President Memoirs

Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson continues - one of the richest, most intensive, and most revealing examinations ever undertaken of an American President. The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer/historian carries Johnson through his service in World War II and the foundation of his long-concealed fortune and the facts behind the myths he created about it. But the explosive heart of the book is Caro's revelation of the true story of the fiercely contested 1948 senatorial election.

From George Washington's reluctant oath-taking through George W. Bush's leadership challenges after September 11, 2001, we view ambitious and fallible men through the new lens of the 21st century. Where did they succeed? Where did they fail? And what do we know now that we could not have known at the time?

Spanning the years 1940 to 1965, Defender of the Realm, the third volume of William Manchester’s The Last Lion, picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became prime minister - when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill portrayed by Manchester and Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning-fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action.

This second volume in William Manchester's three-volume biography of Winston Churchill challenges the assumption that Churchill's finest hour was as a wartime leader. During the years 1932-1940, he was tested as few men are. Pursued by creditors (at one point he had to put up his home for sale), he remained solvent only by writing an extraordinary number of books and magazine articles.

In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its shrewd insights, its unforgettable anecdotes, the clarity of its overarching themes, and the author's nuanced appreciation of his extraordinary subject.

Author of the best-seller FDR, Jean Edward Smith is a master of the presidential biography. Setting his sights on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Smith delivers a rich account of Eisenhower’s life using previously untapped primary sources. From the military service in WWII that launched his career to the shrewd political decisions that kept America out of wars with the Soviet Union and China, Smith reveals a man who never faltered in his dedication to serving America, whether in times of war or peace.

In this “monumental and impressive” biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president’s aides, friends, and family members, as well as thousands of newly available documents, Boot provides “the best biography of Ronald Reagan to date” (Robert Mann).

Winston Churchill is perhaps the most important political figure of the 20th century. His great oratory and leadership during the Second World War were only part of his huge breadth of experience and achievement. Studying his life is a fascinating way to imbibe the history of his era and gain insight into key events that have shaped our time.

En 1960, René Lévesque fait le saut en politique avec l’« équipe du tonnerre » de Jean Lesage. Ministre des Ressources naturelles, l’ancien journaliste pilote le projet de nationalisation de l’électricité. Sa conviction profonde que le Québec doit être maître de son destin l’incite à fonder le Mouvement souveraineté-association, puis le Parti québécois.

Die lange erwarteten Erinnerungen von Angela Merkel. 16 Jahre trug Angela Merkel die Regierungsverantwortung für Deutschland, führte das Land durch zahlreiche Krisen und prägte mit ihrem Handeln und ihrer Haltung die deutsche und internationale Politik und Gesellschaft. Doch natürlich wurde Angela Merkel nicht als Kanzlerin geboren. In ihren gemeinsam mit ihrer langjährigen politischen Beraterin Beate Baumann verfassten Erinnerungen schaut sie zurück auf ihr Leben in zwei deutschen Staaten – 35 Jahre in der DDR, 35 Jahre im wiedervereinigten Deutschland.

Jacinda Ardern – Ex-Premierministerin von Neuseeland: Eine Ikone des Female Empowerment erzählt von ihrem Weg an die Macht. Für alle, die nach einer anderen Art des politischen und gesellschaftlichen Miteinanders suchen. Sie revolutionierte unsere Vorstellung davon, was eine Politikerin ausmacht. Sie gilt als Hoffnungsträgerin, Mutmacherin, Verfechterin von Empathie und Gerechtigkeit: Jacinda Ardern, ehemalige Premierministerin von Neuseeland.

By Winston Churchill's own admission, victory in the Second World War would have been "impossible without her". Until now, however, the only existing biography of Churchill's wife, Clementine, was written by her daughter. Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine her due with a deeply researched account that tells her life story, revealing how she was instrumental in softening FDR's initial dislike of her husband and paving the way for Britain's close relationship with America.

Despite attempts to suppress its publication and the advertising ban placed on it, The President’s Daughter enjoyed bestseller rankings after its eventual publication in 1927. Written so that Britton could raise enough funds to support her (and Harding’s) daughter and thus argue for the true legitimacy of children born out of wedlock, this tell-all about the affair between a starry-eyed girl and the man who would eventually become the twenty-ninth president of the United States is still a fascinating and relevant story in the context of the Me Too era.

Available for the first time as an audiobook, Keeping Faith is Jimmy Carter's account of the satisfaction, frustration, and solitude that attend the man in the Oval Office.

Originally published in six volumes, which sold more than one million copies, Carl Sandburg’s Abraham Lincoln was praised as the most noteworthy historical biography of Sandburg’s generation. He later distilled this monumental work into one volume that critics and readers alike consider his greatest work of nonfiction, as well as the most distinguished, authoritative biography of Lincoln ever published.

Growing up in an Illinois prairie town, Sandburg listened to stories of old-timers who had known Lincoln. By the time this single-volume edition was competed, he had spent a lifetime studying, researching, and writing about our 16th president.

At the height of the Cold War, JFK risked committing the greatest crime in human history: starting a nuclear war. Horrified by the specter of nuclear annihilation, Kennedy gradually turned away from his long-held Cold Warrior beliefs and toward a policy of lasting peace. But to the military and intelligence agencies in the United States, who were committed to winning the Cold War at any cost, Kennedy's change of heart was a direct threat to their power and influence.

No country is as misunderstood as North Korea, and no modern tyrant has remained more mysterious than the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Now, celebrity ghostwriter Michael Malice pulls back the curtain to expose the life story of the "Incarnation of Love and Morality". Taken directly from books spirited out of Pyongyang, Dear Reader is a carefully reconstructed first-person account of the man behind the mythology.

When Truman asked Stalin in 1945 whether Hitler was dead, Stalin replied bluntly, "No." As late as 1952, Eisenhower declared: "We have been unable to unearth one bit of tangible evidence of Hitler's death." What really happened? Simon Dunstan and Gerrard Williams have compiled extensive evidence - some recently declassified - that Hitler actually fled Berlin and took refuge in a remote Nazi enclave in Argentina.

S'appuyant sur une très large masse d'archives et de mémoires, Julian Jackson explore toutes les dimensions du mystère De Gaulle, sans chercher à lui donner une excessive cohérence. Personne n'avait décrit ses paradoxes et ses ambiguïtés, son talent politique et sa passion pour la tactique, son pragmatisme et son sens du possible, avec autant d'acuité et d'esprit.

In six weeks in 1940, France was overrun by German troops and surrendered. One junior French general, refusing to accept defeat, made his way to England. On 18 June he spoke to his compatriots over the BBC, urging them to rally to him in London. At that moment, Charles de Gaulle entered into history. For the rest of the war, de Gaulle frequently bit the hand that fed him. He insisted on being treated as the true embodiment of France, and quarrelled violently with Churchill and Roosevelt. But he managed to have France recognised as one of the victorious Allies.