Biography & Autobiography
”Tell It All”: The Story of a Life’s Experience in Mormonism
Fanny relates the experiences of a 19th century missionary as she and her young husband proselytize throughout Europe in search of converts to the new Mormon faith. Her religious zeal is sorely tested upon receipt of news from America revealing that their religion has adopted the practice of polygamy as the means to exaltation. The couple is summoned to Utah only to find themselves firmly ensconced in Brigham Young's inner circle and called upon to practice plural marriage or risk a fall from family, friends, and faith. - Summary by Spiffycat
A Book of Scoundrels
There are other manifestations of greatness than to relieve suffering or to wreck an empire. Julius Caesar and John Howard are not the only heroes who have smiled upon the world. In the supreme adaptation of means to an end there is a constant nobility, for neither ambition nor virtue is the essential of a perfect action. How shall you contemplate with indifference the career of an artist whom genius or good guidance has compelled to exercise his peculiar skill, to indulge his finer aptitudes? A masterly theft rises in its claim to respect high above the reprobation of the moralist. The scoundrel, when once justice is quit of him, has a right to be appraised by his actions, not by their effect; and he dies secure in the knowledge that he is commonly more distinguished, if he be less loved, than his virtuous contemporaries. While murder is wellnigh as old as life, property and the pocket invented theft, late-born among the arts. It was not until avarice had devised many a cunning trick for the protection of wealth, until civilisation had multiplied the forms of portable property, that thieving became a liberal and an elegant profession. True, in pastoral society, the lawless man was eager to lift cattle, to break down the barrier between robbery and warfare. But the contrast is as sharp between the savagery of the ancient reiver and the polished performance of Captain Hind as between the daub of the pavement and the perfection of Velasquez.
A Book of Sibyls: Mrs. Barbauld, Miss Edgeworth, Mrs. Opie, Miss Austen
This book is a biography of four woman authors whose names were well known by readers at the time of its publication (1883) : Anna Barbaud, Maria Edgeworth, Amelia Opie, and Jane Austen. Though most of us today are only familiar with the writings of Austen, all four of these women are well worth taking the time to get to know. The author, Anne Thackeray Ritchie, was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray. - Summary by Ciufi Galeazzi
A Company of Tanks [Illustrated Edition]
?Steel, mud, blood and courage on the Western FrontThis is a fine book because it is a superb first hand eye-witness account of British Tanks in action throughout the First World War. Without much preamble Watson launches the reader, in company with the author?s brother officers, men and machines into the heart of the field of conflict on the 11th Corps forward line on the Western Front in the Autumn and Winter of 1916. From that point to the end of the book and the war itself the narrative takes us inexorably into the dark heart of war the tankers knew. Battles and battlefield experiences in their various phases (sometimes the book includes descriptions as expansive as three chapters each) are covered in engrossing detail. We join the author and the men we come to know as personalities, at First and Second Bullecourt, in much detail at Third Ypres and Cambrai before Amiens, the breaking of the Hindenburg Line and Second Le Cateau. This is a primary source work within a finite resource and as such is beyond value. Nevertheless, it is also a highly absorbing read to be relished by students of the period-professional and amateur alike. Available in soft cover and hard back with dust jacket for collectors.?-Leonaur Print VersionAuthor ? Major William Henry Lowe Watson, D.S.O., D.C.M. (1891-1931)Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in Edinburgh; William Blackwood, 1920.Original Page Count ? vii and 296 pagesMaps ? 8 sketch maps.
A Day With Great Poets
Who was John Milton? The author of Paradise Lost you say? Well, certainly, but he was also a man, going about his daily life like any of us in 17th century England, (except that he was a genius of course). Take time to read about a day in his life and learn more about him and his likes, dislikes, background and proclivities. Also, the same with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Each of them a man or woman of their times, living each day like us, but seeing shades and hues of life that we can only experience through their exquisite poetry. These are meant by the author to be brief biographies with examples of their works and some insights into their common foibles as humans in addition to human geniuses. If you love to read poetry, you will enjoy reading these short bios which contain much of their best poetry in them. The selections are from a number of stand alone sources but Browning is part of another book and the link below is to that directly. (Summary by phil chenevert)
A Lady’s Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia, in 1852-53: Written on the Spot
A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53 is an account of Clacy's visit with her brother to the Victorian goldfields. It combines detailed description with features of real dramatic interest and gives a lively impression of the times. Ellen Clacy (Mrs Charles) 1830-? was the author of Light and Shadows of Australian Life (1854) and A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53 (1853)
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
In the late summer of 1839 Thoreau and his elder brother John made a two-week boat-and-hiking trip from Concord, Massachusetts, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After John's sudden death in 1842, Henry began to prepare a memorial account of their excursion. At Walden Pond he wrote two drafts of this story, which he continued to revise and expand until 1849, when he arranged for its publication at his own expense. The contemporary audience for A Week was troubled by its heterodoxy and apparent formlessness; but modern readers have come to see it as an appropriate predecessor to Walden, with Thoreau's story of a river journey actually depicting the early years of his spiritual and artistic growth.
Abigail Adams and Her Times
This is a young person's biography of Abigail Adams that will appeal to readers of all ages. In the author's own words, "I am not writing a history; far from it. I am merely throwing on the screen, in the fashion of today, a few scenes to make a background for my little pen-picture-play. " - Summary by Ciufi Galeazzi
Abraham Lincoln | the Pink Classics
When Lincoln took office as President of the United States, the nation was fraught with problems, not the least of which was slavery and the danger of secession. This biography relates how Lincoln dealt with the problems with thought and wisdom. James Russell Lowell (February 22, 1819 ? August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that rivaled the popularity of British poets. These writers usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside. Lowell graduated from Harvard College in 1838, despite his reputation as a troublemaker, and went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School. He published his first collection of poetry in 1841 and married Maria White in 1844. The couple had several children, though only one survived past childhood. They soon became involved in the movement to abolish slavery, with Lowell using poetry to express his anti-slavery views and taking a job in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the editor of an abolitionist newspaper. After moving back to Cambridge, Lowell was one of the founders of a journal called The Pioneer, which lasted only three issues. He gained notoriety in 1848 with the publication of A Fable for Critics, a book-length poem satirizing contemporary critics and poets. The same year, he published The Biglow Papers, which increased his fame. He went on to publish several other poetry collections and essay collections throughout his literary career.
Abraham Lincoln and the Abolition of Slavery in the United States
The book is a biography of Abraham Lincoln with emphasis on how his personality and beliefs impacted the history of the American Emancipation and its causes. The book is very well written, easy to read and includes incredible historical information being written by a man who was there during the civil war. He even fought in the war and was able to add his insight into the happenings from his own perspective. This book would add knowledge to anyone who really wants to know the truth about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. - Summary by philip chenevert
Abraham Lincoln the Practical Mystic
A knowledge of the influences which ruled the life of Lincoln, the greatest of practical mystics, is essential now that a new form of paganism and slavery threatens humanity. In Lincoln's time the black slaves of America had to be freed; in our time the white slaves of Europe have to be freed. We have returned to the conquest. History is being repeated, but on a far vaster scale. The whole world is groaning under the threats and deeds of tyranny that seeks to become absolute. What Abraham Lincoln stood for in the middle of the nineteenth century the English-speaking peoples must stand for at the beginning of the twentieth. Materialism produced Prussian autocracy. A spiritual power brought America safely through the ordeals of the Civil War. But the material and the spiritual cannot both rule at the same time. One must yield authority to the other. And we cannot succeed by denying the very thing which caused Lincoln to triumph over all enemies and obstacles...
Abraham Lincoln: A Commemoration ? 15 April 2015
April 14-15th, 2015, is the 150th year anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln?s assassination. This is a collection of pieces to mark that occasion. Whitman?s poems, written shortly after the death, express his intense grief. Here are prose pieces that Whitman composed in the years following. Included too are three other eulogies regarded by Lincoln scholars as among the best, as well as a narrative from one of the doctors who attended the dying president and two speeches in the British Parliament. And finally three of the President?s finest compositions. ( summary by david wales)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 10)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 10 chronicles Lincoln's life in early 1865, including his assassination and the events following. (Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 3)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 3 chronicles Lincoln's life from his election in 1860 through April, 1861. ( Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 4)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 4 chronicles Lincoln's life from April to November 1861. ( Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 5)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 5 chronicles Lincoln's life from November 1861 through August 1862. (Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 7)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 7 chronicles Lincoln's life from 1862, including the major battles in the American Civil War that year. (Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 8)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 8 chronicles Lincoln's life from 1862 to 1863. (Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)
Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 9)
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his personal secretaries during the American Civil War. Volume 6 chronicles Lincoln's life in 1864, including the battles of that summer and Lincoln's reelection. (Summary adapted from wikipedia by Ann Boulais)