New Release Books in Biographies & Memoirs

The life of Alexander the Great took him to every corner of the ancient world. His memory and glamour persist, and his early death at thirty-three has kept him evergreen in our imaginations. But who was he in his own time? Naturally inquisitive, fascinated by science and exploration, Alexander exhibited respect for traditions as his empire grew-- yet glorified war and was known to commit acts of great cruelty. Did Alexander die of natural causes, or did his marshals, angered by his tyrannical behavior, kill him? Everitt judges Alexander''s life against the criteria of his own age and considers all his contradictions. -- adapted from jacket

Dr. Seuss is a classic American icon; his work has defined our childhoods, and even more than twenty-five years after his death his books continue to find new readers. Theodor Geisel, however, led a life that goes much deeper than the prolific and beloved children''s book author. He had a successful career as a political cartoonist, and his political leanings can be felt throughout his books. Jones introduces us to this complicated man, who introduced generations to the wonders of reading while teaching young people about empathy and how to treat others well. -- adapted from jacket

They believed they would live forever. So begins Mira Ptacin''s haunting account of the women of Camp Etna--an otherworldly community in the woods of Maine that has, since 1876, played host to generations of Spiritualists and mediums dedicated to preserving the links between the mortal realm and the afterlife. Beginning her narrative in 1848 with two sisters who claimed they could speak to the dead, Ptacin reveals how Spiritualism first blossomed into a national practice during the Civil War, yet continues--even thrives--to this very day. Immersing herself in this community and its practices--from ghost hunting to releasing trapped spirits to water witching-- Ptacin sheds new light on our ongoing struggle with faith, uncertainty, and mortality. Blending memoir, ethnography, and investigative reportage, The In-Betweens offers a vital portrait of Camp Etna and its enduring hold on a modern culture that remains as starved for a deeper sense of connection and otherworldliness as ever.

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Morris comes a revelatory new biography ofThomas Alva Edison, the most prolific genius in American history.

This powerful memoir traces Brazilian-born American Julie Lindahl''s journey to uncover her grandparents'' roles in the Third Reich as she is driven to understand how and why they became members of Hitler''s elite, the SS. Out of the unbearable heart of the story--the unclaimed guilt that devours a family through the generations--emerges an unflinching will to learn the truth. In a remarkable six-year journey through Germany, Poland, Paraguay, and Brazil, Julie uncovers, among many other discoveries, that her grandfather had been a fanatic member of the SS since 1934. During World War II, he was responsible for enslavement and torture and was complicit in the murder of the local population on the large estates he oversaw in occupied Poland. He eventually fled to South America to evade a new wave of war-crimes trials. The pendulum used by Julie''s grandmother to divine good from bad and true from false becomes a symbol for the elusiveness of truth and morality, but also for the false securities we cling to when we become unmoored. As Julie delves deeper into the abyss of her family''s secret, discovering history anew, one precarious step at a time, the compassion of strangers is a growing force that transforms her world and the way that she sees her family--and herself.

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II has reigned for 64 years, longer than any British monarch in history. During that time the Queen has endured the ups and downs that long life will bring. She was a beacon of hope during and after the Second World War in difficult times when the world faced a precarious future, and she has served as a role model for generations of men and women who continue to be in awe of her commitment to service, sacrifice, and the Commonwealth of nations over which she rules. The abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, in 1936 turned her family’s world upside-down. When her father was crowned King George VI, Elizabeth was thrust into the eye of the storm as a future queen. A shy and reserved child, she grew into a wise and insightful monarch who has dealt ably with nine British Prime Ministers during her long reign, from Winston Churchill to Theresa May. It was, of course, not always straightforward and the Queen has found herself in hot water several times, most notably during the marriage of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. When Diana was tragically killed in a car crash the standing of the Royal Family was probably at its lowest ebb. It is unlikely that we will ever see a monarch reign so long or so effectively again, holding together a disparate group of nations, each with its own aspirations, customs and traditions. Catherine Ryan has written an intriguing biography of one of the most famous women of modern times, who at 91 years old still seems fit and healthy and looks very unlikely to hand over the reins to her successors any time soon.

A portrait of the divergent lives of Thomas Jefferson''s three daughters reveals how his white daughters struggled with the realities of lives they were ill-prepared to manage, while the daughter he fathered with a slave did not achieve freedom until adulthood.

Witty, inspiring, and charismatic, Oscar Wilde is one of the Greats of English literature. Today, his plays and stories are beloved around the world. But it was not always so. His afterlife has given him the legitimacy that life denied him. Making Oscar Wilde reveals the untold story of young Oscar''s career in Victorian England and post-Civil War America. Set on two continents, it tracks a larger-than-life hero on an unforgettable adventure to make his name and gain international acclaim. "Success is a science," Wilde believed, "if you have the conditions, you get the result." Combining new evidence and gripping cultural history, Michele Mendelssohn dramatizes Wilde''s rise, fall, and resurrection as part of a spectacular transatlantic pageant. With superb style and an instinct for story-telling, she brings to life the charming young Irishman who set out to captivate the United States and Britain with his words and ended up conquering the world. Following the twists and turns of Wilde''s journey, Mendelssohn vividly depicts sensation-hungry Victorian journalism and popular entertainment alongside racial controversies, sex scandals, and the growth of Irish nationalism. This ground-breaking revisionist history shows how Wilde''s tumultuous early life embodies the story of the Victorian era as it tottered towards modernity. Riveting and original, Making Oscar Wilde is a masterful account of a life like no other.

"More than five years in the making, based on hundreds of interviews and access to previously unavailable documents, ... [this is a] chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan''s epic life--giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his ... presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union"--

Foreword / by Joe Biden -- A political life -- Against the grain -- Oakington -- A plan for life -- Reform and independence -- Against the legislative tide -- Regulating savings and loan associations -- Kennedy Man -- A prosecutor the organization didn''t want -- A thirty-two-month learning experience -- A tangle of savings and loan scams -- Kidnapping, murder, and assassination -- Challenging the Democratic machine -- A break with the past -- A freshman senator''s voice -- Defending the great Warren Court decisions -- "A voteless people is a hopeless people" -- Fairness in federal court -- Congress and the City of Washington -- The hardest fights -- Vietnam and the political costs of war -- The environment and overpopulation -- Gun control -- One progressive position too many -- Citizen public service -- Epilogue: An open letter to my grandchildren (and their generation)

Two highly decorated Navy SEALs, now successful businessmen, demonstrate how to lead and win in business and in life with principles learned on the battlefield, in a revised edition that includes a new foreword, photo insert and Q-and-A section.

A collection of personal stories and reflections based on the memoirs of Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits. Honouring High Places is a compelling collection of highlights from Junko Tabei''s stirring life that she considered important, inspiring and interesting to mountaineering culture. Until now, her works have been available only in Japanese, and RMB is honoured to be sharing these profound and moving stories with the English-speaking world for the first time. The collection opens on Mount Everest, where the first all-women''s expedition is met with disaster but pushes on against all odds. The story then shifts to the early years of Tabei''s life and reflects on her countryside childhood as a frail girl with no talent for sport, and cultural expectations that ignored her passion for mountains. With reminiscences of the early days of female climbers on Everest, the deaths of fellow mountaineers, Tabei''s pursuit of Mount Tomur, a cancer diagnosis, and efforts to restore a love for nature in the surviving youth of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, this beautifully curated collection of essays captures the essence of a notable time and the strength of character of one of the 20th and 21st centuries'' female mountaineering pioneers.

Looks at the life and work of the provocative Catholic social reformer from the personal point of view of someone who knew her well, her granddaughter.

The first biography of America''s greatest twentieth-century sculptor, Alexander Calder: an authoritative and revelatory achievement, based on a wealth of letters and papers never before available, and written by one of our most renowned art critics. Alexander Calder is one of the most beloved and widely admired artists of the twentieth century. Anybody who has ever set foot in a museum knows him as the inventor of the mobile, America''s unique contribution to modern art. But only now, forty years after the artist''s death, is the full story of his life being told in this biography, which is based on unprecedented access to Calder''s letters and papers as well as scores of interviews. Jed Perl shows us why Calder was--and remains--a barrier breaker, an avant-garde artist with mass appeal. This beautifully written, deeply researched book opens with Calder''s wonderfully peripatetic upbringing in Philadelphia, California, and New York. Born in 1898 into a family of artists--his father was a well-known sculptor, his mother a painter and a pioneering feminist--Calder went on as an adult to forge important friendships with a who''s who of twentieth-century artists, including Joan Miró, Marcel Duchamp, Georges Braque, and Piet Mondrian. We move through Calder''s early years studying engineering to his first artistic triumphs in Paris in the late 1920s, and to his emergence as a leader in the international abstract avant-garde. His marriage in 1931 to the free-spirited Louisa James--she was a great-niece of Henry James--is a richly romantic story, related here with a wealth of detail and nuance. Calder''s life takes on a transatlantic richness, from New York''s Greenwich Village in the Roaring Twenties, to the Left Bank of Paris during the Depression, and then back to the United States, where the Calders bought a run-down old farmhouse in western Connecticut. New light is shed on Calder''s lifelong interest in dance, theater, and performance, ranging from the Cirque Calder, the theatrical event that became his calling card in bohemian Paris to collaborations with the choreographer Martha Graham and the composer Virgil Thomson. More than 350 illustrations in color and black-and-white--including little-known works and many archival photographs that have never before been seen--further enrich the story.

***2017 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist for Nonfiction*** "What''s more American than Corn Flakes?" --Bing Crosby From the much admired medical historian ("Markel shows just how compelling the medical history can be"--Andrea Barrett) and author of An Anatomy of Addiction ("Absorbing, vivid"--Sherwin Nuland, The New York Times Book Review, front page)--the story of America''s empire builders: John and Will Kellogg. John Harvey Kellogg was one of America''s most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will, was the founder of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast. In The Kelloggs, Howard Markel tells the sweeping saga of these two extraordinary men, whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America''s notion of health and wellness from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, and who helped change the course of American medicine, nutrition, wellness, and diet. The Kelloggs were of Puritan stock, a family that came to the shores of New England in the mid-seventeenth century, that became one of the biggest in the county, and then renounced it all for the religious calling of Ellen Harmon White, a self-proclaimed prophetess, and James White, whose new Seventh-day Adventist theology was based on Christian principles and sound body, mind, and hygiene rules--Ellen called it "health reform." The Whites groomed the young John Kellogg for a central role in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and sent him to America''s finest Medical College. Kellogg''s main medical focus--and America''s number one malady: indigestion (Walt Whitman described it as "the great American evil"). Markel gives us the life and times of the Kellogg brothers of Battle Creek: Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his world-famous Battle Creek Sanitarium medical center, spa, and grand hotel attracted thousands actively pursuing health and well-being. Among the guests: Mary Todd Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Booker T. Washington, Johnny Weissmuller, Dale Carnegie, Sojourner Truth, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and George Bernard Shaw. And the presidents he advised: Taft, Harding, Hoover, and Roosevelt, with first lady Eleanor. The brothers Kellogg experimented on malt, wheat, and corn meal, and, tinkering with special ovens and toasting devices, came up with a ready-to-eat, easily digested cereal they called Corn Flakes. As Markel chronicles the Kelloggs'' fascinating, Magnificent Ambersons-like ascent into the pantheon of American industrialists, we see the vast changes in American social mores that took shape in diet, health, medicine, philanthropy, and food manufacturing during seven decades--changing the lives of millions and helping to shape our industrial age.

When the British fought the young US in 1812, they knew that taking the mouth of the Mississippi River was the key to crippling their former colony - capturing the city of New Orleans and stopping trade up the river sounded like a simple task. What the British didn''t count on was the power of General Andrew Jackson. A formidable military leader with a grudge against the British and a heart for the common man, he rallied the divided inhabitants of New Orleans, bringing together Frenchmen, Native Americans, freed slaves, pirates, and Kentucky woodsmen.

"A dual biography of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, whose farsighted vision and inspired action preserved democracy from the threats of authoritarianism from the left and right alike"--Amazon.com.

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017 A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2017 From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America''s most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation, and whose subsequent falling out did much to fix its course. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy''s champion, was an aristocratic Southern slaveowner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England''s rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond. But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters. In their final years they were the last surviving founding fathers and cherished their role in this mighty young republic as it approached the half century mark in 1826. At last, on the afternoon of July 4th, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration, Adams let out a sigh and said, At least Jefferson still lives. He died soon thereafter. In fact, a few hours earlier on that same day, far to the south in his home in Monticello, Jefferson died as well. Arguably no relationship in this country''s history carries as much freight as that of John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Gordon Wood has more than done justice to these entwined lives and their meaning; he has written a magnificent new addition to America''s collective story.

"THE INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER! When Pablo Escobar died in 1993, his seventeen-year-old son initially vowed revenge. But Juan Pablo quickly recognized that reaction entailed following in his father''s footsteps--something neither he nor his father ever wanted. Their lives in immense danger, Juan Pablo, his mother, and his sister assumed new identities and fled to Argentina, where he would spend the next two decades grappling with his father''s legacy. Now an architect and advocate of drug policy reform, Juan Pablo breaks his silence to tell his side of the story, shedding new light on the infamous kingpin--the man who was also his loving father"--

Since bursting onto the scene in the mid 70s, the pop duo Captain and Tennille have long defined the sparkling, optimistic idea of everlasting love, both in their music and through their image as a happy and, seemingly, unbreakable couple. But underneath the image was an entirely different story that the fans never saw: a woman who fought a lonely struggle against the controlling and often bizarre behavior of her emotionally inaccessible husband. Toni Tennille: A Memoir is a visceral account of Toni Tennille s life from her childhood in the segregated South to her thrilling rise to fame in the world of pop music to where she is now: no longer one-half of a famed couple, but a stronger woman for all she has experienced both the good and the bad."

Tells the story of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki through the eyes of Sachiko Yasui, who was six when the devastation was wrought, describing her experiences in the aftermath of the attack as well as her long journey to find peace.

"In We the People, renown journalist, Fox political analyst, and bestselling author Juan Williams examines the lives of the men and women in the 20th century who have extended the Founding Fathers'' original vision of the country and reshaped what America is"--

"The story of Daniel Ellsberg and his decision to steal and publish secret documents about America''s involvement in the Vietnam War"--

A companion to Bill O''Reilly''s documentary series Legends and Lies: The Real West offers an eye-opening look at the truth behind the western legends we all think we know.

In the Aftermath of Genocide: The U.S. Role in Rwanda deepens understanding of the violence-the Rwandan genocide and the Congolese war-that engulfed Central Africa in the midnineties, and America''s policy response to the crises. Author Robert E. Gribbin draws on his thirty years of diplomatic experience in the region to analyze U.S. perceptions of Rwanda in the years before the genocide and to recount the unfolding of the terrible event itself. Most important, he describes what happened afterwards-how the new government and people of Rwanda, together with their international partners, confronted devastation, picked up the pieces, and began to forge a new nation. They had to reestablish viable government, deliver justice to those guilty of genocide, repatriate over a million refugees, and confront an insurgency at home and a war in the Congo. In the Aftermath of Genocide is an insider''s account of these crucial events. It recounts what the U.S. government knew, or did not know, and what it did, or did not do, about them.

This political biography reveals the turbulent life of Ernest Francois Eugene Douwes Dekker, born on Java in 1879, whose life spanned a critical period in late colonial and early Indonesian national history. His story flows in novel-like fashion from the battle fields of South Africa, internment camps in Sri Lanka, work as a journalist and teacher in Java, to service as a political advisor and close friend of President Soekarno. Paul W. van der Veur is professor emeritus of Ohio University.

Renowned Israeli-American scholar Harshav presents the first comprehensive investigation of Marc Chagall''s life and consciousness after the classic 1961 biography by Chagall''s son-in-law Franz Meyer.

Relates the story of the only French writer to be executed for treason during World War II, from his rise during the 1930s to his trial and death in front of a firing squad.

Sindiwe Magona - author, poet, playwright essayist, storyteller, actor, and inspirational speaker - has recently retired from the United Nations in New York after twenty years and relocated to her home country, South Africa. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her work in women''s issues, the plight of children, and the fight against apartheid and racism. Siphokazi Koyana has put this collection together as a celebration of Magona''s homecoming and a mark of her achievement. Scholars from three continents - Africa, Europe and North America - have contributed critical analyses of Magona''s works, as well as interviews with the writer.

''A MOTHER WARRIOR IS . . . a mother who hears there is no hope for her child and, instead of retreating and mourning, breaks down walls, weaves her way through obstacles, follows her intuition even when people tell her she is crazy. She is a mother who believes in hope.'' - From Mother Warriors STORIES OF HOPE AND RECOVERY FROM A NATION OF PARENTS OF AUTUSTIC CHILDREN Across the country, parents are fighting Herculean battles against an intransigent medical community that refuses to believe that autism can be healed. Mothers are going into battle for proper diagnosis and effective treatment, often at great personal cost. Jenny McCarthy knows what it''s like-she put her career and personal life on hold when she realized something was wrong with her son, Evan. Her sacrifice has brought national awareness to the controversy over the causes and treatment of autism. Now, Jenny wants everyone to know that there are other warriors out there, and their stories will inspire and inform anyone facing a similar struggle. Miracles happen every day, but rarely are the miracle makers celebrated. Mother Warriors introduces everyday heroes who fought doctors, schools, psychologists, and even their own families to get the help they needed to successfully heal their children. Accompanied by a list of autism resources and a comprehensive directory of DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doctors, Mother Warriors is an inspiring and practical tool that will empower parents to join the fight against autism and reclaim their children''s lives.

An autobiography of the Scottish screen legend.

The collected writings of women freethinkers of the nineteenth & twentieth centuries

An historian of the Mormon Church draws on diaries and letters not available to previous biographers to profile the highly gifted and controversial church leader