Secondhand Biographies

'I was wowed and moved' Tracy Chevalier Anne Bronte is the forgotten Bronte sister, overshadowed by her older siblings -- virtuous, successful Charlotte, free-spirited Emily and dissolute Branwell. Tragic, virginal,...

Mark Z. Slouka argues that the perception of reality in America has been radically altered by the emergence of new technologies. The notion of reality as an empirical shared state...

"Are we the same, I wonder, when all our surroundings, association, acquaintances are changed? I conclude that it is not the person who danced with you at Mansfield St who...

'A joy to read' Daily TelegraphAlexandra Heminsley thought she could swim. She really did. It may have been because she could run. It may have been because she wanted to...

Sir William Garrow was born in Middlesex in 1760 and called to the Bar in 1783. He was the dominant figure at the Old Bailey from 1783 to 1793, later...

A biography of Queen Elizabeth II, containing intimate secrets about the royal family. The lives of the Queen, Prince Philip and their children are examined and exposed, revealing the Windsor...

In 1956, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, youngest of the six Mitford sisters, invited the writer and war hero Patrick Leigh Fermor to visit Lismore Castle, in Ireland. This halcyon stay...

AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4s BOOK OF THE WEEK'Morris is one of Britain's greatest living writers.' The Times'Fascinating ... valuable and rare. This book is a writer's constitutional.' Kate...

Included in The Times and Daily Telegraph Book of the Year round-ups'Friends and Enemies is an extraordinary read showing unflinching candour from a truly remarkable woman' Elton John 'Blistering ....

Described by the Sunday Times as 'a fascinating revelation of an adventurous and protean spirit', this biography is the inspiration behind the 2024 film Lee, starring Kate Winslet as Lee...

A collection of tales that follow Campbell from his schoolboy days of rugby matches and attempts at ventriloquism to post-graduate days and then to fatherhood. Patrick Campbell was a team...

Who are the new philanthropists? And how is their philanthropy 'new'? In this remarkable and inspiring book, the eminent management writer Charles Handy and his wife Elizabeth, a portrait photographer,...

Annemarie Schwarzenbach was one of the twentieth century's most remarkable women, possibly the greatest sexual and political radical of the 1930s. But until now she's been largely ignored. Born to...

'Ultimately as inspiring and devastating as the Amazon itself' The Guardian'Bold, pacy, bursting with optimism and filled with vivid descriptions, this is the work of an indomitable soul' - Guy...

'Brave, poetic, brutal, always honest. By leading the reader through his chaotic childhood and immersing us in a mental health treatment centre, Lesedi forces us to confront conversations that are...

When he died in 2014, author Chris van Wyk left behind an impressive literary legacy. The scope of his work was broad - poetry, children's books, short stories and biographies....

In The Syndicate of Twenty-two Natives, Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo offers an elegy to her father, the late Professor Stan Sangweni, which explores the personal saga of a family's lineage rooted in...

In spring 1956, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire - youngest of the six legendary Mitford sisters - invited the writer and war hero Patrick Leigh Fermor to visit Lismore Castle, the...

They were the most remarkable couple in London: the great sage Carlyle, with his vehement prophecies, and his witty, sardonic wife Jane. It was a strong, close, mutually admiring yet...