Best of
Autobiography

1984

Boy and Going Solo


Roald Dahl - 1984
    Reissued in the exciting new Roald Dahl branding. Boy is the story of Roald Dahl's very own boyhood, including tales of sweet-shops and chocolate, mean old ladies and a Great Mouse Plot - the inspiration for some of his most marvellous storybooks in the years to come. Going Solo tells of how, when he grew up, Roald Dahl left England for Africa and later went flying with the Royal Air Force, before he became the world's number-one storyteller. You can listen to all of Roald Dahl's stories on Puffin Audiobooks, read by some very famous voices, including Kate Winslet, David Walliams and Steven Fry - plus there are added squelchy soundeffects from Pinewood Studios! Also look out for new Roald Dahl apps in the App store and Google Play- including the disgusting TWIT OR MISS! and HOUSE OF TWITS inspired by the revolting Twits.

Boy: Tales of Childhood


Roald Dahl - 1984
    From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was as full of excitement and the unexpected as are his world-famous, best-selling books. Packed with anecdotes—some funny, some painful, all interesting—this is a book that's sure to please.

My Folks Don't Want Me to Talk about Slavery: Personal Accounts of Slavery in North Carolina


Belinda Hurmence - 1984
    More than 2000 slave narratives are now housed in the Library of Congress. More than 170 interviews were conducted in North Carolina. Belinda Hurmence pored over each of the North Carolina narratives, compiling and editing 21 of the first-person accounts for this collection. These narratives, though artless in many ways, speak compellingly of the joys and sorrows, the hopes and dreams, of the countless people who endured human bondage in the land of the free.

Not Much of an Engineer


Stanley Hooker - 1984
    So successful was he that in 1966 Rolls-Royce decided the best thing to do was to spend 63.6 million pounds and buy its rival. By this time there was scarcely a single modern British aero-engine for which Hooker had not been responsible.

Roman by Polanski


Roman Polański - 1984
    He talks of his childhood in Nazi-occupied Poland; Lodz Film School in the 1950s; Paris in his early struggles to become recognized as a director; and London and Hollywood in the 60s when he first won international acclaim. We follow him through his marriages and friendships; and with him we experience the full force of the tragedy that struck when his wife Sharon Tate and several close friends were brutally murdered by the Manson family. There followed years of disenchantment and self enquiry; arrest and imprisonment on charges alleging the rape of a minor, and finally his professional and personal resurgence in France.

The God of Jane: A Psychic Manifesto


Jane Roberts - 1984
    This book is the story of my efforts to put Seth's material to work in daily life, Roberts writes, to free myself from many hampering cultural beliefs; and most of all, to encounter and understand the nature of impulses . . .What Roberts discovers in the process of this personal journey is her individual connection to the larger consciousness-God. The God of Jane, the God of Joe, the God of Lester, the God of Sarah . . . she writes, An appeal to that God would be an appeal to the portion of the universal creativity from which we personally emerge . . . It would stand for the otherwise inconceivable intersection between Being and our being . . . A new introduction by Susan M. Watkins, author of Conversations with Seth and Speaking of Jane Roberts, provides important biographical and historical information about Roberts and about the time period in which she was producing the Seth material.Jane Roberts (1929-1984) is considered one of the most important psychics of the twentieth century. From 1963 through 1984, Roberts channeled Seth, who described himself as an energy personality essence no longer focused in physical matter, while her husband, Robert Butts, took dictation. In addition to thirteen published books of her own, Roberts channeled nine books by Seth and a wealth of additional unpublished material all of which is housed at the Yale University Archives. Roberts's work has inspired many of the most important figures in the New Age movement and her work has been studied byscientists from all over the world.

Colditz: The Full Story


P.R. Reid - 1984
    There were more than 300 escape attempts at Colditz in the four and a half years of its war history and Major Pat Reid vividly describes a unique interlude in Second World War history that contains the mythical qualities which cause a legend to live forever. Men from all over the world and from all walks of life were incarcerated in suffocating intimacy for five years in an alien and hostile land. Under these conditions they proved that men could live together, and that loyalty and generosity could thrive, transcending the natural prejudices of race, creed, language and intellectual diversity.

Part of My Soul Went with Him


Winnie Mandela - 1984
    She lived under virtual house arrest & was forbidden to address public gatherings or meet with more than one person at a time. She endured a forced separation of 27 years from her husband, Nelson Mandela. Here, in interviews & letters, she tells the story of her life & political development.A Tribute to Nomzamo Winnie Mandela/Bishop Manas Buthelezi My Little Siberia: Banished to Brandfort When My Father Taught Me History I Began to Understand: Growing up in the Countryside (Pondoland) Life with Him was Always a Life without Him: Meeting Nelson Mandela I Always Waited for that Sacred Knock: Life UndergroundHe was a Pillar of Strength to Me: Being Alone No Human Being Can Go On Taking those Humiliations without Reaction: In Prison We Couldn't Stop Our Children: The Soweto Uprising, 1976The Chapter of Dialogue is Finally Closed: The Political Situation Part of My Soul Went with Him: Visits to Robben Island & PollsmoorFreedom CharterWinnie Mandela's Banning OrderConditions of Visit to Nelson Mandela on Robben IslandConditions with which Winnie Mandela Had to Comply to Travel from Brandfort to Robben Island & Back

Murdered Heiress: Living Witness


Petti Wagner - 1984
    No markings. Pages are clean and bright. Binding is tight.

An Indian Spy in Pakistan


Mohanlal Bhaskar - 1984
    The interrogation, which was done by the army and police, included torture of the worst kind imaginable. Many of his comrades went insane or ended their own lives. Large portions of his stories describe the methods used in gory and spine-chilling detail but there were also lighter moments with dacoits, prostitutes, pimps and dope smugglers in the same jails....’ He witnessed history unfolding from Mianwali jail: ‘... when Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was brought there, and had his grave dug and then refilled when Bhutto released him to return in truimph to Bangladesh. From his cell he watched Indian bombers and fighters knock out Pakistan’s airforce from the skies...’

Down the Fairway


Robert T. Jones Jr. - 1984
    Part memoir, part golf instructional, it is a must-read for all who care about this most fascinating sport.

Being An Actor


Simon Callow - 1984
    Being an Actor traces his stage journey from the letter he wrote to Laurence Olivier that led him to his first job, to his triumph as Mozart in the original production of Amadeus. This new edition continues to tell the story of his past two decades onstage. Callow discusses his occasionally ambivalent yet always passionate feelings about both film and theatre, conflicting sentiments partially resolved by his acclaimed return to the stage with his solo performances in The Importance of Being Oscar and The Mystery of Charles Dickens, seen in the West End and on Broadway in 2002.Being an Actor is a guide not only to the profession but also to the intricacies of the art, told with wit, candour, and irrepressible verve by one if the great figures of the stage.

Copland: 1900 Through 1942


Aaron Copland - 1984
    This is the story of a self-described "brash young man from Brooklyn" who went on to become a founding father of "serious" American music with works that include "Appalachian Spring, " "Lincoln Portrait, " the movie scores for "Of Mice and Men" and "Our Town, " and numerous orchestral and chamber works. The book charts his early years.The celebrations marking Aaron Copland's centenary will include numerous musical festivals such as the Tanglewood Festival, The New York City Opera, the American Musical Festival, The Library of Congress, and more.

The Teachings Of Lorenzo Snow: Fifth President Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints


Lorenzo Snow - 1984
    

Aftermath: A Soldier's Return from Vietnam


Frederick Downs - 1984
    Every soldier who fought in Vietnam was changed by the war. Frederick Downs, Jr. served in the infantry, patrolling the jungles until his left arm was blown off & the rest of his body mutilated. He had stepped on the trigger of a land mine on January 11, 1968. That story was told in The Killing Zone, published in 1978. He nearly died, but by sheer will he was able to rekindle a remarkable spirit that carried him forth into a new life. There were daily operations & weeks of wracking pain. This is the story of how one man put his life together again after he left the hospital.

The Beatles, Lennon, and Me


Peter Shotton - 1984
    

The Treatment and the Cure


Peter Kocan - 1984
    Transferred to the maximum-security ward of a mental hospital, his efforts to survive the system and preserve his individuality are movingly and often humorously portrayed.

A Very Private Eye: The Diaries, Letters And Notebooks Of Barbara Pym


Barbara Pym - 1984
    Intimate and unexpected portrait of the popular Engish novelist, Barbara Pym, in her own words, gathered from journals and a selection of her letters to close personal friends.

Application of Chess Theory


Efim Geller - 1984
    In this annotated collection of his own games, Geller shows the practical benefits of a sound understanding of opening strategy.

Alix's Journal


Alix Cléo Roubaud - 1984
    Written, in a sense, for her husband—acclaimed novelist, poet, and mathematician Jacques Roubaud—Alix’s Journal straddles the gap between French and English, poetry and prose, the tragic and the comic, the profound and the quotidian. Alix’s idiosyncratic and revealing work gives us access to a singular consciousness, one that was profoundly influential on her husband’s subsequent works, in style as well as content. The notebooks center on themes of love, marriage, photography, addiction, and death, and include examples of Alix’s photographic work, whose strangeness and poignancy is enhanced by its juxtaposition with her plans for and interpretations of it.From Alix’s Journal:You left yesterday morning, and last night I got drunk by nine. I didn’t walk straight on the rue des Francs-Bourgeois, where I went to post my first letter. At ten o’clock I collapsed dead drunk. I woke at three and read what Nigel Nicholson wrote his parents, and read Jacques Roubaud in Change (a poem about water similar to Hockney’s distortions). I asked myself why I abuse myself in this manner when I am loved and really must keep alive; why do I get drunk on an empty stomach? why do I drug myself with sleeping pills? why do I smoke?     looking after oneself.I had things to do today.To fall asleep like everyone else, etc., to lead a simple regular life. To fall asleep likeeveryone else, that is what I want.

Little by Little: A Writer's Education


Jean Little - 1984
    The noted Canadian writer's autobiography.