Showing results for "Andrea Thomas" in Biographies & Memoirs

Warum wir in deprimierenden Zeiten echte Mutmach-Geschichten brauchen? Das Leben kann einen manchmal ganz schön in die Defensive drängen. In diesem Mutmach-Buch des Inspirations-Trainers David Kadel erzählen 35 Persönlichkeiten wie Samuel Koch, Heiko Herrlich, Britta Hofmann, Andreas Adenauer, Thilo Kehrer, Yasmin Kwadwo, Matthias Ginter, Michael Herberger und viele andere ganz offen aus ihrem Leben - das in den meisten Fällen nicht immer so glatt gelaufen ist, wie sie es sich gewünscht hätten.

Maxwell Perkins, meglio noto come "Max" Perkins è forse il più famoso editore di letteratura nella storia degli Stati Uniti. La sua tenacia e il suo fiuto letterario infallibile lo portarono a scoprire talenti del calibro di Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald e Thomas Wolfe, fra molti altri. Perkins rimase sempre a fianco dei suoi autori, difendendoli e motivandoli fino a riuscire nell'impresa di tirar fuori il meglio di ognuno.

Suetonius’ account of the life of Nero does not shy away from the emperor’s alleged barbarism. In this biography from The Twelve Caesars, the Roman historian recounts numerous examples of Nero’s narcissism, perversion, and cruelty. It is from this account that we get the legend that Nero “fiddled as Rome burned.” When the heirless emperor ended his own life, it marked he fall of the Julio-Claudian empire and led to rejoicing in the streets. 

Augustus adopted Tiberius as his heir after noting his success in military campaigns across Germany. Tiberius was reluctant to take rule, however, and gained a reputation as “the exile” after he sent himself on an eight-year, self-imposed exile to Rhodes. Eventually he did take control of the empire, but he gained a reputation for cruelty which led Rome to rejoice at his eventual death. In this excerpt from The Twelve Caesars, Roman biographer Suetonius digs deep into both the conquests and character of Tiberius. 

Galba was the first emperor in the infamous Year of the Four Emperors. After Nero’s suicide, which marked the death of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Galba took control of the empire. A mere seven months later, he was assassinated. This short biography comes from Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars and deals largely with Galba’s brief rule amid the first Roman civil war. 

Caligula’s father was a beloved military leader, so the Romans were initially glad to see his son take the throne, but Suetonius recounts the less flattering aspects of Caligula’s life and rule that followed his ascension. The narcissistic Caligula believed he was a god, and often replaced the busts of deities with his own. A devoted fan of gladiator fights, he also often had people assassinated, covered up the deed, and then claimed the deceased had committed suicide. Suetonius concludes this biography by detailing the omens that foreshadowed Caligula’s eventual assassination. 

“I came, I saw, I conquered,” Julius Caesar famously said. Yet his life of conquest ended with assassination at the hands of his former comrades. Roman biographer Suetonius details the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in this short biography, excerpted from The Twelve Caesars. This compelling account contains cinematic scenes from Caesar’s life, including his capture by pirates and the time he fell weeping before a statue of Alexander the Great. 

The tumultuous time that followed Nero’s suicide is known as The Year of the Four Emperors. In rapid succession, the Roman empire was ruled briefly by Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. Vespasian was a military commander, and with the help of his loyal soldiers and military allies, he defeated Vitellius and lay claim to his rule. Vespasian’s assumption of the empire, chronicled in this short biography by Suetonius, marked the start of the Flavian dynasty.