As a young guardsman, Grigory Potemkin caught the eye ofCatherine the Great with a theatrical act of gallantry during thecoup that placed her on the throne. Over the next thirty years hewould become her lover, co-ruler, and husband in a secret marriagethat left room for both to satisfy their sexual appetites. Potemkinproved to be one of the most brilliant statesmen of the eighteenthcentury, helping Catherine expand the Russian empire and deftlymanipulating allies and adversaries from Constantinople toLondon. This acclaimed biographyvividly re-creates Potemkin’s outsized character andaccomplishments and restores him to his rightful place as acolossus of the eighteenth century. It chronicles the tempestuousrelationship between Potemkin and Catherine, a remarkable loveaffair between two strong personalities that helped shape thecourse of history. As he brings these characters to life,Montefiore also tells the story of the creation of the Russianempire. This is biography as it is meant to be: both inti

An erudite history of medicine...a welcome addition to anymedical collection. -- Booklist How does medical science advance? Popular historians would have usbelieve that a few heroic individuals, possessing superhumantalents, lead an unselfish quest to better the human condition. Butas renowned Yale surgeon and medical historian Sherwin B. Nulandshows in this brilliant collection of linked life portraits, thetheory bears little resemblance to the truth. Through the centuries, the men and women Who have shaped theworld of medicine have been not only very human people but alsovery much the products of their own times and places. Presentingcompelling studies of great medical innovators and pioneers,Doctors gives us the extraordinary story of the development ofmodern medicine -- told through the lives of thephysician-scientists whose deeds and determination paved the way.Ranging from the legendary Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, toAndreas Vesalius, whose Renaissance masterwork on anatomy offeredinval

Countless books have been written about Abraham Lincoln, yet fewhistorians and biographers have taken Lincoln seriously as athinker or attempted to place him in the context of majorintellectual traditions. In this refreshing, brilliantly arguedportrait, Michael Lind examines the ideas and beliefs that guidedLincoln as a statesman and shaped the United States in its time ofgreat crisis.In a century in which revolutions against monarchy anddictatorship in Europe and Latin America had failed, Lincolnbelieved that liberal democracy must be defended for the good ofthe world. During an age in which many argued that only whites werecapable of republican government, Lincoln insisted on theuniversality of human rights and the potential for democracyeverywhere. Yet he also held many of the prejudices of his time;his opposition to slavery was rooted in his allegiance to theideals of the American Revolution, not support for racial equality.Challenging popular myths and capturing Lincoln’s strengths andflaws, Lind offe

Immensely learned, self-educated in an era when formal schoolingwas denied to women, Mary Wortley Montagu was an admired poet, aconsistently scandalous doyenne of eighteenth-century Londonsociety, and, in a period when letter-writing had been elevated toan art form, one of the greatest letter writers in the Englishlanguage. Her epistles, meant for both public and privateconsumption, are the product of a mind distinguished by itsadventurousness, its indifference to convention, and its eagernessnot only to acquire knowledge but to convey it with unmitigatedstyle and grace.

This major study of the composer's life and work follows thecourse of Bach's career in rich detail - from his humble beginningsas an organ tuner and self-taught musician, to his role asKapellmeister and cantor of St. Thomas' Church in Leipzig. Itexplores Bach's relations with the German aristocracy, the Churchand contemporary theological debates, his perfectionism, and hisrole as the devoted head of a large family. The author alsocarefully analyses Bach's innovations in harmony and counterpoint,placing them in the context of European musical and socialhistory.

After losing her entire family to the Nazis at age 13, AliciaAppleman-Jurman went on to save the lives of thousands of Jews,offering them her own courage and hope in a time of upheaval andtragedy. Not since The Diary of Anne Frank has a young voice sovividly expressed the capacity for humanity and heroism in the faceof Nazi brutality. HC: Bantam.

One of America’s finest historians shows us how Bob Dylan, oneof the country’s greatest and most enduring artists, stillsurprises and moves us after all these years. Growing up in Greenwich Village, Sean Wilentz discov??ered themusic of Bob Dylan as a young teenager; almost half a centurylater, he revisits Dylan’s work with the skills of an eminentAmerican historian as well as the passion of a fan. Drawn in partfrom Wilentz’s essays as “historian in residence” of Dylan’sofficial website, Bob Dylan in America is a unique blend of fact,interpretation, and affinity—a book that, much like its subject,shifts gears and changes shape as the occasion warrants. Beginning with his explosion onto the scene in 1961, this bookfollows Dylan as he continues to develop a body of musical andliterary work unique in our cultural history. Wilentz’s approachplaces Dylan’s music in the context of its time, including theearly influences of Popular Front ideology and Beat aesthetics, andoffers a larger critica

From the author of the best-selling biography Woody Allen—themost informative, revealing, and entertaining conversations fromhis thirty-six years of interviewing the great comedian andfilmmaker. For more than three decades, Woody Allen has been talkingregularly and candidly with Eric Lax, and has given him singularand unfettered access to his film sets, his editing room, and histhoughts and observations. In discussions that begin in 1971 andcontinue into 2007, Allen discusses every facet of moviemakingthrough the prism of his own films and the work of directors headmires. In doing so, he reveals an artist’s development over thecourse of his career to date, from joke writer to standup comedianto world-acclaimed filmmaker. Woody talks about the seeds of his ideas and the writing of hisscreenplays; about casting and acting, shooting and directing,editing and scoring. He tells how he reworks screenplays even whilefilming them. He describes the problems he has had casting Ameri

At sixteen, Edward Beauclerk Maurice impulsively signed upwith the Hudson's Bay Company -- the company of GentlemanAdventurers -- and ended up at an isolated trading post in theCanadian Arctic, where there was no communication with the outsideworld and only one ship arrived each year. But he was not alone.The Inuit people who traded there taught him how to track polarbears, build igloos, and survive ferocious winter storms. Helearned their language and became completely immersed in theirculture, earning the name Issumatak, meaning “he who thinks.” In The Last Gentleman Adventurer, Edward Beauclerk Mauricerelates his story of coming of age in the Arctic and transports thereader to a time and a way of life now lost forever.

In the late 1970s Ondaatje returned to his native island ofSri Lanka. As he records his journey through the drug-like heat andintoxicating fragrances of that "pendant off the ear of India,"Ondaatje simultaneously retraces the baroque mythology of hisDutch-Ceylonese family. An inspired travel narrative and familymemoir by an exceptional writer.

A fascinating history--. Literate andauthoritative--.Marvelously exciting. --The New York Times BookReview Jonathan Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prizefor The Beak of the Finch, brings his brilliant reporting skills tothe story of Seymour Benzer, the Brooklyn-born maverick scientistwhose study of genetics and experiments with fruit fly genes hashelped revolutionize or knowledge of the connections between DNAand behavior both animal and human. How much of our fate is decided before we areborn? Which of our characteristics is inscribed in our DNA? Weinerbrings us into Benzer's Fly Rooms at the California Institute ofTechnology, where Benzer, and his asssociates are in the process offinding answers, often astonishing ones, to these questions. Partbiography, part thrilling scientific detective story, Time, Love,Memory forcefully demonstrates how Benzer's studies are changingour world view--and even our lives.

Prize-winning biographer Robert D. Richardson has written thedefinitive biography of the fascinating William James, whose lifeand writing put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy,teaching, and religion—and on modernism itself. A pivotal member ofthe Metaphysical Club, author of The Varieties of ReligiousExperience, and older brother of extraordinary siblings Henry andAlice, William emerges here as an immensely complex man.Richardson’s thought-provoking and utterly moving work, ten yearsin the making, draws on a vast number of unpublished letters,journals, and family records. Through impassioned scholarship,Richardson illuminates James’s hugely influential works: TheVarieties, Principles of Psychology, Talks to Teachers, andPragmatism. Finally, brought richly to life through Richardson’sbrilliant insights, James is given his due as a man whose influenceresonates in innumerable areas of modern life.

In his acclaimed book Lincoln's Virtues , William LeeMiller explored Abraham Lincoln's intellectual and moraldevelopment. Now he completes his "ethical biography," showing howthe amiable and inexperienced backcountry politician wastransformed by constitutional alchemy into an oath-bound head ofstate. Faced with a radical moral contradiction left by thenation's Founders, Lincoln struggled to find a balance between theuniversal ideals of Equality and Liberty and the monstrousinjustice of human slavery. With wit and penetrating sensitivity, Miller brings together thegreat themes that have become Lincoln's legacy—preserving theUnited States of America while ending the odious institution thatcorrupted the nation's meaning—and illuminates his remarkablepresidential combination: indomitable resolve and suprememagnanimity.

In this delightful sequel to her bestseller Tender at theBone, Ruth Reichl returns with more tales of love, life, andmarvelous meals. Comfort Me with Apples picks up Reichl’s story in1978, when she puts down her chef’s toque and embarks on a careeras a restaurant critic. Her pursuit of good food and good companyleads her to New York and China, France and Los Angeles, and herstories of cooking and dining with world-famous chefs range fromthe madcap to the sublime. Through it all, Reichl makes each andevery course a hilarious and instructive occasion for novices andexperts alike. She shares some of her favorite recipes while alsosharing the intimacies of her personal life in a style so honestand warm that readers will feel they are enjoying a conversationover a meal with a friend.

The intimacy between Nin and Miller, first disclosed in Henryand June, is documented further in this impassioned exchange ofletters between the two controversial writers. Edited and with anIntroduction by Gunther Stuhlmann; Index.

Succeeds more than any previous book in bringing Ali into focus. . . as a starburst of energy, ego and ability whose like willnever be seen again.-- The Wall Street Journal "Best Nonfiction Book of the Year"-- Time "Penetrating . . . reveal[s] details that even close followers of[Ali] might not have known. . . . An amazing story." -- The NewYork Times On the night in 1964 that Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay)stepped into the ring with Sonny Liston, he was widely regarded asan irritating freak who danced and talked way too much. Six roundslater Ali was not only the new world heavyweight boxing champion:He was "a new kind of black man" who would shortly transformAmerica's racial politics, its popular culture, and its notions ofheroism. No one has capturedAli--and the era that he exhilarated and sometimes infuriated--withgreater vibrancy, drama, and astuteness than David Remnick, thePulitzer Prize-winning author of Lenin's Tomb (and editor of The New Yorker ). In charting Ali's rise fro

At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be away of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people asthey ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciouslycrafted memoir, Tender at the Bone , is the story of a lifedetermined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion forfood, unforgettable people, and the love of tales welltold. Beginning with Reichl's mother, the notoriousfood-poisoner known as the Queen of Mold, Reichl introduces us tothe fascinating characters who shaped her world and her tastes,from the gourmand Monsieur du Croix, who served Reichl her firstsoufflé, to those at her politically correct table in Berkeley whochampioned the organic food revolution in the1970s. Spiced with Reichl's infectious humor andsprinkled with her favorite recipes, Tender at the Bone is awitty and compelling chronicle of a culinary sensualist'scoming-of-age.

Acclaimed author Alison Weir brings to life the extraordinarytale of Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who became one of themost crucial figures in the history of Great Britain. Born in themid-fourteenth century, Katherine de Ro?t was only twelve when shemarried Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. But her story hadtruly begun two years earlier, when she was appointed governess tothe household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son ofKing Edward III. Widowed at twenty-one, Katherine became John'smistress and then, after many twists of fortune, his bride in ascandalous marriage. Mistress of the Monarchy reveals a woman aheadof her time—making her own choices, flouting convention, and takingcontrol of her own destiny. Indeed, without Katherine Swynford, thecourse of English history, perhaps even the world, would have beenvery different.

Her name is synonymous with elegance, style and grace. Overthe course of her extraordinary life and career, Audrey Hepburncaptured hearts around the world and created a public image thatstands as one of the most recognizable and beloved in recentmemory. But despite her international fame and her tireless effortson behalf of UNICEF, Audrey was also known for her intense privacy.With unprecedented access to studio archives, friends andcolleagues who knew and loved Audrey, bestselling author DonaldSpoto provides an intimate and moving account of this beautiful,elusive and talented woman. Tracing her astonishing rise to stardom, from her harrowingchildhood in Nazi-controlled Holland during World War II to heryears as a struggling ballet dancer in London and her TonyAward–winning Broadway debut in Gigi, Spoto illuminates the originsof Audrey’s tenacious spirit and fiercely passionate nature. She would go on to star in some of the most popular movies of thetwentieth century, inc

Fidel Castro is perhaps the most charismatic and controversialhead of state in modern times. A dictatorial pariah to some, he hasbecome a hero and inspiration for many of the world's poor,defiantly charting an independent and revolutionary path for Cubaover nearly half a century. Numerous attempts have been made to get Castro to tell his ownstory. But only now, in the twilight of his years, has he beenprepared to set out the details of his remarkable biography for theworld to read. This book is nothing less than his living testament.As he told reporters, his desire to finish checking its text wasthe one thing that kept him going through his recent illness. Hepresented a copy of the book in its Spanish edition to his compadrePresident Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. In these pages, Castro narrates a compelling chronicle thatspans the harshness of his elementary school teachers; the earlyfailures of the revolution; his intense comradeship with CheGuevara and their astonishing, against-all-odds victory over thedic