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Showing 1 - 20 of 24925 items
By R. Howard Bloch. 2022
For history readers, travelers, and scholars alike, an indispensable behind-the-scenes guide to the great cathedrals of Paris. “So infectious is…
R. Howard Bloch’s passion for his subject that even those unable to do the traveling required will find in Paris and Her Cathedrals an inspiring guide to these time-hallowed masterpieces of medieval culture.” —Colin Jones, author of Paris and The Great Nation Over the years, R. Howard Bloch has become renowned for the insider tours of Paris that he gives to students abroad. Long sought after by travelers and history buffs for his near-encyclopedic knowledge of French cathedrals, the eminent French literature scholar finally shares his expertise with a wider audience. In Paris and Her Cathedrals, six of the most sublime cathedrals in the penumbra of Paris—Saint-Denis, Notre-Dame, Chartres, Sainte-Chapelle, Amiens, Reims—are illumined in magnificent detail as Bloch, taking us from the High Middle Ages to the devastating fire that set Notre-Dame ablaze in 2019, traces the evolution of each in turn. Written from the premise that “seeing is enhanced by knowing,” each chapter is organized along the lines of a walk around and then through the space of the cathedral, such that the actual or virtual visitor feels the rich sweep of the church, “the essence of these architectural wonders” (Antonia Felix). Animating the past with lush evocations of architectural splendor—from flying buttresses and jewel-encrusted shrines to hidden burial grounds and secret chambers—Bloch then contextualizes the cathedrals within the annals of French history. Here thrilling tales of kingly intrigue—as in Saint-Chapelle, where the pious King Louis IX amassed relics, including Christ’s crown of thorns—and audacious abbots are interspersed with anecdotes about the meeting of aristocratic and everyday life, culminating in “a rich, colorful narrative that clearly but expertly explains the history and symbolism of some of the world’s most magnificent buildings” (Ross King). To be read in preparation for an enlightened visit or merely to open a window upon the High Middle Ages in France, Paris and Her Cathedrals is a “revelation,” an “indispensable guide” (Garry Wills) to these awe-inspiring structures. Complete with the author’s own photographs, this beautifully illustrated volume vitally enhances our understanding of the history of Paris and its environs.By Tilar J. Mazzeo. 2010
“Who knew that such a tiny bottle housed so many secrets?” —Michael Tonello, author of Bringing Home the BirkinTilar J.…
Mazzeo, author of the New York Times bestseller The Widow Clicquot (an Amazon Best of the Month book in October 2008) returns with a captivating history of the world’s most famous, seductive, and popular perfume: Chanel No. 5. Mazzeo’s sweeping story of the iconic scent (known as “le monstre” in the fragrance industry) stretches from Coco Chanel’s early success to the rise of the seminal fragrance during the 1950s to the confirmation of its bestseller status in today’s crowded perfume market.“Here is the life of one of the 20th century’s most interesting and deeply complicated women, a fascinating cultural history, and the story of an extraordinary perfume.” —Chandler Burr, New York Times scent critic and author of The Perfect ScentBy Lauren Bacall. 1978
The epitome of grace, independence, and wit, Lauren Bacall continues to project an audacious spirit and pursue on-screen excellence. The…
product of an extraordinary mother and a loving extended family, she produced, with Humphrey Bogart, some of the most electric and memorable scenes in movie history. After tragically losing Bogart, she returned to New York and a brilliant career in the theatre. A two-time Tony winner, she married and later divorced her second love, Jason Robards, and never lost sight of the strength that made her a star.Now, thirty years after the publication of her original National Book Award–winning memoir, Bacall has added new material to her inspiring history. In her own frank and beautiful words, one of our most enduring actresses reveals the remarkable true story of a lifetime so rich with incident and achievement that Hollywood itself would be unable to adequately reproduce it.By Jörn Happel, Melanie Hussinger, Hajo Raupach. 2024
This book examines the processes of scientific, cultural, political, technical, colonial and violent appropriation during the 19th century. The 19th…
century was the century of world travel. The earth was explored, surveyed, described, illustrated, and categorized. Travelogues became world bestsellers. Modern technology accompanied the travelers and adventurers: clocks, a postal and telegraph system, surveying equipment, and cameras. The world grew together faster and faster. Previously unknown places became better known: the highest peaks, the coldest spots, the hottest deserts, and the most remote cities. Knowledge about the white spots of the earth was systematically collected. Those who made a name for themselves in the 19th century are still read today. Alexander von Humboldt or Charles Darwin made the epoch a scientific heyday. Ida Pfeiffer or Isabelle Bird (Bishop) traveled to distant continents and took their readers at home on insightful journeys. Hermann Vámbéry or Sir Richard Burton got to know the most remote languages and regions. There are countless travel reports about a fascinating century, which, with surveying and exploration, also brought colonial conquest and exploitation into the world. In ten individual studies, the authors explore travelers from all over the world and analyze their successes. The unifying element of all the studies is the experience of distance and its communication by means of travelogues to the armchair travelers who have stayed at home.This volume will be of value to students and scholars both interested in modern history, social and cultural history, and the history of science and technology.By Peter Jones. 2022
Donald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians…
in 1972. The smooth, radio-friendly veneer of the duo's songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s, but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger, disappointment, sleaze, and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface. The elliptical lyrics were—and continue to be—an endless source of fascination. What kind of person was capable of writing such songs? Fagen has always kept his true self hidden behind walls of irony, confounding most journalistic enquiries with a mixture of obscurity and sarcasm. Nightfly cracks open the door to reveal the life behind the lyrics and traces Fagen's story from early family life in suburban New Jersey, to his first encounter with Walter Becker at Bard College, their long struggle for recognition as songwriters, and the formation of Steely Dan. The band's break-up in 1981, re-formation in 1993, and Fagen's parallel solo career are covered in detail.Author Peter Jones seeks to explain the public's continuing fascination with Fagen's music, both in collaboration with Becker and as a solo artist.By Jason Zinoman. 2017
New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman delivers the definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman,…
the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation.In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains one of the most famous stars in America, he is a remote, even reclusive, figure whose career is widely misunderstood. In Letterman, Jason Zinoman, the first comedy critic in the history of the New York Times, mixes groundbreaking reporting with unprecedented access and probing critical analysis to explain the unique entertainer’s titanic legacy. Moving from his early days in Indiana to his retirement, Zinoman goes behind the scenes of Letterman’s television career to illuminate the origins of his revolutionary comedy, its overlooked influences, and how his work intersects with and reveals his famously eccentric personality. Zinoman argues that Letterman had three great artistic periods, each distinct and part of his evolution. As he examines key broadcasting moments—"Stupid Pet Tricks" and other captivating segments that defined Late Night with David Letterman—he illuminates Letterman’s relationship to his writers, and in particular, the show’s co-creator, Merrill Markoe, with whom Letterman shared a long professional and personal connection.To understand popular culture today, it’s necessary to understand David Letterman. With this revealing biography, Zinoman offers a perceptive analysis of the man and the artist whose ironic voice and caustic meta-humor was critical to an entire generation of comedians and viewers—and whose singular style ushered in new tropes that have become clichés in comedy today.By William J. Mann. 2014
New York Times Bestseller • Edgar Award winner for Best Fact CrimeThe Day of the Locust meets The Devil in…
the White City and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in this juicy, untold Hollywood story: an addictive true tale of ambition, scandal, intrigue, murder, and the creation of the modern film industry.By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America’s new favorite pastime, and one of the nation’s largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence. Yet Hollywood’s glittering ascendency was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies—including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.In a fiendishly involving narrative, bestselling Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him—including three beautiful, ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs, any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet. And overseeing this entire landscape of intrigue was Adolph Zukor, the brilliant and ruthless founder of Paramount, locked in a struggle for control of the industry and desperate to conceal the truth about the crime. Along the way, Mann brings to life Los Angeles in the Roaring Twenties: a sparkling yet schizophrenic town filled with party girls, drug dealers, religious zealots, newly-minted legends and starlets already past their prime—a dangerous place where the powerful could still run afoul of the desperate.A true story recreated with the suspense of a novel, Tinseltown is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his powers—and the solution to a crime that has stumped detectives and historians for nearly a century.By Rob Sheffield. 2016
From the New York Times bestselling author of Love Is a Mix Tape, a thoughtful and loving meditation on the…
life of the late David Bowie that explores his creative legacy and the enduring and mutual connection he enjoyed with his fans.Innovative. Pioneering. Brave. Until his death in January 2016, David Bowie created art that not only pushed boundaries, but helped fans understand themselves and view the world from fantastic new perspectives.When the shocking news of his death on January 10, 2016 broke, the outpouring of grief and adulation was immediate and ongoing. Fans around the world and across generations paid homage to this brilliant, innovate, ever evolving artist who both shaped and embodied our times.In this concise and penetrating book, featuring color photographs, highly regarded Rolling Stone critic, bestselling author, and lifelong Bowie fan Rob Sheffield shares his own feelings about the passing of this icon and explains why Bowie’s death has elicited such an unprecedented emotional outpouring from so many lives.By Frank Langella. 2012
Rita Hayworth dancing by candlelight; Elizabeth Taylor tenderly wrapping him in her Pashmina scarf; streaking for Sir Laurence Olivier in…
a drafty English castle; terrifying a dozing Jackie Onassis; carrying an unconscious Montgomery Clift to safety on a dark New York street...Captured forever in a unique memoir, Frank Langella’s myriad encounters with some of the past century’s most famous human beings are profoundly affecting, funny, wicked, sometimes shocking, and utterly irresistible. With sharp wit and a perceptive eye, Mr. Langella takes us with him into the private worlds and privileged lives of movie stars, presidents, royalty, literary lions, the social elite, and the greats of the Broadway stage. We learn something, too, of Mr. Langella’s personal journey from the age of fifteen to the present day. Dropped Names is, like its subjects, riveting and unforgettable.By Michael S. Malone. 2014
Based on unprecedented access to the corporation’s archives, The Intel Trinity is the first full history of Intel Corporation—the essential…
company of the digital age— told through the lives of the three most important figures in the company’s history: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove.Often hailed the “most important company in the world,” Intel remains, more than four decades after its inception, a defining company of the global digital economy. The legendary inventors of the microprocessor-the single most important product in the modern world-Intel today builds the tiny “engines” that power almost every intelligent electronic device on the planet.But the true story of Intel is the human story of the trio of geniuses behind it. Michael S. Malone reveals how each brought different things to Intel, and at different times. Noyce, the most respected high tech figure of his generation, brought credibility (and money) to the company’s founding; Moore made Intel the world’s technological leader; and Grove, has relentlessly driven the company to ever-higher levels of success and competitiveness. Without any one of these figures, Intel would never have achieved its historic success; with them, Intel made possible the personal computer, Internet, telecommunications, and the personal electronics revolutions.The Intel Trinity is not just the story of Intel’s legendary past; it also offers an analysis of the formidable challenges that lie ahead as the company struggles to maintain its dominance, its culture, and its legacy.With eight pages of black-and-white photos.By Tig Notaro. 2016
Star of HBO Max's "Tig Notaro: Drawn," "Army of the Dead," "One Mississippi" and "Instant Family." As well as the…
host of the podcasts "Don't Ask Tig" and "Tig and Cheryl: True Story" with Cheryl Hines.One of America’s most original comedic voices delivers a darkly funny, wryly observed, and emotionally raw account of her year of death, cancer, and epiphany.In the span of four months in 2012, Tig Notaro was hospitalized for a debilitating intestinal disease called C. diff, her mother unexpectedly died, she went through a breakup, and then she was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Hit with this devastating barrage, Tig took her grief onstage. Days after receiving her cancer diagnosis, she broke new comedic ground, opening an unvarnished set with the words: “Good evening. Hello. I have cancer. How are you? Hi, how are you? Is everybody having a good time? I have cancer.” The set went viral instantly and was ultimately released as Tig’s sophomore album, Live, which sold one hundred thousand units in just six weeks and was later nominated for a Grammy.Now, the wildly popular star takes stock of that no good, very bad year—a difficult yet astonishing period in which tragedy turned into absurdity and despair transformed into joy. An inspired combination of the deadpan silliness of her comedy and the open-hearted vulnerability that has emerged in the wake of that dire time, I’m Just a Person is a moving and often hilarious look at this very brave, very funny woman’s journey into the darkness and her thrilling return from it.By William J. Mann. 2019
Entertainment Weekly's BIG FALL BOOKS PREVIEW SelectionBest Book of 2019 -- Publisher's WeeklyBased on new and revelatory material from Brando’s own…
private archives, an award-winning film biographer presents a deeply-textured, ambitious, and definitive portrait of the greatest movie actor of the twentieth century, the elusive Marlon Brando, bringing his extraordinarily complex life into view as never before.The most influential movie actor of his era, Marlon Brando changed the way other actors perceived their craft. His approach was natural, honest, and deeply personal, resulting in performances—most notably in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront—that are without parallel. Brando was heralded as the American Hamlet—the Yank who surpassed British stage royalty Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, and Ralph Richardson as the standard of greatness in the mid-twentieth century. Brando’s impact on American culture matches his professional significance; he both challenged and codified our ideas of masculinity and sexuality. Brando was also one of the first stars to use his fame as a platform to address social, political, and moral issues, courageously calling out America’s deeply rooted racism.William Mann’s brilliant biography of the Hollywood legend illuminates this culture icon for a new age. Mann astutely argues that Brando was not only a great actor but also a cultural soothsayer, a Cassandra warning us about the challenges to come. Brando’s admonitions against the monetization of nearly every aspect of the culture were prescient. His public protests against racial segregation and discrimination at the height of the Civil Rights movement—getting himself arrested at least once—were criticized as being needlessly provocative. Yet those actions of fifty years ago have become a model many actors follow today.Psychologically astute and masterfully researched, based on new and revelatory material, The Contender explores the star and the man in full, including the childhood traumas that reverberated through his professional and personal life. It is a dazzling biography of our nation’s greatest actor that is sure to become an instant classic.The Contender includes sixteen pages of photographs.By Margaret Thatcher. 1995
In her international bestseller, The Downing Street Years, Margaret Thatcher provided an acclaimed account of her years as Prime Minister.…
This second volume reflects on the early years of her life and how they influenced her political career.By Stella Theocharous. 2024
This book is the first to explore street names and street-naming in the formation of a Greek-Cypriot identity in the cityscape…
of Nicosia between 1878 and 1975. Rather than treating toponymy as a direct linguistic act of spatial orientation, the book approaches street-naming as a contested practice involving those shared symbols and representations used to depict official history and collective identity as part of a political process. It considers how street names are part of the symbolic politics of space, and how authorities transformed the streets of Nicosia into arenas of struggle for the control of symbolic and material space. It documents historical efforts over the course of a century to impose a ‘geography of forgetting’ to buttress national identity and to cast out the ‘other’ from space — both literally and symbolically — so as to achieve territorial dominance and political legitimacy. The book is another step towards the development of a global perspective on the critical study of street-naming, thereby refining and expanding our knowledge of the political dynamics involved in the process. In their commemorative capacity, street names belong to the politics of public memory and identity.By Marc Buggeln, Sebastian Lotto-Kusche. 2024
Marc Buggeln und Sebastian Lotto-Kusche legen mit dieser Publikation ein Grundlagenkonzept zur Wahrheit über das begangene Unrecht an den Sinti_ze…
und Rom_nja in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der DDR vor. Zunächst fassen die Autoren den Erkenntnis- und Forschungsstand zur Geschichte von Sinti_ze und Rom_nja nach 1945 in beiden deutschen Staaten zusammen. Daraus abgeleitet wird der Forschungsbedarf und mögliche Fragestellungen der einzurichtenden Wahrheitskommission zur Aufarbeitung des an Sinti_ze und Rom_nja begangenen Unrechts (WASRU). Da Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommissionen in Deutschland bislang keine Tradition haben und meist im unmittelbaren Übergangsbereich von Diktaturen und Apartheidsregimen hin zu Demokratien gegründet wurden, werten die Autoren die Erfahrungen dieser Kommissionen in unterschiedlichen Staaten weltweit aus.By Gina Yashere. 2021
The British comedian of Nigerian heritage and co-executive producer and writer of the CBS hit series Bob Hearts Abishola chronicles her odyssey…
to get to America and break into Hollywood in this lively and humorous memoir. According to family superstition, Gina Yashere was born to fulfill the dreams of her grandmother Patience. The powerful first wife of a wealthy businessman, Patience was poisoned by her jealous sister-wives and marked with a spot on her neck. From birth, Gina carried a similar birthmark—a sign that she was her grandmother’s chosen heir, and would fulfill Patience’s dreams. Gina would learn to speak perfect English, live unfettered by men or children, work a man’s job, and travel the world with a free spirit.Is she the reincarnation of her grandmother? Maybe. Gina isn’t ruling anything out. In Cack-Handed, she recalls her intergenerational journey to success foretold by her grandmother and fulfilled thousands of miles from home. This hilarious memoir tells the story of how from growing up as a child of Nigerian immigrants in working class London, running from skinheads, and her overprotective Mom, Gina went on to become the first female engineer with the UK branch of Otis, the largest elevator company in the world, where she went through a baptism of fire from her racist and sexist co-workers. Not believing her life was difficult enough, she later left engineering to become a stand up comic, appearing on numerous television shows and becoming one of the top comedians in the UK, before giving it all up to move to the US, a dream she’d had since she was six years old, watching American kids on television, riding cool bicycles, and solving crimes.A collection of eccentric, addictive, and uproarious stories that combine family, race, gender, class, and country, Cack-Handed reveals how Gina’s unconventional upbringing became the foundation of her successful career as an international comedian.By Adam Nicolson. 2008
Spanning the most turbulent and dramatic years of English history—from the 1520s through 1650—Quarrel with the King tells the remarkable…
saga of one of the greatest families in English history, the Pembrokes, following their glamorous trajectory across three generations of change, ambition, resistance, and war. With vivid color and fascinating detail, acclaimed historian Adam Nicolson recounts the story of a century-long power struggle between England's richest family and the English Crown—a fascinating study of divided loyalties, corruption, rights and privilege, and all the ambiguities involved in the exercise and maintenance of power and status.'An absolutely brilliant read' Patrick Kielty, Late Late Show, RTÉ‘Blisteringly honest . . . hilarious, traumatic, joyful and terrifying. Fasten…
your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy read!’ Liz Nugent'Gloriously unabashed . . . vibrant, poignant and surprisingly hopeful' Irish Times I grew up in a psychiatric experiment crossed with an alcoholic experiment. . . . a place run by two people who were extraordinarily drunk and guarded by a potentially vicious dog with a brain tumour.PJ Gallagher spent much of his childhood knocking back Lucozade with the local alcoholics in his parents' northside pub. But the chaos that reigned for his first ten years was nothing compared to what happened when - having lost the pub - his mum took in six psychiatric patients from the local hospital to give them 'care in the community'.Worst. Idea. Ever.Madhouse is PJ's riotous life story. Covering everything from dogs, motorbikes and the art of small talk, to the lessons of mental breakdown and finally figuring out love, this is PJ unbound. Most surprising - to PJ more than anyone - is the prospect of becoming a dad in his late forties, when he always thought of 'family' as a trap.Madhouse is the funny, insightful and moving story of someone just trying to keep his head above water - and how he is making sense of it all at last!'Terrifically honest, as well as a being funny and sad' Matt Cooper, The Last Word, Today FM 'Delivered in Gallagher’s brilliantly blunt northside brogue, evoking a shade of Roddy Doyle' Irish Independent 'Tells his story with humour and insight making it feel as though you are chatting with an old friend' Irish Examiner'Bold, anarchic . . . relates wild antics and traumas from his tumultuous life with both humour and perceptive clarity' Business Post'So open . . . amazing for understanding and trying to destroy the stigma [of mental health struggles] . . . a great read' Elaine Crowley, Ireland AM, Virgin MediaBy Doreen McBride. 2020
Banbridge gets its name from the bridge built across the River Bann in 1712. It’s a thriving modern town, rife…
with history and culture, surrounded by beautiful scenery that provided an iconic location for the internationally acclaimed television series Game of Thrones. It’s the setting of the well-known folk song ‘The Star of the County Down’, contains Europe's first flyover bridge and an ancient church founded by St Patrick himself. Travel from Ballievey along the Lower Bann, discover ancient Celtic sites, the remains of old linen mills and a Second World War aeroplane factory. Look, too, for the famous names attached to Banbridge, including Ernest Walton, the first person to see an artificially split atom; F.E. McWilliam, the renowned sculptor; and Captain Francis Crozier, the explorer who discovered the North West Passage.By Susan Page. 2024
The definitive biography of the most successful female broadcaster of all time—Barbara Walters—a woman whose personal demons fueled an ambition…
that broke all the rules and finally gave women a permanent place on the air, written by bestselling author Susan Page.Barbara Walters was a force from the time TV was exploding on the American scene in the 1960s to its waning dominance in a new world of competition from streaming services and social media half a century later. She was not just a groundbreaker for women (Oprah announced when she was seventeen that she wanted to be Barbara Walters), but also expanded the big TV interview and then dominated the genre. By the end of her career, she had interviewed more of the famous and infamous, from presidents to movie stars to criminals to despots, than any other journalist in history. Then at sixty-seven, past the age many female broadcasters found themselves involuntarily retired, she pioneered a new form of talk TV called The View. She is on the short list of those who have left the biggest imprints on television news and on our culture, male or female. So, who was the woman behind the legacy? In The Rulebreaker, Susan Page conducts 150 interviews and extensive archival research to discover that Walters was driven to keep herself and her family afloat after her mercurial and famous impresario father attempted suicide. But she never lost the fear of an impending catastrophe, which is what led her to ask for things no woman had ever asked for before, to ignore the rules of misogynistic culture, to outcompete her most ferocious competitors, and to protect her complicated marriages and love life from scrutiny. Page breaks news on every front—from the daring things Walters did to become the woman who reinvented the TV interview to the secrets she kept until her death. This is the eye-opening account of the woman who knew she had to break all the rules so she could break all the rules about what viewers deserved to know.