Paris. The name alone conjures images of chestnut-linedboulevards, sidewalk cafés, breathtaking fa?ades around everycorner--in short, an exquisite romanticism that has captured theAmerican imagination for as long as there have beenAmericans. In 1995, Adam Gopnik, his wife, and their infant son left thefamiliar comforts and hassles of New York City for the urbaneglamour of the City of Light. Gopnik is a longtime New Yorkerwriter, and the magazine has sent its writers to Paris fordecades--but his was above all a personal pilgrimage to the placethat had for so long been the undisputed capital of everythingcultural and beautiful. It was also the opportunity to raise achild who would know what it was to romp in the Luxembourg Gardens,to enjoy a croque monsieur in a Left Bank café--a child (andperhaps a father, too) who would have a grasp of that Parisiansense of style we Americans find so elusive. So, in the grand tradition of the American abroad, Gopnik walkedthe paths of the Tuileries, enjoy

In a book that is both biography and the most exciting form ofhistory, here are eighteen years in the life of a man, AlbertEinstein, and a city, Berlin, that were in many ways the definingyears of the twentieth century. Einstein in Berlin In the spring of 1913 two of the giants of modern sciencetraveled to Zurich. Their mission: to offer the most prestigiousposition in the very center of European scientific life to a manwho had just six years before been a mere patent clerk. AlbertEinstein accepted, arriving in Berlin in March 1914 to take up hisnew post. In December 1932 he left Berlin forever. “Take a goodlook,” he said to his wife as they walked away from their house.“You will never see it again.” In between, Einstein’s Berlin years capture in microcosm theodyssey of the twentieth century. It is a century that opens withextravagant hopes--and climaxes in unparalleled calamity. These aretumultuous times, seen through the life of one man who is at oncewitness to and architect of his day--and

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguezwent to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid tothis war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–asdoctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practicalthan her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two fromMichigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon foundshe had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her professionbecame known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate fora good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proudtradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea wasborn. With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the KabulBeauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning butsometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers,overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challengesof a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her studentsto become their families’ breadwinners

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.

在线阅读本书 Book De*ion An American classic rediscovered by each generation, The Storyof My Life is Helen Keller’s account of her triumph overdeafness and blindness. Popularized by the stage play and movie TheMiracle Worker, Keller’s story has become a symbol of hope forpeople all over the world. This book–published when Keller was only twenty-two–portrays thewild child who is locked in the dark and silent prison of her ownbody. With an extraordinary immediacy, Keller reveals herfrustrations and rage, and takes the reader on the unforgettablejourney of her education and breakthroughs into the world ofcommunication. From the moment Keller recognizes the word “water”when her teacher finger-spells the letters, we share her triumph as“that living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, setit free!” An unparalleled chronicle of courage, The Story of MyLife remains startlingly fresh and vital more than a centuryafter its first publication, a timeless testament to an indo

In Unbowed, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recountsher extraordinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to theworld stage. When Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977,she began a vital poor people’s environmental movement, focused onthe empowerment of women, that soon spread across Africa.Persevering through run-ins with the Kenyan government and personallosses, and jailed and beaten on numerous occasions, Maathaicontinued to fight tirelessly to save Kenya’s forests and torestore democracy to her beloved country . Infused with herunique luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai’s remarkable story ofcourage, faith, and the power of persistence is destined to inspiregenerations to come.

In the first in a new series of brief biographies, bestsellingauthor Peter Ackroyd brilliantly evokes the medieval world ofEngland and provides an incomparable introduction to the greatpoet’s works. Geoffrey Chaucer, who died in 1400, lived a surprisingly eventfullife. He served with the Duke of Clarence and with Edward III, andin 1359 was taken prisoner in France and ransomed. Through hiswife, Philippa, he gained the patronage of John of Gaunt, whichhelped him carve out a career at Court. His posts includedController of Customs at the Port of London, Knight of the Shirefor Kent, and King's Forester. He went on numerous adventurousdiplomatic missions to France and Italy. Yet he was also indictedfor rape, sued for debt, and captured in battle. He began to write in the 1360s, and is now known as the father ofEnglish poetry. His Troilus and Criseyde is the firstexample of modern English literature, and his masterpiece, TheCanterbury Tales , the forerunner of the English novel,dominated th

NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramaticstory of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man andAmerican icon who, through his genius and force of will, did morethan perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism.Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoondescribes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt’s humble birth duringthe presidency of George Washington to his death as one of therichest men in American history. In between we see how theCommodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propelthe Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the moderncorporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbiltis also the story of the rise of America itself.

Isabella arrived in London in 1308, the spirited twelve-year-olddaughter of King Philip IV of France. Her marriage to the heir toEngland’s throne was designed to heal old political wounds betweenthe two countries, and in the years that followed, she would becomean important figure, a determined and clever woman whose influencewould come to last centuries. But Queen Isabella’s politicalmachinations led generations of historians to malign her, earningher a reputation as a ruthless schemer and an odious nickname, “theShe-Wolf of France.” Now the acclaimed author of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir,reexamines the life of Isabella of England, history’s othernotorious and charismatic medieval queen. Praised for her fairlooks, the newly wed Isabella was denied the attentions of EdwardII, a weak, sexually ambiguous monarch with scant taste for hisroyal duties. As their marriage progressed, Isabella was neglectedby her dissolute husband and slighted by his favored malecourtiers. Humiliated and deprived of

“I had prepared a life plan that included ten years ofwandering, later years studying medicine. . . . All that's in thepast, the only thing that's clear is that the ten years ofwandering might grow longer . . . but it will now be of an entirelydifferent type from the one I dreamed of, and when I arrive in anew country it will not be to go to museums and look at ruins,because that still interests me, but also to join the struggle ofthe people.” – Che Guevara, in a letter to his mother, 1956 Assembled from two separate books written by Che's father, this isa vivid and intimate account of the formative years of an icon.Ernesto Guevara Lynch describes the people and personal events thatshaped the development of his son's revolutionary worldview, fromhis childhood in a bourgeois Argentinian home to the moment hejoined Castro to train for the invasion of Cuba in 1956. It alsoincludes, available for the first time in the United States, Che'sdiary of his trip around Northern Argentina in 1950. YoungChe is

The long-awaited second volume of the best Churchill biographyreveals the true portrait of this ambitious world leader.Discussion centers on the alarm he sounded about the terrible plotbeing hatched inside Hitler's deranged mind. Two 8-page photosinserts.

When he was born in BIenheim Palace．1mperial B ritainstood at the splendid pinnacle of her power．Yet within a feW yearsthe Empi re would hover on the brink of a catastrophjC new era．Hereare the fi rst fifty—eight years of the remarkable man whose courageous vision guided the destiny of those darkly troubledtimes—and who Iooms today as one of the greatest figu res of ou rcentu ry．

A wild, lyrical, and anguished autobiography, in which CharlesMingus pays short shrift to the facts but plunges to the verybottom of his psyche, coming up for air only when it pleases him.He takes the reader through his childhood in Watts, his musicaleducation by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, andCharlie Parker, and his prodigious appetites--intellectual,culinary, and sexual. The book is a jumble, but a glorious one, bya certified American genius.

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.

Nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, Wherethe Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs gathers togetherWallace Stegner’s most important and memorable writings on theAmerican West: its landscapes, diverse history, and shiftingidentity; its beauty, fragility, and power. With subjects rangingfrom the writer’s own “migrant childhood” to the need to protectwhat remains of the great western wilderness (which Stegner dubs“the geography of hope”) to poignant profiles of western writerssuch as John Steinbeck and Norman Maclean, this collection is ariveting testament to the power of place. At the same time itcommunicates vividly the sensibility and range of this most giftedof American writers, historians, and environmentalists.

No writer alive today exerts the magical appeal of GabrielGarcía Márquez. Now, in the long-awaited first volume of hisautobiography, he tells the story of his life from his birth in1927 to the moment in the 1950s when he proposed to his wife. Theresult is as spectacular as his finest fiction. Here is García Márquez’s shimmering evocation of his childhoodhome of Aracataca, the basis of the fictional Macondo. Here are themembers of his ebulliently eccentric family. Here are the forcesthat turned him into a writer. Warm, revealing, abounding in imagesso vivid that we seem to be remembering them ourselves, Living toTell the Tale is a work of enchantment.

"A FRESH AND UNVARNISHED PORTRAIT OF A FASCINATING, TALENTED,AND DEEPLY FLAWED FAMILY." —Boston Herald Laurence Leamer was granted unheralded access to private Kennedypapers, and he interviewed family and old friends, many of whom hadnever been interviewed before, for this incredible portrait of thewomen in America’s "royal family." From Bridget Murphy, theforemother who touched shore at East Boston in 1849, to theintelligent, independent Kennedy women of today, Laurence Leamertells their unforgettable stories. Here are the private thoughts of Kathleen, the flirtatiousdebutante in prewar England . . . the truth behind Joe Kennedy’sinsistence that his mildly retarded daughter, Rosemary, belobotomized . . . the real story behind Joan and Ted’s whirlwindromance . . . Jackie’s desire for a divorce from JFK in the 1950s .. . Pat Lawford’s disastrous Hollywood marriage . . . how Carolinediscovered her cousin David’s death by overdose, and more. Tough enough to withstand the un

As a singer and songwriter, Gram Parsons stood at the nexus ofcountless musical crossroads, and he sold his soul to the devil atevery one. His intimates and collaborators included Keith Richards,William Burroughs, Marianne Faithfull, Peter Fonda, Roger McGuinn,and Clarence White. Parsons led the Byrds to create the seminalcountry rock masterpiece Sweetheart of the Rodeo, helped to guidethe Rolling Stones beyond the blues in their appreciation ofAmerican roots music, and found his musical soul mate in EmmylouHarris. Parsons’ solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel, are nowrecognized as visionary masterpieces of the transcendentaljambalaya of rock, soul, country, gospel, and blues Parsons named“Cosmic American Music.” Parsons had everything–looks, charisma,money, style, the best drugs, the most heartbreaking voice–andthrew it all away with both hands, dying of a drug and alcoholoverdose at age twenty-six. In this beautifully written, raucous, meticulously researchedbiography, David N. Meyer gi

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “ The Social Network , themuch anticipated movie…adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book TheAccidental Billionaires .” — The New York Times Best friends Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg had spent manylonely nights looking for a way to stand out among HarvardUniversity’s elite, comptetitive, and accomplished studentbody. Then, in 2003, Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard’s computers,crashed the campus network, almost got himself expelled, and was inspired to create Facebook, the socialnetworking site that has since revolutionized communication aroundthe world. With Saverin’s funding their tiny start-up went from dorm room toSilicon Valley. But conflicting ideas about Facebook’s futuretransformed the friends into enemies. Soon, the undergraduateexuberance that marked their collaboration turned into out-and-outwarfare as it fell prey to the adult world of venture capitalists,big money, lawyers.

When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked'What is a hero?' I remember the glib response I repeated somany times. My answer was that a hero is someone who commitsa courageous action without considering the consequences--a soldierwho crawls out of a foxhole to drag an injured buddy tosafety. And I also meant individuals who are slightly largerthan life: Houdini and Lindbergh, John Wayne, JFK, and JoeDiMaggio. Now my definition is completely different. Ithink a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength topersevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles: afifteen-year-old boy who landed on his head while wrestling withhis brother, leaving him barely able to swallow or speak; TravisRoy, paralyzed in the first thirty seconds of a hockey game in hisfreshman year at college. These are real heroes, and so arethe families and friends who have stood by them." The whole world held its breath when Christopher Reeve struggledfor life on Memorial Day, 1995. On the

Masters of Doom is the amazing true story ofthe Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and JohnRomero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popularculture. And they provoked a national controversy. More thananything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream,escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the mostnotoriously successful game franchises in history— Doom and Quake — until the games they made tore them apart. This is astory of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry—a powerfuland compassionate account of what it's like to be young, driven,and wildly creative.