Classic Biography

Olympus is the home of the Greek gods, much like Amravati of the Hindu devas. Zeus, leader of Olympians, wields a thunderbolt like Indra and rides an eagle like Vishnu. The feats of the Greek hero Heracles, known to Romans as Hercules, reminded many of Krishna, as did his name...

"Every year, our planet loses over 150 species of plants and animals, and India is very much in the midst of this mass ‘sixth extinction’. We are losing species in our backyard—where are the once ubiquitous sparrows, or the fireflies that lit up our nights? And in the forests, iconic...

"This intellectual biography of Tagore, perhaps the first of its kind, portrays him as a man who was deeply skeptical, self-critical, tormented by conflicts in his inner life , aware of the historical significance of his times and continually interacted with adversaries and friends across the...

«No es lo mismo salir de Cuba que salir de cualquier otro país por primera vez. Salir de Cuba es caer en el mundo». Esta frase resume la mezcla de estallido sensorial y derrumbe psicológico que desbordó al periodista Abraham Jiménez Enoa después de exiliarse en 2022 en Barcelona. Todo era...

إذا كان الحب لا يرجعك الى هذه الحياة فالحب يضمني إليك في الحياة الآتية إن لكتاب "دمعة وابتسامة" مذاقٌ خاصٌ للقارئ، فهو بمثابة أول نغمة من نوعها في العالم العربي...

Er sei stolz auf seinen berühmten Vorfahren, den gestiefelten Kater, behauptet Kater Murr. Nun: sprechende Katzen sind in der Literatur wahrlich keine Seltenheit. Doch schon in den Lebensansichten des Katers Murr von E. T. A. Hoffmann, einem 200 Jahre alten Text, tritt ein Kater höchstpersönlich als Autor und Erzähler in Erscheinung und offeriert der Nachwelt seine Weisheiten und Erkenntnisse. Dummerweise benutzt er dafür bereits beschriebene Papiere, nämlich die Manuskriptseiten des Kapellmeisters Kreisler, die er bei seinem Herrn findet.

Mary Prince’s astonishing narrative was the first account of the life of a Black woman to be published in the United Kingdom and was a key work in turning British public opinion against institutionalized enslavement. Born to an enslaved family, Mary was determined to open people’s eyes to the evils of slavery. Authentic and unsparing, her memoir tells of an extraordinary journey.

I would like to be remembered as someone who made people smile.' One of the great icons of our time, Khushwant Singh, 95, is a man of contradictions. An agnostic who's well-versed in the holy scriptures; a vocal champion of free speech who supported the Emergency; a 'dirty old man' who...

In Goethes berühmter Novelle bedroht ein entsprungener Löwe die Gemahlin des Fürsten und nur ein tapferer Knabe verspricht Rettung.

Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall is an Edwardian history book for younger listeners (age six to 12) which tells the story of England, concluding with the reign of Queen Victoria. Antonia Fraser and many other current historians declare that it was this book that opened the delights of history for them. It fell from fashion in the 1960s, but its recent re-release in hardback has seen it become a publishing surprise in the UK, with sales of some 75,000 copies in a few months.

Originally a radical socialist, the current driving force behind the rise of the Hollywood right recounts how he moved from one set of political convictions to another over the course of thirty years, and challenges readers to consider how they came by their own convictions...

More than three decades after his death, John Steinbeck remains one of the nation's most beloved authors. Yet few know of his career as a journalist who covered world events from the Great Depression to Vietnam. Now, this original collection offers a portrait of the artist as citizen, deeply...

The making of a writer Ruskin Bond's first full-fledged autobiographical book covers his formative years,' till the age of twenty-one. The world of Anglo-India, with all its conflicting pulls, comes alive as he tells his story. His earliest memoirs are bitter-sweet, and relate to Jamnager where...

In his early twenties now, Rusty finally leaves Dehra and books a passage to England, dreaming of writing and selling his novel abroad. First in Jersey, and then in in London, he works as a clerk by day and writes in the evenings. Eventually, the novel is finished and Rusty even finds a...

Has anyone ever asked you—What were the best days of your life? That one period of your life you always wanted to go back to? And live that life . . . one more time? When asked this, I closed my eyes and went back in my own past. And I thought . . . . . . of the days, when life's most complex...

In this delightful collection; Ruskin Bond introduces us to the Dehradun he knows intimately and loves unreservedly—the town that he had spent many years of his childhood and youth in. A town which; when he knew it; was one of pony-drawn tongas and rickshaws; a town fond of gossip but tolerant...

Autobiographical sketches and stories from India's best-loved writer in English. For over four decades now, by way of innumerable short stories, essays, poems and novels, Ruskin Bond has championed simplicity and quietude in life and in art. This collection of essays and episodes from his...

A “thought-provoking, myth-smashing” exploration of American identity and a passionate call for a more tolerant, interfaith America (Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State) There is no better time to stand up for your values than when they are under attack. Alarmist, hateful...

No person today is untouched by what happens in the rest of the world. With this historic development, the Dalai Lama understands that the essential task of humanity is to cultivate peaceful coexistence. But this has long been problematic with religion, and while previous conflicts over...

The powerful account of one writer's unlikely friendship with his childhood bully, now the president of a motorcycle club in one of America's most dangerous cities. Once upon a time, Alex Abramovich and Trevor Latham were mortal enemies: miniature outlaws in a Long Island elementary school...