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Biography / Autobiography
PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography (2015 LONGLIST)
-[A] shimmering and rather wonderful biography.---The Guardian (UK)
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, she had ruled for nearly sixty-four years. She was a mother of nine and grandmother of forty-two and the matriarch of royal Europe through her children's marriages. To many, Queen Victoria is a ruler shrouded in myth and mystique, an aging, stiff widow paraded as the figurehead to an all-male imperial enterprise. But in truth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch was one of the most passionate, expressive, humorous and unconventional women who ever lived, and the story of her life continues to fascinate.
A. N. Wilson's exhaustively researched and definitive biography includes a wealth of new material from previously unseen sources to show us Queen Victoria as she's never been seen before. Wilson explores the curious set of circumstances that led to Victoria's coronation, her strange and isolated childhood, her passionate marriage to Prince Albert and his pivotal influence even after death and her widowhood and subsequent intimate friendship with her Highland servant John Brown, all set against the backdrop of this momentous epoch in Britain's history--and the world's.
Born at the very moment of the expansion of British political and commercial power across the globe, Victoria went on to chart a unique course for her country even as she became the matriarch of nearly every great dynasty of Europe. Her destiny was thus interwoven with those of millions of people--not just in Europe but in the ever-expanding empire that Britain was becoming throughout the nineteenth century. The famed queen had a face that adorned postage stamps, banners, statues and busts all over the known world.
Wilson's Victoria is a towering achievement, a masterpiece of biography by a writer at the height of his powers.
*VICTORIA, an eight part miniseries about Queen Victoria is coming to PBS in the Downton Abbey slot, premieringJanuary 8th (trailer). The series stars Jenna Coleman (DR. WHO) as Queen Victoria, Rufus Sewell (PILLARS OF THE EARTH), and Tom Hughes (ABOUT TIME).*
Financial Times
-What to call [A. N. Wilson] now? -Eminent Victorianist- seems appropriate. Lytton Strachey, the acerbic author of Eminent Victorians as well as a biography of Victoria far less good than this, is never far away when Wilson writes about a period that, in several books, he has made very much his own... Wilson is an excellent history teacher. He orders and narrates the hugely complex socio-political events and party infighting of the 19th century with a rare clarity... Wilson sums up his feelings about Victoria in a single word: -Awe-. His own achievement, sustained by a lifetime's scholarly fascination with the Victorian era, is also, in its way, awesome.-
The Spectator (UK):
-Superb...The book that [Wilson] was born to write...Wilson clearly loves and admires his subject, but this is a critical biography--funny, insightful, original, and authoritative. At last Victoria has been rescued from her widow's weeds.-
Kirkus Reviews (starred):
-A shimmering portrait of a tempestuous monarch...[Wilson] lends a lively expertise to his portrayal of the forthright, formidable, still-enigmatic sovereign...During her long reign, Victoria had come to embody the experience of an entire age, overseeing great reform and the strengthening of ties between India and the British Empire. A robust, immensely entertaining portrait from a master biographer.-
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
THE NEW YORK TIMES - ESQUIRE - THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY "Victoria the Queen, Julia Baird's exquisitely wrought and meticulously researched biography, brushes the dusty myth off this extraordinary monarch."--The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would threaten many of Europe's monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public's expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe. In a world where women were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand. Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother's meddling and an adviser's bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. At twenty, she fell passionately in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, eventually giving birth to nine children. She loved sex and delighted in power. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping conventional boundaries and asserting her opinions. After the death of her adored Albert, she began a controversial, intimate relationship with her servant John Brown. She survived eight assassination attempts over the course of her lifetime. And as science, technology, and democracy were dramatically reshaping the world, Victoria was a symbol of steadfastness and security--queen of a quarter of the world's population at the height of the British Empire's reach. Drawing on sources that include fresh revelations about Victoria's relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning.
When video killed the radio star, Sharon Oreck was calling the shots.
Video Slut takes an irreverent look behind the scenes of the music-video industry during its eighties heyday. Oreck, one of the top producers of all time, bluffed her way into the business with no experience whatsoever and went on to produce more than six hundred video shoots with Madonna, Sting, Mick Jagger, Prince, and several members of the increasingly unstable Jackson family--not to mention a cadre of delinquent caterers, deranged interns, self-absorbed record executives, and malfeasant animal trainers. Oreck also shares the at turns hilarious, biting, and poignant story of her origins as a single teen mother, disowned by her middle-class parents, and of her journey from welfare to kung fu movie sets to film school. She approaches her own delinquency and that of the superstars she encountered with humor and candor. The result is an acerbic but sympathetic account of the outrageous effects of fame, power, and money on people in the entertainment business. No one is spared, especially herself.Since his death in 1993, Price's stature as a Hollywood icon has grown. Famed for his participation in such unforgettable horror films as House of Wax and The Fly, he also appeared in classic movies such as Laura and The Song of Bernadette as well as a variety of TV shows, from Batman and The Muppet Show to Mystery! His passion for art and enthusiasm for sharing his collections helped popularize the visual arts in the United States, and his zest for good food shines through in his bestselling cookbooks. This fascinating biography portrays a true Renaissance man whose larger-than-life presence filled his child's life with wonder. Bonus features include a never-before-published essay by Price, a Foreword by director Roger Corman, and 32 pages of black-and-white photographs.
Thomas à Kempis, Charles Blanc, Honoré de Balzac, Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Dickens, Erckmann-Chatrian, Homer, Victor Hugo, Pierre Loti, Jules Michelet, William Shakespeare, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Émile Zola
"A beautiful book . . . The intensity of these passages--the depth of research, the acute sensitivity for declarative moments--is deeply beguiling."--The New York Times Book Review "Profound, poetic and--yes--comforting."--People "Unconventional, engaging . . . [The Violet Hour] is at once scholarly, literary, juicy--and unabashedly personal."--Los Angeles Times "Enveloping . . . I read it in bed, at the kitchen table, while walking down the street. . . . 'What normal person wants to blunder into this hushed and sacred space?' she asks. But the answer is all of us, and Ms. Roiphe does it with grace."--Jennifer Senior, The New York Times "A beautiful and provocative meditation on mortality."--Minneapolis Star Tribune "A tender yet penetrating look at the final days . . . Roiphe has always seemed to me a writer to envy. No matter what the occasion, she can be counted on to marry ferocity and erudition in ways that nearly always make her interesting."--The Wall Street Journal "Here is a critic in supreme control of her gifts, whose gift to us is the observant vigor that refuses to flinch before the Reaper. . . . She knows that true criticism does not bother with the mollification of delicate sensibilities, only with the intellect as it roils and rollicks through language."--William Giraldi, The New Republic
Action-packed and breathtakingly authentic, Viper Pilot is the electrifying memoir of one of the most decorated F-16 pilots in American history: U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hampton, who served for twenty years, flying missions in the Iraq War, the Kosovo conflict, and the first Gulf War.
Both a rare look into the elite world of fighter pilots and a thrilling first-person account of contemporary air combat, Viper Pilot soars--a true story of courage, skill, and commitment that will thrill U.S. Special Forces buffs, aviation and military history aficionados, and fans of the novels of Tom Clancy and Dale Brown.
--Financial Times The most distinguished study of Woolf yet. --The New Republic
NEW EDITION IN PAPERBACK to coincide with a new project to unveil a statue of the author in Richmond on Thames in 2022
"I ought to be grateful to Richmond & Hogarth, and indeed, whether it's my invincible optimism or not, I am grateful." - Virginia Woolf
Although more commonly associated with Bloomsbury, Virginia and her husband Leonard Woolf lived in Richmond-upon-Thames for ten years from the time of the First World War (1914-1924). Refuting the common misconception that she disliked the town, this book explores her daily habits as well as her intimate thoughts while living at the pretty house she came to love - Hogarth House.
Drawing on information from her many letters and diaries, as well as Leonard's autobiography, the editor reveals how Richmond's relaxed way of life came to influence the writer, from her experimentation as a novelist to her work with her husband and the Hogarth Press, from her relationships with her servants to her many famous visitors.