista.

'Con mamá o con papá' narra la historia de Marco Acero, un Profesor de Universidad que deja la docencia para dedicarse en cuerpo y alma a la política. Llega a ser Portavoz Adjunto del PSOE en las Cortes de Castilla y León en unos tiempos muy turbulentos, marcados por la despiadada lucha por el poder en el seno del partido entre Carlos Amigo, un joven político impuesto por Ferraz para su promoción personal, y Rodrigo Moreno, un socialista de provincias de la vieja guardia. La confrontación entre ellos acaba con la remota posibilidad del PSOE de gobernar algún día en la Región, y se lleva por delante al bueno de Marco.

The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller 'This second volume of memoirs is as fascinating as the first....full of wit, joy, vivid vignettes and useful insights...she has another bestseller on her hands' India Knight, Sunday Times'It's great to have another memoir from Lady Glenconner . . .as open-minded and entertaining as she clearly is' Lynn Barber, Sunday Telegraph'A jolly anecdote for every day of the year and excellent advice' Hilary Rose, The Times'As glorious and highly readable as its predecessor - as well as being packed full of new stories' ipaper'Full of eye-popping detail' Sophia Money-Coutts, Daily Telegraph'Charm itself' Spectator'Anne Glenconner returns to charts her fascinating life and the hard-won lessons learnt in diplomacy, marriage and motherhood' Tatler.comBracing honesty, rare insight and hilarious revelations from internationally bestselling author of LADY IN WAITING as she shares everything she's learned from her extraordinary and unexpected life. Anne Glenconner's glittering life hasn't always been golden. As she revealed in her astonishing bestselling memoir Lady in Waiting, it has been one of stark contrasts - from growing up in the splendour of Holkham Hall to living in a tent in the jungle of Mustique, from travelling the world with Princess Margaret to coping with her wildly unpredictable husband Lord Glenconner.Tragically, she has also survived the loss of two of her sons and nursed a third son back from a coma. Now in her ninetieth year, and at her happiest, Anne brings her bracing honesty, characteristic wit and courage to reflect on and reveal more about her long and unexpected life, her extremely volatile marriage, and what it's taught her. As a wife, she became a master in the art of keeping the peace, knowing when to pick her battles, when she needed help - and when to take a lover.

LA PRIMERA HISTORIA GLOBAL DE LA DINASTÍA QUE DOMINÓ EL MUNDODe orígenes modestos, los Habsburgo ganaron el control del Imperio romano en el siglo XV y, en tan solo unas décadas, se expandieron rápidamente hasta abarcar gran parte de Europa, desde Hungria hasta España, y crear un imperio en el que nunca se ponia el sol, de Peru a Filipinas. Concediendo una importancia especial a la rama española de los Austrias, Martyn Rady narra magistralmente la construccion y la perdida de su mundo. Los Habsburgo mantuvieron su influencia durante novecientos años, y dominaron Europa Central hasta la Primera Guerra Mundial.Como es bien sabido, uno de los detonantes de esa contienda fue el asesinato en Sarajevo del archiduque Francisco Fernando, heredero de la Corona. Pero la suya no fue la unica muerte violenta de los Habsburgo. En la larga lista tambien esta la de la emperatriz Sisi, asesinada por un anarquista. Entre los Habsburgo habia personajes extravagentes y variados: guerreros o contemplativos, inteligentes o estupidos, relajados o freneticos, a todos les impulsaba el mismo sentido de mision familiar. Con su masa aparentemente desorganizada de territorios, su maraña de leyes y su mezcla de idiomas, el imperio suele parecer caotico e incompleto. Pero Martyn Rady desvela el origen la increible resistencia de este linaje: la creencia de que estaban destinados a gobernar el mundo como defensores de la Iglesia catolica, garantes de la paz y mecenas de la ciencia y la cultura.Esta es la primera historia global de una dinastia que, para bien o para mal, dio forma a Europa y al mundo, y cuyo legado arquitectonico y artistico, repartido por todo el mundo, aun da testimonio de su abrumador impacto.Lacritica ha dicho...Probablementeel mejor libro jamas escrito sobre los Habsburgo en cualquier idioma.Alan Sked,Times Literary SupplementUn autentico Rolls-Royce: su narrativa recorre diez siglos de historia con tal sencillez aparente que disimula la potencia intelectual que hay bajoelcapo.Por si esto fuera poco, arroja casi tanta luz sobre el presente como sobre el pasado.John Adamson,Literary ReviewApasionante, vibrante y dramatico. Martyn Rady revela a un actor clave en lahistoriadel mundo durante casi mil años. Una historia de proporciones epicas.Simon Sebag Montefiore, autor deLos RomanovLos Habsburgo, con su elenco de personajes dementes, variopintos yprofundamentedefectuosos, son un regalo para un escritor, y el libro de Rady le saca partido.Mark Mazower,Financial TimesLucido y elegante: ojala todos los historiadores siguieran su ejemplo de concision.Esimposibleimaginar una historia mas sabia e incisiva de esta dinastia fascinante y tragica.Paul Lay,The Sunday TimesMagnifico. Su erudicion resulta natural, nunca se atasca en detalles, su prosa es lucida y condimenta la narracion con elocuentes anecdotas.Rupert Christiansen,Daily TelegraphRady devuelve a los Habsburgo su lugar en el centro de la historia europea. Ameno, inteligente, colorido y repleto de detalles memorables.Dominic Sandbrook,The Sunday TimesLucidoy entretenido. Rady es tan bueno con el legado artistico y cultural de los Habsburgo como con la parte politica.David Crane,The SpectatorBasandose en estudios internacionales muy rec...

An incredible read I laughed I cried and my heart was truly touched by this beautifully written true story of hope and humanity at its best Rosemary Conley CBE An extraordinary story Truly Inspirational Tim Vine An astonishing story of kindness self learning pain unbelievable hope and the sheer power of love to change a life Christmas 1975 and Queen s Bohemian Rhapsody is riding high in the charts In a residential street just outside Cardiff a persistent knocking breaks the stillness of the evening When Rob Parsons a young lawyer opens his door he finds a man standing before him clutching a bag of belongings and a frozen chicken Rob and his wife Dianne invite him into their home cook his chicken and offer him shelter for the night What happens next is an astonishing story of human kindness self learning incredible pain unbelievable hope and the sheer power of love to change a life A Knock at the Door is the true story of Ronnie Lockwood a homeless man who entered the home of a young couple became a dustman and lived as part of their family for over 45 years until his death But this is not just Ronnie s story it is also that of Rob and his family Outwardly the two men s lives were worlds apart as Ronnie emptied rubbish bins Rob flew

Deepa is the epitome of a woman living in her power Ask Me How It Works provides a stunningly vulnerable and poetic glimpse into her most intimate spaces and through her journey to sexual liberation If this book doesn t change your perspective on relationships nothing will GILLIAN ANDERSON Here is my husband Here is my boyfriend Here I am In the early hours of dawn in Amsterdam Deepa Paul rises from her boyfriend s bed She gets dressed slips away with a kiss and cycles home where she is welcomed into the arms of her husband whose contentment is mellow alongside her own There isn t a glimmer of shame deception or guilt only the honesty and compassion needed to make this kind of life possible even if it wasn t always this easy You might have questions Whose idea was it What are the rules Are you ever jealous In this memoir Deepa offers her answers openly and tenderly as she explores the truth to questions of her own Can I ask for what I want and still honour the life I have chosen Do I deserve it Is it worth it Unexpectedly relatable and joyfully vibrant this is one woman s story of discovering her own desires and how to liberate them of shifting identities from mother to lover and back again and of finding the courage to ask for the mar

A beautiful bracing gem of a book quite unlike any other family memoir I ve ever read Polly Morland author of A FORTUNATE WOMAN Beautifully written erudite and important Looking After is a love letter to an autistic brother and to family itself and a reminder of the power of empathy to save lives Christie Watson author of THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS held me captive to the very last page Wise compassionate and compellingly told Monica Ali author of LOVE MARRIAGE This life spanning memoir is an affecting and affectionate tribute Bookseller Editor s ChoiceMeet Lionel Caroline s older brother Born in the late 1940s when little was known about autism Lionel was considered a peculiarity From the beginning he was a silent child oblivious to the people around him and intent only on playing with his toy trucks By the time he turned four doctors declared him ineducable and advised that he be institutionalised a shockingly standard practise at the time No one could have predicted that Lionel would go onto music college and find his place in the world With the help of his mother who refused to send him away Lionel lived a life that was certainly unusual but never dull He had perfect pitch could multiply three figure numbers in his head or work

A warm reflective and uplifting memoir about healing wounds reclaiming a voice and discovering freedom through the open water The open water To the uninitiated it represents the unknown an expanse of mystery and uncertainty But to those who brave the wild waters it is so much more A space to heal A place of communion A balm to quieten the mind soothe the soul and allow you to reconnect with the world and yourself Emma Simpson discovered wild swimming after a period of immense pain Lost in grief disillusioned with life and feeling increasingly untethered from the world she instinctively felt the pull of the water There she found an unexpected source of hope and strength a profound sense of connection and a glorious sisterhood of women each with their own remarkable stories to tell Interweaving the tales of these inspirational women with reflections on her own experiences Emma explores themes ranging from devastating loss to birth and rebirth and from chronic illness to body confidence Whether describing the taste of an iceberg or a kiss from a baby whale Breaking Waves is a love letter to womanhood and the open water It s also a celebration of community renewal and the power of writing your own life story Above all else it is a joyous cel

As a child Lucy Mangan was reading all the time using books to navigate the challenges and complexities of this world and many others As an adult she uses her new relationship with literature to seize upon the most important question how do books prepare us for life Bookish picks up where Bookworm left off at the cusp of teenage when everything including the way we read undergoes a not so subtle transformation Here Mangan vividly recounts her metamorphosis from young bookworm to bookish adult from the way GCSE curricula can impact our relationship with literature to the growing pains of swapping the pleasures of re reading for those of book hoarding Revisiting the books of all genres from thrillers and bonkbusters to historical sagas and apocalyptic zombie stories that ferried her through each important stages of life falling in love finding a job becoming a mother and navigating grief Bookish is a coming of age in books It s an ode to our favourite bookish spaces from the smallest secondhand bookstalls to libraries glorious big bookshops and our very own book rooms and a love story to how books not only shelter our souls through hard times and help us find ourselves when we feel lost but also help us connect with the people we love

We all need this book Jameela Jamil A razor sharp manifesto by one of Britain s most vital voices Yomi Adegoke Exceptional British Vogue A groundbreaking memoir about what it means to be a disabled woman in Britain today from the acclaimed journalist and author including insights and personal stories from over 50 contributors No one really talks about it No one really talks about what it is to be a disabled woman especially a young one To go a bit mad To experience pain or exhaustion or feel 92 To navigate all the standard parts of life exams careers dating but with a body that is different than everyone else s Part memoir part manifesto and full of Frances Ryan s trademark warmth humour and honesty as well as hard hitting statistics Who Wants Normal explores six facets of life education careers body image health relationships and representation as well as how to survive life s bumps in the road It draws on Frances s own experience as well as from highly personal interviews with over 50 of Britain s best known women and non binary people with mental and physical health conditions including Jameela Jamil Ruth Madeley Sophie Morgan Rosie Jones Fearne Cotton Emma Barnett Tanni Grey Thompson Marsha de Cordova MP Ellie Goldstein and K

A memoir of breakdown recovery growth and lessons from the earth

A skilful poetic and bleakly funny account of coping with a lifelong condition THE GUARDIAN Absolutely extraordinary writing JAMES O BRIEN So fantastic CHRIS EVANS Candid and compelling A must read BRYONY GORDON Brilliantly readable PATRICK MCGRATH My mind is full of scorpions A cerebral itch impossible to scratch I know these creatures well but they know me better They answer to another name this nest of scorpions the writhing black mass that lives inside my head For as long as Tuppence Middleton can remember she has struggled with obsessive thoughts and compulsions She visualises her OCD as scorpions inhabiting her mind something to be hidden that impacts her life daily Have I killed my cat When was the last time that person in front of me vomited How many people have touched this door handle since it was cleaned Should I tap the outside of the airplane to save my loved ones from harm Often used as a shorthand for tidiness or as the punchline of a joke OCD is one of society s most misunderstood disorders and it s rarely spoken about with such honesty and openness In this beautifully written moving and often darkly funny memoir Tuppence recounts what it feels like to share your mind with a nest of scorpions A fantastic memoir

What beautiful writing crafting and pacing And what a heart Amy Griffin has Your own heart will break and mend as you read Susan Cain 1 New York Times bestselling author With this powerful little book she joins the ranks of women who like the brilliant Gisele Pelicot in France are shaking off the stigma of abuse and reattaching it to the perpetrators The Times For such a long time people discussed my running It took up so much space in my life And yet nobody ever thought to ask What are you running from For decades Amy ran Through the dirt roads of Amarillo Texas where she grew up to the streets of New York where she built her adult life through marriage motherhood and a thriving career To outsiders it all looked in many ways perfect But Amy was running from something a secret she was keeping not only from her family and friends but unconsciously from something terrible in her past When her ten year old daughter confronts her on the distance between them Amy is propelled to confront what she has spent a lifetime trying to escape So begins Amy s journey through the world of MDMA assisted psychedelic therapy to the limits of the judicial system and ultimately home to Texas where her story began In her relentless search for the t

A perceptive exploration of poetry race and otherness from one of our most promising voices in criticism Vidyan Ravinthiran was born in the north of England to Sri Lankan Tamils and moved to the United States five years ago Considering identity in both its political and psychological senses as these concepts fuse or fail to at different times and in different places he leaps adventurously between memoir and criticism understanding his life through poetry and vice versa Ranging from Andrew Marvell to Divya Victor he writes both about and through poems discussing Sri Lanka experiences of racism and resilience intergenerational trauma pandemic parenting in an autism family relationships shaped by the internet growing up with a speech impediment and being sent by one s aspirational brown parents to elocution lessons and the relative invisibility of South Asians in Western television and film This electric compelling hybrid memoir discovers a new way of writing about the self and also literature

This book is not about aspirational living it s about practical living It s about looking at the world around you and finding where it s at fault rather than blaming yourself It s about dropping the comfortable prisons we create for ourselves to find the real freedom and happiness we deserve We live in a world that is overfed but malnourished sunlight deficient overly competitive sedentary and sleep deprived Our blood pressure and stress levels are at record highs our mental health at record lows Our eyes are strained from looking at screens all the time and our backs are killing us We buy far too much of what we don t need and we aren t even pooing in the right position Yet step outside maybe walk a few minutes down the road and you will inevitably see plants bursting with nourishment hear calming birdsong breathe in fresh air move your stiff body Perhaps we have the answer to all our modern malaises right here outside our own homes Perhaps it is time for a New Wild Order Join forager author dad and everyday fella Andy Hamilton as he answers his own call of the wild and discovers how it might just save his life and yours

Prize winning novelist and short story writer Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse s harrowing urgent memoir documents and reconstructs her escape at the age of fifteen from the Rwandan massacres of 1994 in which 800 000 Tutsi were slaughtered Finalist for the Prix Du Livre Inter 2024 A non fiction book which must be recognised as a major work of literature for here along with the extreme violence and the story of survival in a time of horrors is a hitherto unrecorded truth Nathalie Crom Telerama A gripping story at once a personal account and a reflection on the indelible traces of genocide Sophie Rosemont Vogue France Bare bones deeply moving and crucial Olivier Mony Livres Hebdo A powerful indictment of cowardice in the face of cruelty Nelly Kaprielian Self Times Literary Supplement On the 18th of June 1994 weeks before the end of the massacres in which hundreds of thousands of her fellow Tutsi Rwanda s Bantu speaking ethnic group were slaughtered by the Hutu Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse and her mother were fortunate to find a safe passage out of Rwanda with a convoy of children organised by a Swiss humanitarian organisation Fifteen years later after rebuilding her life and becoming a successful novelist Mairesse is ready to begin the long pro

Warm relatable and moving What A Girl Wants is a gorgeous nostalgia drenched coming of age memoir by the editor of Diva the world s biggest magazine for LGBTQ women and non binary folk Think Dolly Alderton s Everything I Know About Love with a gloriously queer twist

Moving funny remarkable Richard Eyre From Hanif Kureishi author of The Buddha of Suburbia a memoir about the accident that left him paralysed A few days ago a bomb went off in my life but this bomb has also shattered the lives of those around me My partner my children my friends On Boxing Day 2022 in Rome Hanif Kureishi had a fall When he came to in a pool of blood he was horrified to realise he had lost the use of his limbs He could no longer walk write or wash himself He could do nothing without the help of others and required constant care in a hospital So began an odyssey of a year through the medical systems of Rome and Italy with the hope of somehow being able to return home to his house in London While confined to a series of hospital wards he felt compelled to write but being unable to type or to hold a pen he began to dictate to family members the words which formed in his head The result was an extraordinary series of dispatches from his hospital bed a diary of a life in pieces recorded with rare honesty clarity and courage As Hanif wrote early on A few days ago a bomb went off in my life but this bomb has also shattered the lives of those around me My partner my children my friends This book takes these hospital d