Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Sir Vidia's Shadow - A...

  Paul Theroux

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  The acclaimed writer shares an intimate portrait of his former mentor V.S. Naipaul in this memoir of their thirty-year friendship and sudden falling out. 
   
  Paul Theroux was a young aspiring writer when he met the legendary V.S. Naipaul in Uganda in 1966. There began a friendship that would span continents as both men ascended the ranks of literary stardom. Naipaul’s early encouragement of Theroux’s talent had a profound impact on him—yet the apprenticeship was not always easy. 
   
  This heartfelt and revealing account of Theroux's thirty-year friendship with Naipaul explores the unique effect each writer had on the other. Built around exotic landscapes, anecdotes that are revealing, humorous, and melancholy, and three decades of mutual history, this is a personal account of how one develops as a writer and how a friendship waxes and wanes between two men who have set themselves on the perilous journey of a writing life. 
   
  A New York Times Notable Book

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  Scandals of the Royal Palaces -...

  Tom Quinn

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  George Orwell once said that the British love a really good murder. He might have added that the only thing the British love more than a good murder is a really good scandal, and best of all are the sexual and political scandals that take place behind the gilded doors of Britain's royal palaces. From Edward II's intimate relationship with Piers Gaveston to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's dramatic exit from the royal family, the royal residences have seen it all.
  This glorious romp of a book contains new information on well-known and not-so-well-known scandals, including those that have only recently been revealed through the release of previously secret official papers. Exploring surviving palaces such as Kensington as well as long‑vanished residences including Whitehall, Scandals of the Royal Palaces is the first in-depth look at the bad behaviour of not just the royals themselves but also palace officials, courtiers, household servants and hangers‑on.
  Delving into the bitter hatreds that generations of King Georges nursed for their eldest sons, Queen Victoria's opium‑fuelled rages and Edward VII's near-miss perjury conviction, royal expert Tom Quinn reveals that scandal and the royal family have always been bedfellows. And if the behaviour of today's royals is anything to go by, the glittering palaces will continue to house intriguing, embarrassing and outrageous scandals for centuries to come.

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  Was Muhammad Crazy?

  Frédéric Joy

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  Through a careful psychological re-reading of the Qur'an and other biographical sources about Muhammad, the author identifies the pathological symptoms of the prophet of Islam. His diagnosis is unambiguous: the man suffered from a querulous paranoia with dissociative identity disorder. 
  The author shows that Mohammed identified himself with previous prophets (Jesus and Moses in particular), whom he plagiarized. Adapting their words and deeds to the culture of the Arab world, he imposed these new doctrines on his people primarily through direct aggression and political manipulation. Yet, Islam was phenomenally successful during his lifetime and over the centuries. 
  At this point, another question arises: How did Muhammad manage to convince the masses? The author then analyzes the personality of the submissive people and the success of this religion through the centuries. The author also deconstructs all the scientific and philosophical presuppositions behind the Muslim religion (cosmology, biology, psychology, etc.). Muhammad's moral and political discourse is confronted with its own contradictions.

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  Supreme Sacrifice - A Small...

  Walter Reid, Gordon Masterton,...

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  A unique book that follows the story of World War I through the lives and deaths of seventy-two soldiers in one small Scottish village.   The war memorial in the Scottish village of Bridge of Weir lists seventy-two men who died during the First World War. Their deaths occurred in almost every theater of the war. They were awarded very few medals, and their military careers were not remarkable—except in the important respect that they, like countless other peaceful civilians, answered their country’s call in its time of need.   This book follows the lives of these sons of Bridge of Weir, not just as soldiers, sailors, and airmen, but as husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and members of a small community that felt their loss intensely. At the same time, it also paints a larger picture of the war, of the politicians and generals and military campaigns that shaped it. The brave men of Bridge of Weir knew little of the wider context—their experience was of the smaller histories in which they fought and died. Readers of this book will understand what the seventy-two never knew: why and how the war that claimed their lives was fought.

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  Through the Groves - A Memoir

  Anne Hull

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  This program is read by the author,“Anne Hull has written some of the most important stories of our time, beautifully, unflinchingly.”—Rick Bragg"Hull delivers her book with a gentle twang and the unpretentious tone of someone who has lived the experiences she describes. Through her character work and emotionally intelligent delivery, Hull helps the listener feel her every bump, bruise, and triumph."- AudioFileA richly evocative coming-of-age memoir set in the Florida orange groves of the 1960s by a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalistAnne Hull grew up in rural Central Florida, barefoot half the time and running through the orange groves her father’s family had worked for generations. The ground trembled from the vibrations of bulldozers and jackhammers clearing land for Walt Disney World. “Look now,” her father told her as they rode through the mossy landscape together. “It will all be gone.” But the real threat was at home, where Hull was pulled between her idealistic but self-destructive father and her mother, a glamorous outsider from Brooklyn struggling with her own aspirations. All the while, Hull felt the pressures of girlhood closing in. She dreamed of becoming a traveling salesman who ate in motel coffee shops, accompanied by her baton-twirling babysitter. As her sexual identity took shape, Hull knew the place she loved would never love her back and began plotting her escape.Here, Hull captures it all—the smells and sounds of a disappearing way of life, the secret rituals and rhythms of a doomed family, the casual racism of the rural South in the 1960s, and the suffocating expectations placed on girls and women.Vividly atmospheric and haunting, Through the Groves will speak to anyone who’s ever left home to cut a path of their own.A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company.

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  Murderers' Row Volume Three -...

  John Ferak, Chris Russo...

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  Three bestselling true crime books for the price of one—from the Steven Avery case to a brother’s quest for justice to an international conspiracy.  Wrecking Crew: While working for USA Today’s Investigative Team, John Ferak wrote dozens of articles on Steven Avery, who was charged with the murder of Teresa Halbach. In Wrecking Crew, Ferak lays out high-profile lawyer Kathleen Zellner’s post-conviction strategy to free Avery.   “Whatever you thought you believed about this infamous case, get ready to change your mind or be more convinced than ever . . . Fascinating.” —Steve Jackson, New York Times bestselling author  My Brother’s Keeper: The moment he found out his brother Gary was missing and presumed dead, Ted Kergan launched a relentless effort to bring two suspected killers to justice and find Gary’s body. Little did he know his quest would consume a fortune and take thirty years to reach its dramatic conclusion.  An International Book Awards Finalist!   “A thirty-year search for the truth . . . a story of persistence, determination, and deep brotherly love.” —Denise Wallace, author of Daddy’s Little Secret  Summary Execution: On June 1, 1981, two young activists, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, were murdered in Seattle in what was made to appear like a gang slaying. But the victims’ families and friends suspected they were considered a threat to Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his regime’s relationship to the United States.   “Remarkable . . . The story has so many twists—as well as amazing turns—that prove the point that conspiracy theories aren’t necessarily fiction.” —Eric Nalder, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist

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