Historische & politische Biographien

Wie wird eine Frau zur Heldin? »Ich bin nach wie vor der Meinung, das Beste getan zu haben, was ich gerade jetzt für mein Volk tun konnte.« Das sagte Sophie Scholl nach ihrer Verhaftung im Februar 1943, so steht es im Protokoll der Geheimen Staatspolizei. Doch wie gelangte die 21-Jährige zu dieser Überzeugung? Was musste geschehen, damit aus einem begeisterten Hitlermädchen eine entschlossene Widerstandskämpferin wurde? Robert M. Zoske spürt dieser Frage in seiner empathischen Biografie nach. Auf der Basis neuer Quellen und bisher unveröffentlichter Dokumente zeigt er Sophie Scholl, so wie man sie bislang noch nicht kannte.

The extraordinary inside story from Donald Trump's only niece of the factors that helped make the US president into the world's most dangerous man

Tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father's story. In this title, Vladek's harrowing story of survival is woven into the author's account of his tortured relationship with his aging father.

The gripping story of an extraordinary life spent inside major disasters - from Hillsborough and 9/11 to Grenfell and Covid - from the UK's leading expert on disaster recovery.

Permanent Record is the essential and courageous memoir of Edward Snowden - the man who risked everything to expose the shocking mass surveillance used by governments across the world to spy on their own citizens.

A reissue of this classic title with a new introduction by Andrew Morton reflecting on the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the original publication, and on the long term legacy of Diana.

One of the most famous accounts of living under the Nazi regime of World War II comes from the diary of a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl, Anne Frank. Today, The Diary of a Young Girl has sold over 25 million copies world-wide.It is one of the most celebrated and enduring books of the last century and it remains a deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of human spirit.Anne Frank and her family fled the horrors of Nazi occupation by hiding in the back of a warehouse in Amsterdam for two years with another family and a German dentist. Aged thirteen when she went into the secret annexe, Anne kept a diary. She movingly revealed how the eight people living under these extraordinary conditions coped with hunger, the daily threat of discovery and death and being cut off from the outside world, as well as petty misunderstandings and the unbearable strain of living like prisoners.The Diary of a Yong Girl is a timeless true story to be rediscovered by each new generation. For young readers and adults it continues to bring to life Anne's extraordinary courage and struggle throughout her ordeal.'One of the greatest books of the century' Guardian'A modern classic' The Times'Rings down the decades as the most moving testament to the persecution of innocence' Daily Mail'Astonishing and excruciating. Its gnaws at us still' New York Times Book ReviewAnne Frank was born on 12 June 1929. She died in Bergen-Belsen, three months short of her sixteenth birthday.

The moving and inspiring story of an Auschwitz survivor who shares what hes learned about gratitude, tolerance and kindness.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER'Affectionate, evocative, illuminating. A story of survival - of a flock, a landscape and a disappearing way of life. I love this book' Nigel Slater'Triumphant, a pastoral for the 21st century' Helen Davies, Sunday Times, Books of the Year 'The nature publishing sensation of the year, unsentimental yet luminous' Melissa Harrison, The Times, Books of the YearSome people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations. Their way of life is ordered by the seasons and the work they demand, and has been for hundreds of years. A Viking would understand the work they do: sending the sheep to the fells in the summer and making the hay; the autumn fairs where the flocks are replenished; the gruelling toil of winter when the sheep must be kept alive, and the light-headedness that comes with spring, as the lambs are born and the sheep get ready to return to the fells.

A classic memoir of prison breaks and adventure - a bestselling phenomenon of the 1960sCondemned for a murder he had not committed, Henri Charriere (nicknamed Papillon) was sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. Forty-two days after his arrival he made his first break, travelling a thousand gruelling miles in an open boat. Recaptured, he went into solitary confinement and was sent eventually to Devil's Island, a hell-hole of disease and brutality. No one had ever escaped from this notorious prison - no one until Papillon took to the shark-infested sea supported only by a makeshift coconut-sack raft. In thirteen years he made nine daring escapes, living through many fantastic adventures while on the run - including a sojourn with South American Indians whose women Papillon found welcomely free of European restraints...Papillon is filled with tension, adventure and high excitement. It is also one of the most vivid stories of human endurance ever written.Henri Charriere died in 1973 at the age of 66.

The incredibly moving and powerful memoir by an Auschwitz survivor who made headlines round the world in 2020

The definitive biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, detailing the remarkable rise and political brilliance of the most powerful - and elusive - woman in the world.

Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.

To read this magnificent biography of Leonardo da Vinci is to take a tour through the life and works of one of the most extraordinary human beings of all time in the company of the most engaging, informed, and insightful guide imaginable. Walter Isaacson is at once a true scholar and a spellbinding writer. And what a wealth of lessonsthereare to be learned in these pages. David McCullough Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo's genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history's most creative genius. His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from having wide-ranging passions. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history's most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo's lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions. Leonardo's delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question itto be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.

The memoir of Malala Yousafzai, the school girl who stood up to the Taliban. Unabridged edition.

The thrilling biography of Stalin - an international bestseller

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'There are countless books about World War II, but there's only one Erik Larson ... The book reads like a novel, and even though everyone (hopefully) knows how the war ultimately ended, he keeps the reader turning the pages with his gripping prose' NPRA startling, gripping portrait of what it was like to be alive in Britain during the Blitz, and what it was like to be around Churchill.On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, the Nazis would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons and destroying two million homes.In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson gives a new and brilliantly cinematic account of how Britain's most iconic leader set about unifying the nation at its most vulnerable moment, and teaching 'the art of being fearless.'Drawing on once-secret intelligence reports and diaries, #1 bestselling author Larson takes readers from the shelled streets of London to Churchill's own chambers, giving a vivid vision of true leadership, when - in the face of unrelenting horror - a leader of eloquence, strategic brilliance and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.

The epic story of Jerusalem told through the lives of the men and women who created, ruled and inhabited it.