Biographien

Drawing on her own memory, her parents written reflections, interviews with contemporaries, and newly-available documents, former US Secretary of State and New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Albright recounts a tale that is by turns harrowing and inspiring.Before she turned twelve, Madeleine Albrights life was shaken by some of the most cataclysmic events of the 20th century: the Nazi invasion of her native Prague, the Battle of Britain, the attempted genocide of European Jewry, the allied victory in World War II, the rise of communism, and the onset of the Cold War. In Prague Winter, Albright reflects on her discovery of her familys Jewish heritage many decades after the war, on her Czech homelands tangled history, and on the stark moral choices faced by her parents and their generation. Often relying on eyewitness descriptions, she tells the story of how millions of ordinary citizens were ripped from familiar surroundings and forced into new roles as exile leaders and freedom fighters, resistance organizers and collaborators, victims and killers. These events of enormous complexity are shaped by concepts familiar to any growing child: fear, trust, adaptation, the search for identity, the pressure to conform, the quest for independence, and the difference between right and wrong.Prague Winteris an exploration of the past with timeless dilemmas in mind, a journey with universal lessons that is simultaneously a deeply personal memoir and an incisive work of history.Itserves as a guide to the future through the lessons of the past, as seen through the eyes of one of the international communitys most respected and fascinating figures. Albright and her familys experiences provide an intensely human lens through which to view the most political and tumultuous years in modern history.

Conor McGregor's trainer tells the amazing story of his long road to success in the world's fastest-growing sportGrowing up in Dublin, John Kavanagh was a skinny lad who was frequently bullied. As a young man, after suffering a bad beating when he intervened to help a woman who was being attacked, he decided he had to learn to defend himself. Before long, he was training fighters in a tiny shed, and promoting the earliest mixed-martial arts events in Ireland. And then, a cocky kid called Conor McGregor walked into his gym ...In Win or Learn, John Kavanagh tells his own remarkable life story - which is at the heart of the story of the extraordinary explosion of MMA in Ireland and globally. Employing the motto 'win or learn', Kavanagh has become a guru to young men and women seeking to master the arts of combat. And as the trainer of the world's most charismatic champion, his gym has become a magnet for talented fighters from all over the globe. Kavanagh's portrait of Conor McGregor - who he has seen in his lowest moments, as well as in his greatest triumphs - is a revelation. What emerges from Win or Learn is a remarkable portrait of ambition, discipline, and persistence in the face of years and years of disappointment. It is a must read for every MMA fan - but also for anyone who wants to understand how to follow a dream and realize a vision.'For anyone interested in following their dream to the end of the line' Tony Parsons'It kept me up well past my bedtime' Sean O'Rourke, RTE Radio One'Remarkable' Irish Times'Kavanagh is open and honest about his upbringing ... The journey hasn't been easy, but Kavanagh's inbuilt determination has carried him all the way' Irish Examiner

Wild Tales by Graham Nash - a classic rock memoir of the legendary Hollies front man and member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungGraham Nash, lead singer and principal songwriter of the Hollies, then member of supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, made the incredible and possibly unique journey from 60s Manchester to Swinging London to sunny California. And along the way he created many of the iconic songs which defined a generation that began with the opening salvos of the British Rock revolution and ended with the last embers of Woodstock: 'Bus Stop', 'Carrie Anne', 'Marrakesh Express', 'Teach Your Children', among many others.In this candid and riveting autobiography Nash tells it all: growing up in poverty in postwar Manchester, founding the Hollies with schoolfriend Allan Clarke and the incredible success that followed, friendships with all the great British bands of the 60s including the Beatles, the Stones and the Kinks, decamping to America and becoming the lover and muse of Joni Mitchell (for whom he wrote 'Our House'),achieving superstardom with David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young.From London to Laurel Canyon, the story is extraordinary: the love, the sex, the jealousy, the drugs, and the magical music-making. With an amazing range of characters including John Lennon, Mama Cass, Janis Joplin, Elton John, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, not to mention Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama, Wild Tales is one of the great rock and rock stories which befits someone who has been inducted not once but twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.This book will be adored by Graham Nash fans and takes its rightful place in the pantheon of classic music memoirs alongside Book Dylan's Chronicles, Keith Richards' Life and Neil Young's Waging Heavy Peace.Graham Nash was born in Blackpool in 1942 and brought up in Salford. He was cofounder with his schoolfriend Allan Clarke of the Hollies - one of the most successful British pop groups of the 1960s for whom he was lead-singer and one of the principal songwriters. In 1968 he left the UK to live in California, where he became part of the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (later, after Neil Young joined, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). Unusually he has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for the Hollies and for CSNY, and in 2010 he received the OBE. He is noted for his political and charity work (he played Occupy Wall Street in 2011), is a serious photographer, and has homes in California and Hawaii.

With her career, live-in boyfriend and loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the rebellious young woman who got mixed up with drug runners and delivered a suitcase of drug money to Europe over a decade ago. But when she least expects it, her reckless past catches up with her; convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at an infamous women's prison in Connecticut, Piper becomes inmate #11187-424. From her first strip search to her final release, she learns to navigate this strange world with its arbitrary rules and codes, its unpredictable, even dangerous relationships. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with tokens of generosity, hard truths and simple acts of acceptance. Now an original comedy-drama series from Netflix, Piper's story is a fascinating, heartbreaking and often hilarious insight into life on the inside.

On 2 March 1998 ten-year-old Natascha Kampusch was snatched off the street by a stranger and bundled into a white van. Hours later she found herself in a dark cellar, wrapped in a blanket. When she emerged eight years later, her childhood had gone.In 3,096 Days Natascha tells her incredible story for the first time: her difficult childhood, what exactly happened on the day of her abduction, her imprisonment in a five-square-metre dungeon, and the mental and physical abuse she suffered from her abductor, Wolfgang Priklopil.3,096 Days is ultimately a story about the triumph of the human spirit. It describes how, in a situation of almost unbearable hopelessness, she slowly learned how to manipulate her captor. And how, against inconceivable odds, she managed to escape unbroken.

Often described as aloof, Kim Gordon opens up as never before in Girl in a Band. Telling the story of her family, her life in visual art, her move to New York City, the men in her life, her marriage, her relationship with her daughter, her music, and her band, Girl in a Band is a rich and beautifully written memoir. Gordon takes us back to the lost New York of the 1980s and '90s that gave rise to Sonic Youth, and the Alternative revolution in popular music the band helped usher in-paving the way for Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins and many other acts. But at its core, Girl in a Band examines what partnership means-and what happens when it dissolves.

Viv Albertine is one of a handful of original punks who changed music, and the discourse around it, forever. In Clothes ... Music ... Boys a story hitherto dominated by male voices is recast through the eyes of one of the most glamorous, uncompromising and iconic figures of the time. After forming The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious in 1976, Viv joined The Slits and made musical history as one of the first generation of punk bands. Here is the story of what it was like to be a girl at the height of punk: the sex, the drugs, the guys, the tours, the hard lessons learnt and those not considered. From Madonna to Lady Gaga, fashion to feminims, Viv Albertine has influenced a range of exceptional artists. Here, before and beyond the break-up of The Slits in 1982, is the full story of a life lived unscripted, with foolishness, bravery and great emotional honesty. A memoir full of raw and uncompromising anecdote and opinion, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys is an unflinching account of a life lived on the frontiers of experience, by a true pioneer.

A Beautiful Mind is Sylvia Nasar's award-winning biography about the mystery of the human mind, the triumph over incredible adversity, and the healing power of love.At the age of thirty-one, John Nash, mathematical genius, suffered a devastating breakdown and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet after decades of leading a ghost-like existence, he was to re-emerge to win a Nobel Prize and world acclaim. A Beautiful Mind has inspired the Oscar-winning film directed by Ron Howard and featuring Russell Crowe in the lead role of John Nash.

Tim Burton is one of the great modern-day visionaries of cinema, a director who has fabricated his own deliciously nightmarish universe in movies as extraordinary as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks! and The Nightmare before Christmas - not to mention his twisted takes on the tales of Batman, Sleepy Hollow and Planet of the Apes. Following the release of his re-imagining of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with long-time comrade Johnny Depp (who also provides a new foreword here), this updated and fully illustrated new edition of the definitive Burton interview book casts light on Burton's Burbank childhood, his early work at Disney, the recurrent themes and stunning designs of his movies, and the creative obsessions that fuel them.

Toms eventyr, der fortælles i denne bog, er for størstedelen virkeligt oplevet, enkelte af mig selv, de øvrige af mine skolekammerater. Huck Finn er grebet lige ud af livet, Tom Sawyer ligeledes, dog med den forskel, at karakteregenskaberne hos tre drenge, som jeg kendte, er blevet forenet i fremstillingen af ham. De mærkelige overtroiske forestillinger, der berøres, var alle udbredte blandt børn og slaver i vesten i den periode, hvori denne fortælling foregår - det vil sige for 30-40 år siden. Selv om min bog især er tænkt som underholdning for drenge og piger, håber jeg ikke, at mænd og kvinder af den grund vil gå uden om den, for det har været en del af min plan på en behagelig måde at minde de voksne om det, de selv engang har været, og om hvordan de følte og tænkte og talte, og hvad for underlige gøremål de undertiden var beskæftiget med. - Mark Twain

Der er skrevet utallige bøger om storforbrydere, men ikke mange om de mindre fisk i den kriminelle verden. Dette er fortællingen om én af de mere ukendte personer og hans vej igennem livet og det danske retssystem omkring første halvdel af det tyvende århundrede. Ét af disse mennesker var Anders Gjermand Jensen, der, stort set, tog sin skæbne i stiv arm og overlevede med en vis værdighed i behold.

"Du er ikke alene - En hård opvækst" er en hudløs ærlig selvbiografi om min barndom/ungdom, som var baseret på svigt, alkoholmisbrug samt årelange seksuelle misbrug. Dette er en beretning om min hårde opvækst, som bla. resulterede i lavt selvværd og selvmordstanker. Men på samme tid også en fortælling om, hvordan jeg fik livmodet tilbage, hvor jeg gik fra at miste mig selv til at bane vejen tilbage til livet, kroppen og kærligheden. Bogen kommer med råd til andre udsatte samt pårørende, der kan læses om mine erfaringer, senvirker samt bearbejdelser. Dette er bogen hvor jeg forsøger at komme alvorlige tabuer til livs. Jeg er i dag femogtyve og klar til at fortælle min historie.

"Ud ad døren, rundt om hjørnet, ned ad trapperne. Nu når vi 2. sal. 1. sal. Stuen. Ud ad døren uden at sige farvel til personalet. Hun bemærker dem ikke engang. Det eneste, der fylder i hendes hoved, er jeg vil dø, jeg vil dø, jeg vil dø. Der er aldrig nogen, der kan hjælpe mig. Tårerne triller ned ad kinderne på hende. Solen skinner udenfor på en af sommerens junidage. Men for hende kunne det lige så godt have været torden og lyn. Så havde det i det mindste stemt overens med det kaos, hun følte indeni. Hun bemærker hurtigt det gode vejr, og det irriterer hende. Hvorfor er vejret så godt? Hvordan kan vejret være godt? Verden er jo et forfærdeligt sted, der er slet ingen mening med at leve. Hvorfor? Hvorfor skal solen skinne? En svag stemme bringer hende et splitsekund tilbage til virkeligheden sammen med lyden af de hastende trin, der følger hende. Signe, hvad sker der? Det er hendes mor. De har haft første samtale i psykiatrien og har fået at vide, at de skal vente yderligere tre uger på den tid. På dette tidspunkt har de allerede ventet en måned. Hun sætter bare tempoet op og ønsker sig langt væk herfra. Og det kommer hun senere. Dette er det eneste, der får hendes hjerne til fortsat at sætte det ene ben foran det andet og ikke kollapse under hende. I aften skal hun dø. Det har hun besluttet sig for. Og hun ved lige præcis, hvordan det skal ske. Hun er klar. Eller rettere sagt, hun har erkendt, at verden ville være et bedre sted uden hende. At der er ingen, der kan hjælpe hende af med den her følelse. Så nu giver hun op. Datoen siger den 12. juni 2017, og dette bliver den sidste dag i hendes liv. Troede hun." - Hende - det er mig, og dette er min historie om vejen tilbage til livet.

Bogen er en beretning om en 10-årig forældreløs dreng, der kommer i pleje ved en skipperfamilie på Thurø, og en beretning om, hvordan han klarer sig i livet. Bogen indeholder en del sømandshistorier, der blev fortalt på de mange danske skibe i slutningen af sidste århundrede samt sande fortælinger, mindre sande, sjove og nogle der er opdigtede.

”Struer under Anden Verdenskrig – Illustrerede erindringsglimt og fortællinger” beretter om såvel dramatiske begivenheder som hverdagsbetragtninger i og omkring en vestjysk købstad under Besættelsen. Via et miks af barndomserindringer, udklip fra gamle aviser og billeder, har forfatteren skabt et perspektiveret portræt af Struer under Anden Verdenskrig. Kulissen er Struer, men alle byer og lokalsamfund i Danmark har en lignende historie at fortælle. Det er bare et spørgsmål om at gøre det, før det er for sent.

Søren Lond. Født i 1942 i Lille Værløse i Nordsjælland. Flyttede til Køge som knap 4-årig. Opvokset i Køge. Studieophold i København og Holbæk. Praktikant i 4 måneder på Ellemarkskolen i 1968. Læreruddannet fra Holbæk Seminarium 1970. Fra august 1870 til september 2005 ansat som lærer på Ellemarkskolen i Køge. Siden september 2005 pensionist. Spillemand.

Miles Davis is one of the most revered artists of the last 100 years, regardless of the art form. Credited with ushering in a new age of jazz more than once, Davis’s unique perception of the world is best known through his memorable music and is arguably more popular now than ever. In later years, he earned additional acclaim as an abstract painter, with many of his originals selling for thousands of dollars and continuing to escalate in value.  But his sense of personal expression didn’t stop with music and painting. Miles Davis’s restless, rebellious personality found an additional creative outlet through his interest in fashion.  From the big shouldered, pleated suits of the forties, to the Ivy League look of the fifties, the sleek Italian suits of the sixties and the more avant-garde looks of the last twenty years of his life, Miles Davis blazed a fashion trail whose impact is still being felt today.MILESSTYLE is the first book to examine Miles Davis, the artist, using himself as a creative canvas.  MILESSTYLE features observations from notable fashionistas like Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Ferry and Lloyd Boston, as well as friends and bandmates like Quincy Jones, Ron Carter, Clark Terry and more regarding his sartorial evolution as well as what his style said about the music and the man.  

Bogen er dels en personlig skildring af det ofte dramatiske liv som underviser gennem en vanskelig periode i slut-tresserne og begyndelsen af halvfjerdserne, dels et kig ind bag kulisserne i et organisatorisk amatørmusikliv, hvor mange uforudsete ting kan ske. Bogen er baseret på en mængde personligt samlede dokumenter, der rækker helt tilbage til 1950erne, og der forekommer derfor en lang række citater fra denne samling, som er med til at belyse de forskellige temaer i bogen. Derfor betegnelsen: En dokumentarisk skildring. Bidrag fra indlæg i Helsingør Dagblad spiller en stor rolle i bogen.Temaerne, der omhandles, er bl.a.: Musikalsk baggrund, studietid, tiden som underviser på de to gymnasier, musicals på Espergærde Gymnasium, musiklivet generelt i Helsingør kommune, de forskellige ensembler som han har været aktiv i, mødet med de talrige professionelle musikere og sangere og de mange amatører og gymnasieelever.Bogens røde tråd er: Fællesskab gennem musik, hvor mennesker yder sammen uanset alder, køn, uddannelse og social status.

The badass adventurers in this collection are all fearless, intelligent, compassionate and curious about the world - and they all happen to be female. From arctic expeditions and endurance races to wingsuit flying and mountain climbing, they have set the bar high for what women are capable of. These are their inspiring stories.

The Pet Shop Boys are one of the most successful and unusual bands of the last five decades. They are the pop duo that proves pop music can be modern, ecstatic and playful as well as serious and intelligent, winning them legions of devoted fans throughout the world. In 1989, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe invited journalist Chris Heath and photographer Lawrence Watson to shadow them around Hong Kong, Japan and the UK as they embarked on their first-ever tour. This book is the result: an immersive portrait giving access into the duo‿s inner sanctum, showing them in brilliantly observed detail as they work, relax, gossip, argue and occasionally try to make sense of what they do. ‿As clear a picture as could be wished for of the seething mass of elegant contradictions that is the Pet Shop Boys‿ on-the-road experience.‿ Independent on Sunday‿This superbly reported book transcends tired rock journalism cliché. It‿s about what it means to be a pop star, what it means to be a Pet Shop Boy‿ how to love pop, hold it to a higher standard and subvert its expectations.‿ Laura Snapes

McKenzie Wark invents a new genre for another gender: not a memoir but an auto-ethnography of the opacity of the self.Another genre for another gender.What if you were trans and didn't know it? What if there were some hole in your life and you didn't even know it was there? What if you went through life not knowing why you only felt at home in your body at peak moments of drugs and sex? What if you expended your days avoiding an absence, a hole in being? Reverse Cowgirl is not exactly a memoir. The author doesn't, in the end, have any answers as to who she really is or was, although maybe she figures out what she could become.Traveling from Sydney in the 1980s to New York today, Reverse Cowgirl is a comedy of errors, chronicling the author's failed attempts at being gay and at being straight across the shifting political and media landscapes of the late twentieth century. Finding that the established narratives of being transgender don't seem to apply to her, Wark borrows from the genres of autofiction, fictocriticism, and new narrative to create a writing practice that can discover the form of a life outside existing accounts of trans experience: an auto-ethnography of the opacity of the self.

"I can't tell anyone, so I tell everyone", wrote Frigyes Karinthy1 in one of his poems, lending his voice to all those who hide silently behind their actions before deciding to take up a pen and expose their thoughts. To be able to do this, to "tell everyone", one has to ignore the time-honoured adage: "A secret life is a happy life". But the desire to "have one's say" triumphs over the fear of confronting the world with all its dangers, real or imaginary. A psychoanalyst who undertakes to go over the course of her professional life and presents the ideas connected with it will, of course, revive certain memories. To be able to speak about herself, the analyst, like everyone else, must overcome some resistance. Analytic practice is based on the ability to listen, to remain attentive to the other. However, an analyst can only listen to those who come to him in search of themselves if he listens to himself. Immersion into the patient's past causes his own past to resurface. By changing the internal narration, the analysis makes it possible to carve out a place for oneself in the world. The psychoanalyst chooses this practice out of a desire to understand, but as the author of the present work points out, at times he must also be able to accept his own inability to understand, or the fact that he may misunderstand. The practice of psychoanalysis gives rise to questions formulated in discussions with colleagues.

At the age of fifty-four, Adrian Adger-church minister in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and recently married-discovered he had inoperable, incurable cancer. He was full of questions:Why me? Is God punishing me? Is my life effectively over? Should I pray for healing? Will I ever know joy again? By sharing his journey with us, Adrian explains the extraordinary difference that Jesus Christ has made to him as he faces a bleak diagnosis. Although Adrian is facing cancer, he is 'standing tall'-and not only because he is over 6 foot 7 inches tall.This book will encourage and help anyone who is facing cancer themselves and point them to the God who will see them through the darkest struggles because he loves and cares for them."With courageous and vivid honesty, Adrian answers many challenging questions that people, including Christians, often confront when they discover they have incurable cancer."Dr Cherith Semple, Cancer Care Specialist

Although he was born into slavery and endured a permanent physical disability, Epictetus maintained that all people are free to control their lives and to live in harmony with nature. We will always be happy, he argued, if we learn to desire that things should be exactly as they are. After attaining his freedom, Epictetus spent his entire career teaching philosophy and advising a daily regimen of self-examination. His pupil Arrianus later collected and published the master's lecture notes; the Enchiridion, or Manual, is a distillation of Epictetus' teachings and an instructional manual for a tranquil life. Full of practical advice, this work offers guidelines for those seeking contentment as well as for those who have already made some progress in that direction. Translated by George Long.

The profundity and spirit of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is brought out superbly in this edition of the Meditations, translated by George Long.All twelve books are present, complete with original footnotes which help to clarify and explain the meanings behind the passages. Since the original text was written in Greek after the spirit of many classical philosophers, an index of Greek terminology is also included at the conclusion for the benefit of the reader. The spirit of Stoicism, whereby Marcus Aurelius details a lifetime spent cultivating good habits, manners, attitude and evenness of temperament are laid out upon these pages evocatively. Many of the pages are thought to have been written at Sirmium, during periods of military planning. It is a strongly autobiographical text; each book focuses upon a different time - from upbringing to youth to maturity. The writing is famously frank, clear and honest - with none of the superiority or pretense one might expect of an Emperor of Rome.

This is a unique work from one of the preeminent early leaders of the Christian Church. These are wonderful and inspiring writings of St. Augustine that not only teach us some of the intellectual and theological elements of our faith, but also of the passion.