"May well be the finest of contemporary novels about the capital."THE NEW YORKERFrom the New Deal to the McCarthy era, follow the lives of Blaise Sanford, the ruthless Washington newspaper tycoon...his son, Peter, a brilliant liberal editor both fascinated and repelled by the imperial city...Peter's beautiful and self-destructive sister, Enid...her husband, Clay Overbury, a charismatic and ambitious politician...and James Burden Day, the powerful conservative senator. In WASHINGTON, D.C., the incomparable Vidal presents the life of politics and society in the nation's capital in the final stages of "the last empire on Earth." Views: 21
Subtitled "A Novel of Many Manners," Evelyn Waugh's famous first novel lays waste the "heathen idol" of British sportmanship, the cultured perfection of Oxford and inviolable honor code of English upper classes. Paul Pennyfeather, innocent victim of a drunken orgy, is expelled from Oxford College, which costs him a career in the church. He turns to teaching, frequently the last resort of failures, and at Llanabba Castle meets a friend, Beste-Chetwynde. But Margot, Beste-Chetwynde's mother, introduces him to the questionable delights of high society. Suddenly, and improbably, he is engaged to marry Margot. Just as they are about to say "I do," Scotland Yard arrives and arrests Peter for his involvement in Margot's white slave-trading ring. Views: 20
An intimate and insightful biography of Betty Ford, the groundbreaking, candid, and resilient First Lady and wife of President Gerald FordBetty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer is the inspiring story of an ordinary Midwestern girl thrust onto the world stage and into the White House under extraordinary circumstances. Setting a precedent as First Lady, Betty Ford refused to be silenced by her critics as she publicly championed equal rights for women, and spoke out about issues that had previously been taboo—breast cancer, depression, abortion, and sexuality. Privately, there were signs something was wrong. After a painful intervention by her family, she admitted to an addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. Her courageous decision to speak out publicly sparked a national dialogue, and in 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center, which revolutionized treatment for alcoholism and inspired the modern concept of recovery. Lisa McCubbin also brings to light Gerald and Betty Ford’s sweeping love story: from Michigan to the White House, until their dying days, their relationship was that of a man and woman utterly devoted to one another other—a relationship built on trust, respect, and an unquantifiable chemistry. Based on intimate in-depth interviews with all four of her children, Susan Ford Bales, Michael Ford, Jack Ford, and Steven Ford, as well as family friends, and colleagues, Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer is a deeply personal, empathic portrait of an outspoken First Lady, who was first and foremost a devoted wife and mother. With poignant details and rare insight, McCubbin reveals a fiercely independent woman who had a lively sense of humor, unwavering faith, and an indomitable spirit—the true story behind one of the most admired and influential women of our time. Views: 20
'I'm not myself - I'm somebody else - that's me yonder - no - that's somebody else got into my shoes...I can't tell what's my name, or who I am!'Touching and comic short stories from the 19th century American master of the genre.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants. Views: 20
Peter Ackroyd, whose work has always been underpinned by a profound interest in and understanding of England's history, now tells the epic story of England itself.In Foundation, the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, take us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death, in 1509, of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past--a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house--and describes in rich prose the successive waves of invaders who make England English, despite being themselves Roman, Viking, Saxon, or Norman French.With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place and his acute eye for the telling detail, Ackroyd recounts the story of warring kings, of civil strife, and foreign wars.... Views: 20
Arken Freeth is a 14-year-old boy in the Lantish Military Academy. War has broken out with the Amarrat Empire. Arken and his classmates set off on their first training voyage as officers-to-be into waters previously controlled by the Lantish Sea Service, but now patrolled by the Tookans, pirate allies of the Amarrats.
Join Arken as he struggles to survive 13,000 years ago in the lost world of the Lantish Empire on the Western edge of the Circle Sea, now called the Atlantic Ocean. Arken is the only commoner in an academy for Royals, and to make matters worse, he is also part Neanderthal, a secret he must hide from the people of Lanth or he will be put to death. Views: 20
Charles Thoroughgood, hero of Alan Judd's classic A Breed of Heroes, has left the army to be trained by MI6 in the arts of the Cold War. Nothing could prepare him, however, for the unexpected inheritance left him by his late father, which leads him back into an old school friendship with Viktor, a Russian diplomat living in London, and beyond that into the murky world of Soviet espionage at the height of the nuclear threat to the West. Views: 20
As the eldest of The Nolan Sisters, Anne Nolan's life appeared from the outside to be one of boundless excitement and glamour - a dream come true for any young and aspiring singer. At the height of their fame, The Nolan Sisters were one of the biggest acts around, touring with Frank Sinatra, performing at the Royal Variety Performance and travelling around the world to play for their adoring fans. Surrounded by a bevy of loving sisters, two protective brothers and parents who wanted to see their children succeed, how could Anne Nolan's childhood have been anything but idyllic? And yet behind the fairytale script - the fame and glitz lay hidden a dark family secret that has, until now, never been told. Anne's story - which starts in her birthplace Dublin and moves to the Northern club scene of Blackpool - tells of this other life - one that had to remain hidden, one of fear and pain that has cast a terrible shadow over her entire life. After so... Views: 20
For seven decades Katharine Hepburn played a leading role in the popular culture of the twentieth century - reigning as an admired actress, a beloved movie star, and a treasured icon of the modern American woman. She also remained one of the most private of all the public figures of her time. In 1983 - at the age of seventy-five, her career cresting - the four-time Academy Award winner opened the door to biographer A. Scott Berg - then thirty-three - and began a special friendship, one that endured to the end of her illustrious life. From the start, Scott Berg felt that Katharine Hepburn intended his role to be not just that of a friend but also of a chronicler, a confidant who might record for posterity her thoughts and feelings. Over the next twenty years, Kate used their many hours together to reveal all that came to mind, often reflecting on the people and episodes of her past, occasionally on the meaning of life. Here are the stories from those countless intimate... Views: 19
In this extraordinary book, Alexander Masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. A gripping who-done-it journey back in time, it begins with Masters meeting a drunken Stuart lying on a sidewalk in Cambridge, England, and leads through layers of hell...back through crimes and misdemeanors, prison and homelessness, suicide attempts, violence, drugs, juvenile halls and special schools--to expose the smiling, gregarious thirteen-year-old boy who was Stuart before his long, sprawling, dangerous fall. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, Stuart: A Life Backwards is a writer's quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all: that every life--even the most chaotic and disreputable--is a story worthy of being told.From the Hardcover edition. Views: 19
