Biography & Memoir

Biography & Memoir

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A riveting and deeply researched account of King Juan Carlos’s epic fall from grace. Paul Preston, the preeminent historian of modern Spain, here lays bare the complex web of financial and sexual excess that led to the hero’s vertiginous downfall. For decades, King Carlos was immensely popular in Spain and much beloved – in part because of his courageous defence of Spanish democracy after Franco’s death. However, his secrets’ gradual exposure e was detonated in April 2012 by his appearance on television cameras as he left a Madrid hospital. An astonished nation heard him make a declaration unprecedented from the lips of any Spanish Head of State, royal or republican: ‘I am very sorry. I have made a mistake and it will not happen again’. Revelations that he had been badly injured while elephant hunting in Botswana accompanied by a woman who was not his wife opened the floodgates to prurient research into his marital infidelities. From there, it was a short step to journalistic, followed by judicial, investigation into his financial misdemeanours. The consequent accumulation of hostile coverage culminated in his abdication on 2 June 2014 and, from August 2020, a gilded exile in Abu Dhabi. Paul Preston’s spectacular biography tells the story of the King’s very public implosion and identifies the seeds of self-destruction in Juan Carlos’s unhappy childhood and upbringing. In so doing, Preston also throws a penetrating light on the massive scale of corruption within the Spanish establishment and sets the King’s downfall against Spain’s own identity crisis as it continues to grapple with its fascist past.
From the Orwell Prize-winning author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned comes a powerful account of human resilience, capturing our capacity for love and connection against all odds.We live in an era defined by crisis - whether it be war and displacement, or climate collapse and rapidly widening inequality. Acclaimed international correspondent Sally Hayden has spent her career covering some of the darkest moments of our time, and yet even in the face of unimaginable adversity, she's witnessed the love and care of everyday people.Hayden introduces us to a couple separated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a mother in northeast Nigeria who risks everything to save her daughter from forced marriage to Boko Haram militants. We meet a group of Syrian women searching tirelessly for their missing spouses and children, while launching a call for justice, and learn about letters from the bereaved to the dead, still being written over a decade after the tsunami that devastated Japan.In stories that crisscross the globe, from Uganda to Lebanon, Rwanda to Iraq, Hayden asks us: what if news was recounted through the actions people take for those they love? Would it become harder to dehumanise those who seem different to us? This is Also a Love Story dares us to recognise how love can be found in even the most difficult of times, and to question what might be needed to create a better world.'Moving ...
The long-awaited, candid memoir by Priscilla Presley chronicling her difficult, inspiring journey beyond the walls of Graceland and behind the elegant image the world sees. The Elvis legacy seen from the inside ... Priscilla Presley's divorce from Elvis left his fans incredulous. How could she leave the man every woman wanted? From the outside, life in Elvis's mansion looked glamorous and enviable, and in many respects, it was. But inside the mansion, her husband was constantly surrounded by a male entourage while at the gates, lines of beautiful women waited hopefully for an audience with the King. From the time she was seventeen years old, that life was all Priscilla had known. During her ten years with Elvis, it became painfully apparent that she had no idea who she was outside Elvis's world. The only way to find herself was to leave that world and seek a new life of her own, because leaving was the only way to survive, for herself and for her daughter. Softly, As I Leave You, is the deeply personal story of what Priscilla lost and what she found when she walked away from the man she loved. Despite the legal separation, their love for one another transformed into a touching and tender dynamic that endured until Elvis's untimely death four years later. Shattered by Elvis's passing, she had to reinvent herself a second time as the single mother of a talented, often headstrong daughter who never really recovered from her father's death. Priscilla's dedication to motherhood was enriched by the birth of her second child, and she gradually found her footing as a businesswoman, actress, designer, and legislative advocate. She transformed Graceland into an international destination and helped guide the development of Elvis Presley Enterprises. But the unexpected, shattering loss of three immediate family members years later brought Priscilla to her knees. She shares her journey with a quiet dignity that will comfort and reassure anyone who has suffered - and survived - seemingly unbearable loss. A passionate, compassionate, and inspiring story of finding your place in the world, Softly, As I Leave You, is a sweet Southern melody that will take the reader with Priscilla on her long road home.
The empowering, must-read memoir of the end of a marriage and the start of a personal revolution, perfect for readers of Glennon Doyle and Miranda July. THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AS SEEN ON THE OPRAH WINFREY PODCAST SET TO BE A MAJOR NETFLIX PRODUCTION STARRING GWYNETH PALTROW How do we go on when a loved one betrays us? On a chilly day in March of 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, Belle Burden's husband of twenty years announced, with no prior warning, that he was leaving her. His decision shocked Belle to her core: she believed he was a happy man, a committed partner, and a devoted father to their three children. She thought he was a man who had settled into the life he had always wanted: a successful career, summers spent at their beloved home on Martha's Vineyard, lots of tennis. Overnight, he transformed from her steady companion into a stranger. As she pieces her life together in the wake of a loss she had never imagined coming, she finds she is much stronger than she ever expected. Belle reflects on her transformation from a shy, quiet girl, nicknamed Belle the Good to a powerful, brave, determined woman. A woman who has learned to use her voice to expose the patriarchal structures that have forced women to be discreet and compliant for far too long. Based on Belle's popular Modern Love essay, Was I Married to a Stranger?, this is the emotional and empowering memoir of self-discovery and what it means to finally be heard.
The sexual assault that rocked the world. A courageous woman s rallying call for shame to change sides . For the very first time, Gis le Pelicot tells her story. A BEST BOOK OF 2026 FOR THE OBSERVER, TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW YORK TIMES, DAILY MIRROR, IRISH TIMES, GQ MAGAZINE, LIT HUB, BBC AND MORE One November day, Gis le Pelicot was called to a local police station and life as she knew it ended. Her husband of fifty years had been caught by a supermarket guard filming up women s skirts. But on his computer was shattering evidence: for nearly a decade, he had been secretly drugging and raping her and inviting dozens of strangers into their home to abuse her. Four years later, he and fifty other men were put on trial and Gis le s courage in waiving her right to anonymity made global headlines. Shame must change sides, she declared, giving voice and hope to millions. Her words became a rallying cry and her decision marked a turning point in public feeling about sexual violence. For the first time, and with unwavering honesty and grace, she describes a difficult childhood, first love, her career and motherhood. It is a life in determined search of happiness, both before and after her devastating discovery. She is an ordinary person who faces extraordinary catastrophe, whose example changes the world. Ultimately, Gis le Pelicot emerges with a renewed passion and reverence for living, and for love. A Hymn to Life is an unforgettable testament and promise: that victims have no reason to feel ashamed; that even after unimaginable betrayal we can go on; and that colour will always return to life.
Academy Award-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theatre career, difficult childhood and path to sobriety in his honest, moving and long-awaited memoir. Born and raised in Port Talbot – a small Welsh steelworks town – amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of Hamlet, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted. With candour and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles. His performance as Iago gets him admitted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and places him under the wing of Laurence Olivier. He meets Richard Burton by chance as a young boy in his art teacher’s apartment, and later, backstage before a performance of Equus as an established actor meeting his hero. His iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter was informed by the creepy performance of Bela Lugosi in Dracula and the razor-sharp precision of his acting teacher. He pulls raw emotion from the stoicism of his father and grandfather for an unforgettable performance in King Lear. Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life. His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child, and nearly his life – the latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century. He constantly battles against the desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurt – much like the men in his family – and as the years go by, he deals with questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret. Featuring a special collection of personal photographs throughout, We Did OK, Kid is a raw and passionate memoir from a complex, iconic man who has inspired audiences with remarkable performances for over sixty years.
'Andy McGrath's in-depth biography covers Pogi’s meteoric rise, his victories and rivalries, while revealing more about the character behind the sporting domination' – Cyclist 'An immense champion, extraordinary' – Eddy Merckx 'He doesn't just win, he wins with excitement' – Mark Cavendish ‘The best bike rider that ever lived’ – Chris Boardman  Tadej Pogacar is not like any other professional cyclist. The Slovenian is a sporting phenomenon. He won almost everything there is to win in bike racing, has done so with breathtaking audacity and style – and all by the age of 26. This comprehensive biography follows his meteoric rise to the top, recounts his greatest race wins and rivalries, and reveals the character, motivation and skills that have led to his domination of elite cycling. Experienced cycling journalist Andy McGrath has documented the versatile superstar’s development from his victory in the Tour de l’Avenir in 2018 to his Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Il Lombardia and Tour of Flanders successes and his historic 2024 season, when he won cycling’s prestigious triple crown of the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the World Championship road race. His victories include four Tours de France (2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025). McGrath explores how this diminutive child from a small, mountainous nation of Slovenia first took up the sport, his emerging talent as a teenager and the role played by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG coaches and management. He also gets the inside story from those close to him, trusted teammates and fierce adversaries. It is not only what Pogacar has won, but the manner in which he wins that also makes him so unique and popular. McGrath gets to the very heart of the cycling phenomenon that is ‘Pogi’ – and the fascinating young man behind the runaway success story.
From the Academy Award-winning actor and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Greenlights comes an inspiring, faith-filled, and often hilarious collection of personal poems and prayers about navigating the rodeo of life and chasing down the original dream, belief. My prayers are my poems are my prayers. I've always relied on logic to make sense of myself and the world. A prescriptionist at heart, I've always looked to reason to find the rhyme, the practical to get to the mystical, the choreography to find the dance, the proof to get to the truth, and reality to get to the dream. I've been finding that tougher to do lately. It's more than hard to know what to believe in; it's hard to believe. But I don't want to quit believing, and I don't want to stop believing in . . . humanity, you, myself, our potential. I think it's time for us to flip the script on what's historically been our means of making sense, and instead open our aperture to enchantment and look to faith, belief, and dreams for our reality. Let's sing more than we might make sense, believe in more than the world can conclude, get more impressed with the wow instead of the how, let inspiration interrupt our appointments, dream our way to reality, serve some soul food to our hungry heads, put proof on the shelf for a season, and rhyme our way to reason. Forget logic, certainty, owning, or making a start-up company of it; let's go beyond what we can merely imagine, and believe, in the poetry of life.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FOYLES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 AUDIBLE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 WINNER OF THE GOOGLE PLAY BEST OF 2025 AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026 LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMENS PRIZE FOR NONFICTION 2026 The incredible first memoir from the Booker-winning radical icon Arundhati Roy, author of  The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy s first work of memoir, this is a soaring account, both intimate and inspiring, of how the author became the person and the writer she is, shaped by circumstance, but above all by her relationship to her extraordinary, singular mother Mary, who she describes as my shelter and my storm . Distraught and even a little ashamed at the intensity of her response to the death of the mother she ran from at age eighteen, Arundhati began to write  Mother Mary Comes to Me . The result is this astonishing, disconcerting, surprisingly funny chronicle unique and simultaneously universal, of the author s life, from childhood to the present, from Kerala to Delhi. With the scale, sweep, and depth of her novels and the passion, political clarity, and warmth of her essays,  Mother Mary Comes to Me  is an ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace a memoir like no other. 2025 BOOK OF THE YEAR ACCORDING TO NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR, TIME, INDEPENDENT, FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST, OBSERVER
AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 and THE SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2024 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR In a career spanning over three decades, Ronnie O'Sullivan's journey to becoming the greatest snooker player of all time has been filled with extremes. A teenage snooker prodigy, Ronnie turned professional with the highest of expectations. This pressure, together with a challenging personal life, catapulted Ronnie into a life of excess and addiction. He was winning titles - his first within a year of turning professional - but losing himself and his game as he tried to block out the mental pain and misery. Whilst Ronnie appeared at the height of the game to spectators, these were the moments when he felt at his lowest. In the year 2000 Ronnie started rehab and began the journey to get his life back, addressing his demons and working on developing a stronger and more resilient mindset. More than twenty years on, Ronnie is still obsessed with delivering his peak performance and never happier than when in a snooker hall, but success has now taken on a new meaning for the record-equalling world champion. Framed around the many lessons Ronnie has learned from his extraordinary career, Unbreakable takes us beyond the success and record-breaking achievements to share the reality - and brutality - of making it to the very top, whatever your field. Ronnie is the first to say he doesn't have all the answers, but in sharing the experiences that have shaped him and mistakes that have made him, he hopes to help readers navigate their own personal challenges and obstacles, and in turn reach their maximum potential. This is Ronnie O'Sullivan as you've never seen him before, the definitive and unflinching story of a true British icon and a fascinating insight into the mindset of the world's greatest snooker player.
From bestselling author and British astronaut Tim Peake, an inspirational human history of space travel, from the Apollo missions to our future forays to Mars. The Right Stuff for a new generation.  Only 656 people in human history have left Earth. In Space: The Human Story, astronaut Tim Peake traces the lives of these remarkable men and women who have forged the way, from Yuri Gagarin to Neil Armstrong, from Valentina Tereshkova to Peggy Whitson. Full of exclusive new stories, and astonishing detail only an astronaut would know, the book conveys what space exploration is really like: the wondrous view of Earth, the surreal weightlessness, the extraordinary danger, the surprising humdrum, the unexpected humour, the newfound perspective, the years of training, the psychological pressures, the gruelling physical toll, the thrill of launch and the trepidation of re-entry. The book also examines the surprising, shocking and often poignant stories of astronauts back on Earth, whose lives are forever changed as they readjust to terra firma. Publication of the book comes on the eve of NASA's plans to return to the moon, fifty years after an astronaut last walked on the lunar surface. In 2024 the Artemis II mission will send four astronauts to orbit the moon. In 2025 Artemis III will send the first woman and the first person of colour to step on the lunar surface. What will separate these upcoming moonwalkers from the legendary Apollo crews? Does it still take a daring-do attitude, super-human fitness, intelligence, plus the 'Right-stuff' - a fabled grace under pressure? And how will astronauts travel even further - to Mars and beyond? Space: The Human Story reveals all.
Butlers and receptionists on the payroll, the infiltration of high society soirees, international connections, patience, skill, stealth and the ability to think on his feet. No, this is no spy or international man of mystery, though his knowledge of various languages and cultures did get him ahead. He's no detective or P.I. either, but he spent decades flushing out people who did not want to be found.  This is the story of the first paparazzi outside of Italy, when cameras still had some respect for the intimacy of those they shot, and stayed out of their faces, out f their days off and relaxation, and simply snapped them from afar. This is the story of Juan Carlos Teuma, Gibraltarian Paparazzi. Brought up in Tetuan, Morocco, as well as the tiny British colony of Gibraltar, Juan Carlos settled in Marbella during the early seventies, just as things were starting to warm up. The sleepy fishing town of the Costa del Sol had for years been a staple resort o Spanish celebrities, but as the Spanish economy started opening itself up to tourism, a whole new wave of international jet-setters began to arrive . . . and party. The Spanish press at the time was still very much under the control of the dictatorship. Personalities were photographed at events or parties, but always under protocol, with formality and of course, permission. However, as the economy and the country opened up to the outside world, the scene began to change, things began to lighten and while the press of old still wriggled in the same stuffy suits that old men wore in the high offices of Madrid, Juan Carlos from the Rock, where Beatles could blast and people could vote, had just the right amount of audicity to break in and do what nobody else was doing. That was half a life ago, since then he's been everywhere from Miami to Moscow and snapped some if the most iconic shots of everyone from Liz Taylor to Brad Pitt. He has smuggled negatives, sneaked past international borders on speedboats, crossed jungles and found friendship galore in colleagues and targets alike. These are his pictures made word.
Explore the incredible life of Novak Djokovic – from his boyhood in war-torn Serbia to his 24th Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open. Find out more about the world’s #1 male tennis player in this stunningly illustrated biography. Join expert tennis journalist Dominic Bliss, for an up-close look at the unbelievable talent of a player destined for greatness. Djokovic’s extraordinary achievements include iconic moments such as becoming the first man in the Open Era to achieve a double Career Grand Slam in singles, and the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of the four majors at once across three different surfaces. Novak Djokovic: The greatest of all time recounts the tennis legend’s remarkable ascent to sporting glory with:   A riveting account of Djokovic’s life and career, from his childhood in Serbia, when his unparalleled talent was recognized, to being the biggest name in tennis with a fan base of over 10 million. Large, full-colour photographs from past and present illuminating his astonishing record-breaking career. Clear and insightful infographics analysing Djokovic’s playing style, and retellings of his top 10 best matches so you can recreate the most important moments of tennis history.  With this captivating biography, find inspiration in the exceptional spirit and determination that led Djokovic to go on to win 24 Grand Slam men's singles titles, 96 ATP singles titles and a record breaking 390+ weeks ranking as No.1. Complete your collection of all-time greats with Rafa Nadal: The King of the Court, and Fedegraphica which follow the incredible life and career of Djokovic’s ultimate rivals.
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