Best of
Autobiography

2004

The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself


Rodney Mullen - 2004
    He won 35 world titles in less than five years. But through it all, his father looked down on his son's love for skating and pressured him to walk away from the sport and leave behind his fans and status as the most famous skateboarder of his era. After years of stress and conflict, Rodney gave in and promised his father he'd quit for good. But by the time he finally broke free from his suffocating and abusive home life, the popularity of freestyle had waned and given way to vert and street styles. So Rodney picked up his board and started from scratch. With the help of mentor Mike Ternansky, Rodney used his freestyle background to usher in a whole new era of street skating.Today Rodney is more popular than ever. The videos in his series Rodney Versus Daewon are among the most popular skateboard videos ever produced. He won the 2002 Transworld Skateboarding readers' choice award for favourite street skater and is the most popular character on the top–selling Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video games.

The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey


Muhammad Ali - 2004
    You just saw a little boxing. You saw only a part of me. After I retired from boxing my true work began. I have embarked on a journey of love." So Muhammad Ali begins this spiritual memoir, his description of the values that have shaped and sustained him and that continue to guide his life. In The Soul of a Butterfly the great champion takes readers on a spiritual journey through the seasons of life, from childhood to the present, and shares the beliefs that have served him well.After fighting some of the fiercest bouts in boxing history against Joe Frazier and George Foreman, today Muhammad Ali faces his most powerful foe -- outside the boxing ring. Like many people, he battles an illness that limits his physical abilities, but as he says, "I have gained more than I have lost....I have never had a more powerful voice than I have now." Ali reflects on his faith in God and the strength it gave him during his greatest challenge, when he lost the prime years of his boxing career because he would not compromise his beliefs. He describes how his study of true Islam has helped him accept the changes in his life and has brought him to a greater awareness of life's true purpose. As a United Nations "Messenger of Peace," he has traveled widely, and he describes his 2002 mission to Afghanistan to heighten public awareness of that country's desperate situation, as well as his more recent meeting with the Dalai Lama.Ali's reflections on topics ranging from moral courage to belief in God to respect for those who differ from us will inspire and enlighten all who read them. Written with the assistance of his daughter Hana, The Soul of a Butterfly is a compassionate and heartfelt book that will provide comfort for our troubled times.

Big Russ & Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life


Tim Russert - 2004
    From the lessons he learned from his father and his Catholic upbringing to his passion for the Buffalo Bills and the New York Yankees to the grace of daily obligations and patriotism, Russert's reflections hit the very epicenter of American values. Includes 16 pages of color and b&w photos. 1-40135-208-1$22.95 / Time Warner Book Group

Anthony Bourdain Omnibus: Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour


Anthony Bourdain - 2004
    From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny. A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal Bourdain sets off to eat his way around the world. But this was never going to be a conventional culinary tour. He heads to Saigon where he eats the still-beating heart of a live cobra, and travels into Khmer Rouge territory to find the rumoured Wild West of Cambodia. He also dines with gangsters in Russia, finds a medieval pig slaughter and feast in Portugal, and returns to the fishing village where he first ate oysters as a child. Written with his inimitable machismo and humour, this is an adventure story sure to give you indigestion.

Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer


Lynne Cox - 2004
    By age sixteen, she had broken all records for swimming the English Channel. Her daring eventually led her to the Bering Strait, where she swam five miles in thirty-eight-degree water in just a swimsuit, cap, and goggles. In between those accomplishments, she became the first to swim the Strait of Magellan, narrowly escaped a shark attack off the Cape of Good Hope, and was cheered across the twenty-mile Cook Strait of New Zealand by dolphins. She even swam a mile in the Antarctic.Lynne writes the same way she swims, with indefatigable spirit and joy, and shares the beauty of her time in the water with a poet's eye for detail. She has accomplished yet another feat--writing a new classic of sports memoir.

Scar Tissue


Anthony Kiedis - 2004
    In 1983, four self-described "knuckleheads" burst out of the mosh-pitted mosaic of the neo-punk rock scene in L.A. with their own unique brand of cosmic hardcore mayhem funk. Over twenty years later, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, against all odds, have become one of the most successful bands in the world. Though the band has gone through many incarnations, Anthony Kiedis, the group's lyricist and dynamic lead singer, has been there for the whole roller-coaster ride. Whether he's recollecting the influence of the beautiful, strong women who have been his muses, or retracing a journey that has included appearances as diverse as a performance before half a million people at Woodstock or an audience of one at the humble compound of the exiled Dalai Lama, Kiedis shares a compelling story about the price of success and excess. Scar Tissue is a story of dedication and debauchery, of intrigue and integrity, of recklessness and redemption--a story that could only have come out of the world of rock.

The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer


Renée Fleming - 2004
    In "The Inner Voice," this great singer shares what she has learned from her experience as an inspiration for those contemplating a career in the arts. From struggling to get a career under way to dealing with her own personal doubts, Fleming is wonderfully candid and articulate about her art - especially the little discussed heart-throat-mind connection -and childhood influences, formal education, mentors, preparation, and mental and physical discipline. Here is a look at the real life of an artist today, a life confronted by the loneliness of touring, the need for resilience, the desire for creativity in the face of overwhelming commercial pressures, coping with business issues, and, most important, balancing personal and professional fulfillment. "The Inner Voice" adds its distinctive voice to works such as Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings and Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting, teaching by example and the hard-won human lessons all artists must learn. It will be eagerly awaited not only by her legion of fans, but will also be required reading for anyone contemplating a career in the arts.

Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood


Martin Booth - 2004
    Unrestricted by parental control and blessed with bright blond hair that signified good luck to the Chinese, he had free access to hidden corners of the colony normally closed to a Gweilo, a 'pale fellow' like him. Befriending rickshaw coolies and local stallholders, he learnt Cantonese, sampled delicacies such as boiled water beetles and one-hundred-year-old eggs, and participated in colourful festivals. He even entered the forbidden Kowloon Walled City, wandered into the secret lair of the Triads and visited an opium den. Along the way he encountered a colourful array of people, from the plink plonk man with his dancing monkey to Nagasaki Jim, a drunken child molester, and the Queen of Kowloon, the crazed tramp who may have been a member of the Romanov family.Shadowed by the unhappiness of his warring parents, a broad-minded mother who, like her son, was keen to embrace all things Chinese, and a bigoted father who was enraged by his family's interest in 'going native', Martin Booth's compelling memoir is a journey into Chinese culture and an extinct colonial way of life that glows with infectious curiosity and humour.

Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd


Nick Mason - 2004
    With 116 million albums sold worldwide and 25 years on the pop charts to their credit, Pink Floyd is one of the most successful rock groups in history, yet their storyuntil nowis one of the least known. The only continuous member of the band through its entire 40-year history, Nick Mason has witnessed every twist, turn, and sommersault from behind his drum kit. The journey begins with the band's origins as the darlings of London's late 1960s underground and the creation of the classic Pink Floyd sound, all the way through to The Wall and those legendary stadium shows. Here are the players who shaped the band's history and the story behind the storythe inside perspective on, for example, the deterioration and departure of Syd Barrett; the overwhelming success of The Dark Side of the Moon and the resulting pressures and conflicts within the band, including the rift with Roger Waters; and Nick and David Gilmour's decision to put their reputations on the line and continue as Pink Floyd. Packed with rare photographs and vintage Floyd graphics from Nick Mason's extensive private archive, Inside Out is an eye-opener for both veteran fans and those just discovering the group. And, in keeping with the classic Floyd style, the book's cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson, creator of such iconic images as the Dark Side pyramid. Always candid, by turns poignant and funny, Nick's own memories are augmented with extensive research and interviews, making Inside Out a comprehensive history of one of the most brilliant and imaginative bands the world has knownand a masterly memoir of rock and roll.

The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life


Pat Conroy - 2004
    Delighting us with tales of his passion for cooking and good food and the people, places, and great meals he has experienced, Conroy mixes them together with mouthwatering recipes from the Deep South and the world beyond.It all started thirty years ago with a chance purchase of The Escoffier Cookbook, an unlikely and daunting introduction for the beginner. But Conroy was more than up to the task. He set out with unwavering determination to learn the basics of French cooking--stocks and dough--and moved swiftly on to veal demi-glace and p�te bris�e. With the help of his culinary accomplice, Suzanne Williamson Pollak, Conroy mastered the dishes of his beloved South as well as the cuisine he has savored in places as far away from home as Paris, Rome, and San Francisco.Each chapter opens with a story told with the inimitable brio of the author. We see Conroy in New Orleans celebrating his triumphant novel The Prince of Tides at a new restaurant where there is a contretemps with its hardworking young owner/chef--years later he discovered the earnest young chef was none other than Emeril Lagasse; we accompany Pat and his wife on their honeymoon in Italy and wander with him, wonderstruck, through the markets of Umbria and Rome; we learn how a dinner with his fighter-pilot father was preceded by the Great Santini himself acting out a perilous night flight that would become the last chapters of one of his son's most beloved novels. These tales and more are followed by corresponding recipes--from Breakfast Shrimp and Grits and Sweet Potato Rolls to Pappardelle with Prosciutto and Chestnuts and Beefsteak Florentine to Peppered Peaches and Creme Brulee. A master storyteller and passionate cook, Conroy believes that "A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.""This book is the story of my life as it relates to the subject of food. It is my autobiography in food and meals and restaurants and countries far and near. Let me take you to a restaurant on the Left Bank of Paris that I found when writing The Lords of Discipline. There are meals I ate in Rome while writing The Prince of Tides that ache in my memory when I resurrect them. There is a shrimp dish I ate in an elegant English restaurant, where Cuban cigars were passed out to all the gentlemen in the room after dinner, that I can taste on my palate as I write this. There is barbecue and its variations in the South, and the subject is a holy one to me. I write of truffles in the Dordogne Valley in France, cilantro in Bangkok, catfish in Alabama, scuppernong in South Carolina, Chinese food from my years in San Francisco, and white asparagus from the first meal my agent took me to in New York City. Let me tell you about the fabulous things I have eaten in my life, the story of the food I have encountered along the way. . . "

Burro Genius


Victor Villaseñor - 2004
    He had never spoken in public before. His mind was flooded with childhood memories filled with humiliation, misunderstanding, and abuse at the hands of his teachers. With his heart pounding, he began to speak of these incidents. To his disbelief, the teachers before him responded to his embittered recollection with a standing ovation. Many could not contain their own tears.So begins a touching memoir of an extremely angry adolescent. Highly gifted and imaginative, Villaseñor coped with an untreated learning disability (he was finally diagnosed with extreme dyslexia at the age of forty-four) and the frustration he felt growing up Latino in an English-only American school system that had neither the cultural understanding nor the resources to deal with Hispanic students.Often beaten by his teachers because he could not speak English, Villaseñor was made to feel ashamed about his heritage, and even questioned the core values prioritized by his tight-knit family. Villaseñor's dyslexia, and growing frustration over not fitting in, fueled his dream to one day become a writer. He is now considered one of the premier writers of our time.With his signature passion, his gift as a storyteller, and his own incredible story, Villaseñor allows readers into the soul of a young life touched by insecurity yet encouraged by a personal sense of artistic destiny. Burro Genius, a complex and inspiring coming-of-age story, is certain to become an American classic.

Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board


Bethany Hamilton - 2004
    How else could one explain the passion that drives her to surf? How else could one explain that nothing—not even the loss of her arm—could come between her and the waves? That Halloween morning in Kauai, Hawaii, Bethany responded to the shark’s stealth attack with the calm of a girl with God on her side. Pushing pain and panic aside, she began to paddle with one arm, focusing on a single thought: “Get to the beach....” And when the first thing Bethany wanted to know after surgery was “When can I surf again?” it became clear that her spirit and determination were part of a greater story—a tale of courage and faith that this soft-spoken girl would come to share with the world. Soul Surfer is a moving account of Bethany’s life as a young surfer, her recovery after the attack, the adjustments she’s made to her unique surfing style, her unprecedented bid for a top showing in the World Surfing Championships, and, most fundamentally, her belief in God. It is a story of girl power and spiritual grit that shows the body is no more essential to surfing—perhaps even less so—than the soul.

Miles Gone By: A Literary Biography


William F. Buckley Jr. - 2004
    Included are essays that capture Buckley's joyful boyhood and family life; his years as a conservative firebrand at Yale; the life of a young army officer; his love of wine and sailing; memories of his favourite friends; the great influences of music and religion; a life in politics; and exploring the beauty, diversity, and exactitude of the English language

Even Greater: 12 Real-Life Stories That Inspire You to Do Great Things for God


Reinhard Bonnke - 2004
    It's true - God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary works. This book presents the stories to prove this aspect.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl


Frederick Douglass - 2004
    Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.

The Privilege of Youth: A Teenager's Story


Dave Pelzer - 2004
    From A Child Called “It” to The Lost Boy, from A Man Named Dave to Help Yourself, Dave Pelzer’s inspirational books have helped countless others triumph over hardship and misfortune.  In The Privilege of Youth, he shares the missing chapter of his life: as a boy on the threshold of adulthood.  With sensitivity and insight, he recounts the relentless taunting he endured from bullies; but he also describes the thrill of making his first real friends—some of whom he still shares close relationships with today.  He writes about the simple pleasures of exploring his neighborhood, while trying to forget the hell waiting for him at home.From high school to a world beyond the four walls that were his prison for so many years, The Privilege of Youth bravely and compassionately charts this crucial turning point in Dave Pelzer’s life and will inspire a whole new generation of readers.

Fatwa: Living with a Death Threat


Jacky Trevane - 2004
    It was love at first sight, and swept away by her infatuation, she married him before returning to England with her parents. Returning to Cairo against her parents' advice, but full of hopes and plans, Jacky's dream turned into a nightmare. During the next six years she suffered non-stop physical and emotional abuse. She had to escape with her two little girls, but it was not easy. Even now, Jacky is living in the shadow of a death threat and has to protect herself and her daughters minute by minute, day by day.

Refined by Fire


Brian Birdwell - 2004
    He stepped out into the corridor and was instantly engulfed in flames--burns consumed 60 percent of his body, with almost 40 percent of them third-degree. Thirty-plus operations and countless physical therapy sessions later, his recovery has truly been remarkable, and spiritually he and his family are stronger than ever before. Brian and his wife, Mel, tell their captivating story of God's grace and sovereignty.

'Tis Herself


Maureen O'Hara - 2004
    I'm Maureen O'Hara and this is my life story.-- From Chapter One of 'Tis HerselfIn language that is blunt, straightforward, and totally lacking in artifice, Maureen O'Hara, one of the greatest and most enduring stars of Hollywood's "Golden Era," for the first time tells the story of how she succeeded in the world's most competitive business.Known for her remarkable beauty and her fiery screen persona, Maureen O'Hara came to Hollywood when she was still a teenager, taken there by her mentor, the great actor Charles Laughton. Almost immediately she clashed with the men who ran the movie business -- the moguls who treated actors like chattel, the directors who viewed every actress as a potential bedmate.Determined to hold her own and to remain true to herself, she fought for roles that she wanted and resisted the advances of some of Hollywood's most powerful and attractive men. It was in the great director John Ford that she first found someone willing to give her a chance to prove herself as an important actress. Beginning with the Academy Award-winning How Green Was My Valley, she went on to make five films with Ford and through him first met the great John Wayne, with whom she also made five films.In O'Hara, Ford had found his ideal Irish heroine, a role that achieved its greatest realization in The Quiet Man. And in O'Hara, John Wayne found his ideal leading lady, for she was perhaps the only actress who could hold her own when on screen with "The Duke." Ford, however, was not without his quirks, and his relationship with his favorite actress became more and more complex and ultimately deeply troubled. The on-screen relationship between Wayne and O'Hara, on the other hand, was transformed into a close friendship built on mutual respect, creating a bond that endured until his death.Writing with complete frankness, O'Hara talks for the first time about these remarkable men, about their great strengths and their very human failings. She writes as well about many of the other actors and actresses -- Lucille Ball, Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, John Candy, Natalie Wood, to name a few -- with whom she worked, but ultimately it is about herself that she is most revealing. With great candor and a mixture of pride and regret, she reflects on just how this young girl from Ireland made it to America and onto movie screens all around the world. There were missteps, of course -- a troubled and deeply destructive marriage, a willingness to trust too readily in others -- but there were triumphs and great happiness as well, including her marriage to the aviation pioneer Brigadier General Charles F. Blair, who tragically died in a mysterious plane crash ten years after their marriage.Throughout, 'Tis Herself is informed by the warmth and charm and intelligence that defined Maureen O'Hara's performances in some sixty films, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Miracle on 34th Street to The Parent Trap to McLintock! to Only the Lonely. 'Tis Herself is Maureen O'Hara's story as only she can tell it, the tale of an Irish lass who believed in herself with the strength and determination to make her own dreams come true.

Out of the Comfort Zone


Ray Comfort - 2004
    It will also encourage you and lift your faith as you learn how a celebrated Hollywood actor teamed up with Ray Comfort to bring an amazing message to America.

The Boy with No Shoes


William Horwood - 2004
    The one thing he can call his own is a pair of shoes, a present from the only person he feels has ever loved him. When they are cruelly taken away, Jimmy spirals down into a state of loneliness and terrible loss from which there seems no recovery.This triumphant story of a boy's struggle with early trauma and his remarkable journey into adulthood is based on William Horwood's own remarkable childhood in south-east England after the Second World War. Using all the skills that went into the creation of his modern classics, Horwood has written an inspiring story of a journey from a past too painful to imagine to the future every child deserves.

A Lifetime In A Race


Matthew Pinsent - 2004
    In an uniquely exciting and evocative autobiography, Pinsent interweaves the build-up to Athens 2004 with the extraordinary story of his career and unforgettable partnership with Redgrave. Plucked from obscurity at the age of 20, told to partner his hero, and trained to within an inch of his life, Pinsent's story is uniquely revealing about what it takes to be a champion and the mixed blessings of success. Culminating with a nail-biting final chapter detailing the team's extraordinary victory in Athens in blow-by-blow detail, A Lifetime in a Race is a sports book in a different mould.

Winning!. Clive Woodward


Clive Woodward - 2004
    Winning! tells the story of the remarkable past six years - an unforgettable journey that began in September 1997 and took the team from the lower ranks of international first-class rugby to the top as World Cup Champions. Sir Clive Woodward and his team mounted a campaign of vast change, great learning, team building and clear vision to achieve their aim. 'We would question everything, change anything and leave no stone unturned, ' he writes. WINNING! will talk about the team's journey of innovation and discovery and will reveal exactly how it happened, the fundamentals of their success and how these principles can be applied to any human endeavour. 'We changed the way we coached, the way we played and, of equal importance, how we operated off the field.' Bringing his business management skills to the game, Woodward simplified the entire approach to the structure of the team and created new management systems both on and off the pitch. describes the thrilling build-up to England's World Cup triumph

At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey


Claude Anshin Thomas - 2004
    Thomas went to Vietnam at the age of eighteen, where he served as a crew chief on assault helicopters. By the end of his tour, he had been awarded numerous medals, including the Purple Heart. He had also killed many people, witnessed horrifying cruelty, and narrowly escaped death on a number of occasions. When Thomas returned home he found that he continued to live in a state of war. He was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, fear, anger, and despair, all of which were intensified by the rejection he experienced as a Vietnam veteran. For years, Thomas struggled with post-traumatic stress, drug and alcohol addiction, isolation, and even homelessness. A turning point came when he attended a meditation retreat for Vietnam veterans led by the renowned Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Here he encountered the Buddhist teachings on meditation and mindfulness, which helped him to stop running from his past and instead confront the pain of his war experiences directly and compassionately. Thomas was eventually ordained as a Zen monk and teacher, and he began making pilgrimages to promote peace and nonviolence in war-scarred places around the world including Bosnia, Auschwitz, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and the Middle East. At Hell's Gate is Thomas's dramatic coming-of-age story and a spiritual travelogue from the horrors of combat to discovering a spiritual approach to healing violence and ending war from the inside out. In simple and direct language, Thomas shares timeless teachings on healing emotional suffering and offers us practical guidance in using mindfulness and compassion to transform our lives.

Joel


Joel Sonnenberg - 2004
    This is Joel's own extraordinary account that many have been waiting for. It is the story of how a two-year-old boy has grown up to be a young man after a horrific tragedy changed his life forever. It reveals the faith, courage, and determination needed to make life one of wholeness and purpose. Despite overwhelming odds, Joel survived an explosive collision with an 18-wheeler. Escaping the flames before they claimed his life, Joel's body was transformed. He was burned on over 85 percent of his body and lost his eyelids, fingers, toes, and hair. Despite all that was taken from him, this book chronicles the astounding life and thoughts of a young man whose faith restores him into someone who has much to give. Joel considers his disability to be a special gift from God. When reading his story, you will be inspired by his love for God and his can-do attitude.

Mixed Fancies


Brenda Blethyn - 2004
    Told with wit and engaging honesty, 'Mixed Fancies' is the story of the life and career of established British actress Brenda Blethyn.

Becoming a Visible Man


Jamison Green - 2004
    Jamison Green combines candid autobiography with informed analysis to offer unique insight into the multiple challenges of the female-to-male transsexual experience, ranging from encounters with prejudice and strained relationships with family to the development of an FTM community and the realities of surgical sex reassignment.For more than a decade, Green has provided educational programs on gender-variance issues for corporations, law-enforcement agencies, social-science conferences and classes, continuing legal education, religious education, and medical venues. His comprehensive knowledge of the processes and problems encountered by transgendered and transsexual people--as well as his legal advocacy work to help ensure that gender-variant people have access to the same rights and opportunities as others--enable him to explain the issues as no transsexual author has previously done.Brimming with frank and often poignant recollections of Green's own experiences--including his childhood struggles with identity and his years as a lesbian parent prior to his sex-reassignment surgery--the book examines transsexualism as a human condition, and sex reassignment as one of the choices that some people feel compelled to make in order to manage their gender variance. Relating the FTM psyche and experience to the social and political forces at work in American society, Becoming a Visible Man also speaks consciously of universal principles that concern us all, particularly the need to live one's life honestly, openly, and passionately.

A Friend Called Anne


Jacqueline van Maarsen - 2004
    She also recounts her chilling Holocaust experience— escaping deportation by the Nazis; helplessly watching friends, including Anne, and family members disappear; and starting her life again after the war. Through Jacqueline’s memories and black-and-white photos, Anne Frank will come to life and continue to be remembered.

Hope and Honor


Sidney Shachnow - 2004
    He survived a crucible far crueler than the jungles of Vietnam: Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, spending three years in the notorious Kovno concentration camp as a child. At age ten, with nothing but rags on his back, he was finally able to flee that hellhole. Most of those he left behind died.After returning to his home in Lithuania, now occupied by the Soviets, and finding it unbearable, Shachnow and his family decided to head west, often on foot, across Europe to the U.S. zone in Germany, where they found refuge. To earn a living in the grim aftermath of war, he smuggled black market contraband for American GIs. His next journey was to America, where he worked his way through school and enlisted in the U.S. Army, volunteering for U.S. Special Forces, where he served for thirty-two years. His primary goal was to save others from the indignities he had endured and the deadly fate he so narrowly escaped.From Vietnam to the Middle East to the Berlin Wall, Sydney Shachnow served in Special Operations. He grew as Special Forces grew, receiving both a master's and a doctoral degree. He traveled the world, rising to major general, responsible for American Special Forces everywhere, but the lessons of Kovno stayed with him wherever he turned, wherever he soldiered. Hope and Honor is a powerful and dramatic memoir that shows how the will to live---so painfully refined in the fires of that long-ago death camp---was forged, at last, into truth of soul and wisdom of the heart.

Startling Beauty: My Journey from Rape to Restoration


Heather Gemmen - 2004
    A gripping true life story, is undeniable proof that God can bring blessings out of the worst situations in our lives.

Goodnight Jim Bob: On the Road with Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine


Jim Bob - 2004
    They had 14 Top 40 singles in the UK and made 7 albums. This is their story as told by singer and guitarist Jim Bob.

No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley


Rita Marley - 2004
    Abandoned by her mother at a very young age, she was raised by her aunt. Music ran in Rita's family, and even as a child her talent for singing was pronounced. By the age of 18, Rita was an unwed mother, and it was then that she met Bob Marley at a recording studio in Trench Town. Bob and Rita became close friends, fell in love, and soon, she and her girlfriends were singing backup for the Wailers. At the ages of 21 and 19, Bob and Rita were married.The rest is history: Bob Marley and the Wailers set Jamaica and the world on fire. But while Rita displayed blazing courage, joy, and an indisputable devotion to her husband, life with Bob was not easy. There were his liaisons with other women--some of which produced children and were conducted under Rita's roof. The press repeatedly reported that Bob was unmarried to preserve his "image." But Rita kept her self-respect, and when Bob succumbed to cancer in 1981, she was at his side. In the years that followed, she became a force in her own right--as the Bob Marley Foundation's spokesperson and a performer in her reggae group, the I-Three.Written with author Hettie Jones, No Woman No Cry is a no-holds-barred account of life with one of the most famous musicians of all time. In No Woman No Cry, readers will learn about the never-before-told details of Bob Marley's life, including:How Rita practiced subsistence farming when first married to Bob to have food for her family.How Rita rode her bicycle into town with copies of Bob's latest songs to sell.How Rita worked as a housekeeper in Delaware to help support her family when her children were young.Why Rita chose to befriend some of the women with whom Bob had affairs and to give them advice on rearing the children they had with Bob.The story of the attack on Bob which almost killed the two of them.Bob's last wishes, dreams, and hopes, as well as the details of his death, such as who came to the funeral (and who didn't).

Sympathy For The Devil: The Best Of Hail Saten: Vol. 1


Brian Keene - 2004
    Sympathy For The Devil is Keenes unchained, raw rantings as he prepares to battle the demons--be they corporate C.E.O.s, unscrupulous editors, crazed fans, egocentric celebrities, or even himself.

Against All Odds: My Story


Chuck Norris - 2004
    The complete life story of the martial arts expert and star of "Walker Texas Ranger," CBS's longest-running television series.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl


Marcia Tretler - 2004
    

Closing The Chart: A Dying Physician Examines Family, Faith, And Medicine


Steven D. Hsi - 2004
    Every spouse of a patient should read it . . . . Every medical student and physician should read it to learn that the biology of the disease is really just a small part of the illness.aaJohn Saiki, M.D., Medical Oncology, University of New Mexico

The Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough: An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship


William Sanders Scarborough - 2004
    Despite the racism he met as he struggled to establish a place in higher education for African Americans, Scarborough was an exemplary scholar, particularly in the field of classical studies. He was the first African American member of the Modern Language Association, a forty-four-year member of the American Philological Association, and a true champion of higher education. Scarborough advocated the reading, writing, and teaching of liberal arts at a time when illiteracy was rampant due to slavery's legacy, white supremacists were dismissing the intellectual capability of blacks, and Booker T. Washington was urging African Americans to focus on industrial skills and training. The Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough is a valuable historical record of the life and work of a pioneer who helped formalize the intellectual tradition of the black scholar. Michele Valerie Ronnick contextualizes Scarborough's narrative through extensive notes and by exploring a wide variety of sources such as census records, church registries, period newspapers, and military and university records. This book is indispensable to anyone interested in the history of intellectual endeavor in America, Africana studies and classical studies, in particular, as well as those familiar with the associations and institutions that welcomed and valued Scarborough.

A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun: The Autobiography of a Career Criminal


Razor Smith - 2004
    An extraordinarily vivid account of how a tearaway kid from South London became a career criminal, it is both a searing indictment of a system that determinedly brutalized young offenders and a frank, unsentimental acknowledgement of the thrills of the criminal life. Shocking, fascinating and frightening by turns, it also reveals Razor Smith to be a remarkably talented writer.

The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw


Sheila Hancock - 2004
    In this unique double biography she chronicles their lives - personal and professional, together and apart. John Thaw was born in Manchester, the son of a lorry driver. When he arrived at RADA on a scholarship he felt an outsider. In fact his timing was perfect: it was the sixties and television was beginning to make its mark. With his roles in Z-Cars and The Sweeney, fame came quickly. But it was John's role as Morse that made him an icon. In 1974 he married Sheila Hancock, with whom he shared a working-class background and a RADA education. Sheila was already the star of the TV series The Rag Trade and went on to become the first woman artistic director at the RSC.

Rowing Without Oars: A Memoir of Living and Dying


Ulla-Carin Lindquist - 2004
    All of that changed when her fiftieth birthday drew near, and she was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. In the face of this incurable, degenerative disease, Ulla kept a journal chronicling the last years of her life, not only for her children’s sake but also to help her cope with her impending death. As powerful and moving as books such as The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Tuesdays with Morrie, Ulla’s unflinching account is an unforgettable reminder of how precious life really is.

Just a Boy: The True Story of a Stolen Childhood


Richard McCann - 2004
    It was 3am and their mother hadn't come home yet. Next morning, the police arrived to take the children away. Their mother had become the first victim of a serial killer soon to become known as the 'Yorkshire Ripper'. Passed from one violent home to another, the children were forgotten by all except the press. As the salacious headlines multiplied, Richard and his sisters were never able to recover from their mother's murder. Whilst Richard tried to handle the terror of his violent upbringing, his sister struggled to deal with memories of sexual abuse. Without love or support they spiralled away from help or happiness. Then one day Richard McCann, having reached suicidal rock bottom, decided no one was going to rescue their lives but him. It was the beginning of an inspirational transformation. Now he is able to tell the story of how the forgotten children of violence suffer, and how they can heal. A heartbreaking, uplifting story of survival and hope.

To Pause at the Threshold: Reflections on Living on the Border


Esther de Waal - 2004
    In some corners of the earth, in some traditional cultures, and in monastic life, this is still remembered. But in our fast-paced modern world, this wisdom is often lost on us. It is important for us to remember the significance of the threshold. While it is certainly true that thresholds mark the end of one thing and the beginning of another, they also act as borders-the places in between, the points of transition. These can be physical, such as the geographical borders of a country; others, such as the spiritual border between the inner and outer world-between ourselves and others-are intangible. In To Pause at the Threshold, Esther de Waal looks at what it is like to live in actual border country, the Welsh countryside with its slower rhythms and earth-linked textures, and explores the importance of opening up and being receptive to one's surroundings, whatever they may be.

Memo for a Saner World


Bob Brown - 2004
    The conventional wisdom is to cash these in so that we become the world's richest people. But how likely is that to make us any happier? In fact, the rate of clinical depression in the West has been rising since the 1950s. Richness of spirit cannot be bought across the counter.Green wisdom, on the other hand, is to capitalise on Australia's wealth by charting an independent role in world affairs, and by so doing improve the prospects of all the world's people, safeguarding the global environment and human security. This intertwining of social equality and democracy with environmental protection is the mainstay of the Greens' footbridge to a better future.Of course, fairness begins at home. In Australia, the policies of the Greens are directed towards cradle-to grave public health and education, a reversal of the nation's ever-worsening environmental indices, and enhanced employment and workplace conditions. We Greens rate above par in our political energy. In a period of government obsessed with the rule of the market, our advocacy has directly influenced the freeing of East Timor and the end of mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, helped slow the drift of funding away from public schools and medicine, and applied a strong stay on the erosion of civil liberties in the name of fear and terror.Anyone who was surprised by my stand on the issue of refugees in the run-up to the November 2001 federal election should read the Charter of the Global Greens in the appendices of this book. In August of that year the Norwegian freighter the Tampa, at Australia's request, picked up more than 400 boat people who were at risk – and was then ordered by John Howard to stay out of Australian waters. After talking the matter over with Ben Oquist in the Greens Senate office, and with the Greens charter guiding every step of the way, I held an immediate press conference to defend the human rights of the refugees, as well as the humanitarian dignity of Australia. The Tampa, I made it clear, should be brought to Australia and its refugees treated in accordance with the law.The result was an instant barrage of abusive mail, including bullets and pictures of nooses, and then, three months later, a doubling of the Greens' vote across the nation. The green alternative had struck a chord.Some people worry that a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote, but in fact it has double the value. Under Australia's preferential voting system, if your minor party candidate is not elected, your whole vote goes to your major-party preference. Better still, an increase in the Greens' vote indicates to the big parties where your real policy preference lies. Those who wonder how the Greens would handle power will be helped by the chapter 'The Balance of Power' – we Greens have already shown that we can win important gains for the community and the environment through a role in government, even during turbulent times.This book is not a comprehensive text on Greens politics. It consists of stories from along the road I have taken, from my years as an environmental campaigner concerned for all humanity to being a Greens senator, with discussion of some of the issues on the way. For obvious reasons the book is Tasmania-centric in parts, but the issues these chapters encompass – such as the logging of native forests and the threat to coastlines – are the same elsewhere in Australia and indeed in the rest of the world.I am acutely aware that so many of the friends I have worked with through the years – from the Franklin blockade to the foundation of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund and the Greens, and my years in elected office – aren't named between these covers. And yet every venture has been a joint one, with like-minded people and special individuals who each deserve an accolade and have my great thanks.It is a fortunate life if, at 59, a person feels more optimistic and fulfilled than ever before. That's me. I love my job; there is constant reward in seeing people join the Greens, and, most of all, in the contribution we are making to Australia's future wellbeing. My political awareness unfolded during the Cold War, with its underpinning philosophy of mutually assured (nuclear) destruction. The alternative of a world united in sharing resources, and diverting the money spent on arms in order to eradicate child poverty, makes as much good sense now as it did then, and appeals to the finer instincts in us all.The Greens are the world's political antidepressant. I hope this memo for a saner world will strike a chord with you too. ~ Bob Brown

The Brooke Ellison Story: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey


Brooke Ellison - 2004
    The accident left her paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a respirator. Ten years later, with her mother, Jean, by her side, Brooke graduated with honors from Harvard University. This is the story, told in their own words, of the miraculous journey that Brooke and Jean undertook so that Brooke could achieve her goals, against all odds. Written in alternating chapters by Brooke and Jean, The Brooke Ellison Story is filled with optimism, confidence, and inspiration. It is not just about one extrordinary mother-daughter relationship, but about the special bond that exists between mothers and daughters everywhere.The Brooke Ellison Story is now an A&E original movie directed by Christopher Reeve, starring Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, John Slattery, and Lacey Chabert.

With Scott to the Pole : the Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-1913 The Photographs of Herbert Ponting


Herbert Ponting - 2004
    These rough notes and our bodies must tell the tale". - Robert Falcon Scott's 'message to the public' c. 29 March 1912. Through Beau Riffenburgh's narrative and the perfectly composed images of Herbert Ponting, "With Scott to the Pole" tells the story of the triumph and tragedy of Scott's 1910-13 expedition to the South Pole. Along with four companions, the explorer reached the pole only to be bitterly disappointed to discover the Norwegian flag planted there by Roald Amundsen. Scott and his men could no longer hope to secure the first attainment of the South Pole for the British Empire, and their despondency shows in the photographs that survived them. Yet with grit and courage they started on the 800 mile return from the pole. A harrowing time ensued. By the time they were within 11 miles of a depot which would have saved them they had already lost two members of the expedition, and it was at this point that Scott and his remaining two companions were overcome by a blizzard and died. "With Scott to the Pole" is a fitting tribute not only to Ponting 's spell-binding aesthetic vision, but also to a magnificent story of adventure and heroism.

My Story : Lim Goh Tong


Lim Goh Tong - 2004
    

Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett


Jennifer Gonnerman - 2004
    The book opens on the morning of January 26, 2000, when Bartlett is set free and returns to New York City. At 42, she has virtually nothing: no money, no job, no real home.All she does have is a large and troubled family, including four children, who live in a decrepit housing project on the Lower East Side. "I left one prison to come home to another," Elaine says. Over the next months, she clashes with her daughters, hunts for a job, visits her son and husband in prison, negotiates the rules of parole, and campaigns for the repeal of the laws that led to her long prison term.Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records, says: "At a time when the prison-industrial complex is destroying African American families and neighborhoods, Elaine Bartlett is more than a survivor: she is a heroine. The future of our communities depends on women like her."Life on the Outside is a 2004 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

The Greatest: The Haile Gebrselassie Story


Jim Denison - 2004
    The Greatest is his authorized biography, written by Jim Denison, who worked on it with Haile for over two years, visited him in Ethiopia, and traveled with him on the European track circuit. Haile’s life story is fascinating, detailing his early years of hard poverty in war-torn Ethiopia, his relentless training, his rise to godlike status in the track world, and the good works he has done for his country with his fame and fortune. Most of all it is a glimpse of the kind, fascinating man behind all the records and medals._________________“Haile Gebrselassie is the best distance runner I have seen in the last quarter-century, the most electrifying personality, and somewhat of an enigma, given his Ethiopian roots. With this wonderful book, Jim Denison allows the whole world to learn more about Haile The Great, a distance-running star whose brilliance won’t soon be forgotten.”—Amby Burfoot, executive editor, Runner’s World, and 1968 Boston Marathon winner“Be in no doubt Haile is the greatest distance runner the world has ever seen.”—Dave Bedford, former 10,000m world record holder,and currently race director for the London Marathon“Haile is an elegant champion and a fine example of sportsmanship.”—Lasse Viren, Olympic double-gold medalist“In my view Haile is the greatest distance runner of all time and a fantastic testimony to his legacy is that the man who is going to challenge for that title ‘the greatest’ has been nurtured by Haile and his coach, Dr. Wolde-Meskel Kostre. Haile has taken care of the present and he is passing on the baton to the future, to one of his pupils, Kenenisa Bekele.”—Brendan Foster, MBE, 1976 Olympic bronze medalist 10,000m, former world record holder 3000m, and presently Track and Field Commentator for the BBC“Haile’s accomplishment is a class act on and off the track. He is not only admired for his running, but his universal smile (whether he wins or finishes second).”—Meb Kheflezighi, two-time Olympian and American record holder for 10,000m

Blue-Eyed Son


Nicky Campbell - 2004
    His father – an ex-army man – and his mother helped him to a good school and a good university. Nicky rarely thought of his birth parents, until a combination of an imploding marriage and a chance meeting with a private detective led him to track his mother down. Nicky Campbell brilliantly recalls their reunion and tentative steps towards a relationship, evoking all the complex and deep-seated emotions that being reunited elicited in each of them. But as they talked it became clear that there was more to Nicky’s background than he expected. . . In this emotionally gripping and refreshingly honest memoir, Nicky Campbell describes the many sides of a family’s dark history, and how it feels to find out where you come from.

An Impatient Life: A Memoir


Daniel Bensaïd - 2004
    Raised in a staunchly red neighbourhood of Toulouse, where his family owned a bistro, he grew to be France’s leading Marxist public intellectual, much in demand on talk shows and in the press. A lyrical essayist and powerful public speaker, at his best expounding large ideas to crowds of students and workers, he was a founder member of the Ligue Communiste and thrived at the heart of a resurgent far left in the 1960s, which nurtured many of the leading figures of today’s French establishment. The path from the joyous explosion of May 1968, through the painful experience of defeat in Latin America and the world-shaking collapse of the USSR, to the neoliberal world of today, dominated as it is by global finance, is narrated in An Impatient Life with Bensaïd’s characteristic elegance of phrase and clarity of vision. His memoir relates a life of ideological and practical struggle, a never-resting endeavour to comprehend the workings of capitalism in the pursuit of revolution.

S. Ramanujan: The Mathematical Genius


Dilip M. Salwi - 2004
    The world of numbers was the sole reality for S. Ramanujan, India's most famous mathematician of the twentieth century.

Hunting Trips of a Ranchman: Sketches of Sport on the Northern Cattle Plains


Theodore Roosevelt - 2004
     Never one to shy away from an adventure, Roosevelt’s record of life as a ranchman and hunter has endured today as part of the classic folklore of the West. This book focuses on Roosevelt’s life as a hunter in the American frontier where he had gone to overcome the grief of losing his mother and wife in 1884. Vivid descriptions of the scenery, flora and fauna as well as people that populated the frontier abound within this book that covers Roosevelt’s life throughout 1885. It is on these plains that Roosevelt began to understand the true American spirit and allowed him to forge his life as a politician. “Could claim an honourable place on the same shelf as Walton’s Compleat Angler." The Spectator “Part memoir, part travelogue, part nature essay, and part sociological study … a peculiarly comprehensive documentary of life on the Plains, encompassing wildlife survey, cowboy culture, geographical study, and environmental exigency.” Love of the Land, Zachary Michael Jack Hunting Trips of a Ranchman provides a fascinating insight into the early life of one of the United States’ most interesting presidents. Theodore Roosevelt was an American statesman, author, explore, soldier, naturalist and reformer who served as the 26th President of the United States. He died in 1919.

Passing It On


Yuri Kochiyama - 2004
    and internationally for over half a century. A prolific writer and speaker on human rights, Kochiyama has spoken at over 100 colleges and universities and high schools in the U.S. and Canada.

Northern Soul


Jimmy Nail - 2004
    Jimmy Nail has been a household name since Auf Wiedersehen, Pet hit our screens in the 1980s. since then, his career as an actor and a musician has put on him on the silver screen alongside Madonna and given him a No. 1 hit single. Success on this astonishing scale was beyond the wildest dreams of the working class lad whose harsh childhood and brutal schooling put him on a collision course with Strangeways. But a short spell in prison helped propel Nail onwards and upwards. With the support of his friends and family, it wasn't long before Jimmy's unique talents and single-minded determination brought him attention of a different kind - and changed his life for ever. In A Northern Soul, Jimmy Nail tells his own vivid story in this intriguing, inspiring and sometimes confounding account of how one man rose to fame and fortune by refusing to be anything but himself.

Wings to Freedom


Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath - 2004
    Follow the footsteps of a Yogi and experience through his words, as he walks his talk in the jungles, temples, ashrams and hidden [to the uninitiated] places of India. Enrich your life with the secret oral traditions revealed for the first time - mysteries of life, immortality, and Self-Realization. Not since the "Autobiography of a Yogi," written over 60 years ago, has a Master brought the message of Mahavatar Babaji to the world for a new millenium. The author details his remarkable experiences with Babaji, insights on Kriya Yoga, healing, the spiritual hierarchy, supra-conscious states of yoga, meetings with great beings, and his mission. The 3rd edition softcover.

Harold Nicolson Diaries and Letters: 1907-1963


Harold Nicolson - 2004
    Nicolson was an MP who attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. He never achieved high office, but rarely a day went by when he didn't record what was going on at Westminster. He socialized widely, was married to the poet and author Vita Sackville-West, and together they created the famous garden at Sissinghurst. The diversity of Harold Nicolson's interests and the irony in his writing make his diary a highly entertaining record of his life and times, as well as a document of great historical value.

A Shepherd's Watch: Through the Seasons with One Man and His Dogs


David Kennard - 2004
    Here, David Kennard presents twelve months with his working sheepdogs, Greg, Swift, Gail, Fern, and Ernie, as they face a never-ending series of challenges: from rescuing ewes stranded on the Atlantic cliffs to running the gauntlet of psychopathic rams and officious farm inspectors, from spring lambing and summertime shearing to fending off the ever-present threats nature has in store for the 850-strong flock. All this, in the midst of a harsh economic climate for farming and a landscape that is among the most picturesque, yet wildly unpredictable, in the British Isles.David Kennard has been a shepherd since he left school at the age of seventeen. In this, his first book, he draws on half a lifetime's experience to paint an honest and affectionate, often comic picture of a year in the life of a sheep farm and its very different canine and human personalities. As he follows the changing seasons, observing nature's inexorable journey through the dark days of winter to the rebirth and renewal of spring, he also offers a gentle meditation on man's relationship with his environment, and a poignant elegy to a rural way of life.

The Snake Pit Book


Ben Snakepit - 2004
    Ben Snakepit has been chronicling his life in three-panel comic strips for the past three and a half years. The material is funny at first, but becomes transcendently more than funny, showcasing repetitive patterns of behavior, common mistakes, the redeeming beauty of small moments and all the life that's in between.

A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt: An African Memoir


Toyin Falola - 2004
    It is a matter of some interest, that the only other volume A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt reminds one of is Ake, by Wole Soyinka. What is it about these Yorubas?"-Ama Ata Aidoo"A splendid coming-of-age story so full of vivid color and emotion, the words seem to dance off the page. But this is not only Falola's memoir; it is an account of a new nation coming into being and the tensions and negotiations that invariably occur between city and country, tradition and modernity, men and women, rich and poor. A truly beautiful book."-Robin D. G. Kelley "More than a personal memoir, this book is a rich minihistory of contemporary Nigeria recorded in delicious detail by a perceptive eyewitness who grew up at the crossroads of many cultures."-Bernth Lindfors"The reader is irresistibly drawn into Falola's world. The prose is lucid. There is humor. This work is sweet. Period."-Ngugi wa Thiongo'oA Mouth Sweeter Than Salt gathers the stories and reflections of the early years of Toyin Falola, the grand historian of Africa and one of the greatest sons of Ibadan, the notable Yoruba city-state in Nigeria.Redefining the autobiographical genre altogether, Falola miraculously weaves together personal, historical, and communal stories, along with political and cultural developments in the period immediately preceding and following Nigeria's independence, to give us a unique and enduring picture of the Yoruba in the mid-twentieth century. This is truly a literary memoir, told in language rich with proverbs, poetry, song, and humor.Falola's memoir is far more than the story of one man's childhood experiences; rather, he presents us with the riches of an entire culture and community-its history, traditions, pleasures, mysteries, household arrangements, forms of power, struggles, and transformations.

Mount Rushmore Q & A: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions


Don "Nick" Clifford - 2004
    

Pippa Funnell: The Autobiography


Pippa Funnell - 2004
    She seemed doomed to be a 'misser' in the really big competitions, lacking that special ingredient that makes a true champion. Everything began to change for her in 1999 when her results, including her first European title, were excellent, but it was at the Sydney Olympics that she really came of age, winning a silver medal.Since Sydney, Pippa went from strength to strength. She completed the double of European Championships in 2001, she won Badminton in 2002, and in 2003 won the Rolex Grand Slam and was awarded Sportswoman of the Year by the Sunday Times.In 2004 Pippa was a double Olympic medallist in Athens, and this autobiography includes her Olympic diary, as she records the ups and downs of the competition, the triumph of the dressage, her cross-country round and the showjump down that cost her a gold medal. As if all this were not enough, there was the controversy of the medals being reallocated on appeal, meaning Pippa won both a silver and a bronze.

Luftwaffe Fighter Ace: From the Eastern Front to the Defence of the Homeland


Norbert Hannig - 2004
    He was just, he says, one of the many rank and file pilots fighting for his country and not for the Fuhrer. But his wartime career makes for fascinating and highly informative reading on an aspect of the 1939-45 war not often covered in the English language; primarily that of the campaign against the Soviet Union.Norbert started flying during high school on gliders and joined the German Air Force as volunteer and officer cadet, one of the midwar-generation of Luftwaffe fighter pilots. He began operations with JG54 on the eastern (Leningrad) front in March 1943; initially he flew Messerschmitt Bf 109s before transitioning to the Focke-Wulf FW 190. After a year s fighting, he was ordered back to Germany as a flight instructor to oppose the bomber streams of the AAF and RAF. Returning to Russia at the end of 1944, he became a Staffel CO and claimed many aircraft shot down. In April 1945 he converted to the first jet fighter, the Me 262, in south Germany, and flew his last missions with this aircraft. Also serving with JV44 (whose CO was Adolf Galland), Norbert Hannig finished the war with 42 victories from more than 200 missions. Many and varied were his experiences in action against the rejuvenated Soviet Air Force in the east, and the powerful western Allies over the homeland during the final chaotic months of hostilities, which culminated in his captivity.John Weal s skillful translation ensures that the fluid descriptive style of the author is preserved. Thankfully, also, Norbert was a keen photographer who shot a profusion of images, all previously unpublished, many of which appear in this important book."

Impressions of an Indian Childhood


Zitkála-Šá - 2004
    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Will: The Autobiography of Will Greenwood


Will Greenwood - 2004
    A Lancastrian to the tips of this size 12 boots, the giant centre has been an automatic choice in the England XV since his debut against Australia in 1997. A few months earlier he looked set to become only the third uncapped Englishman to play for the British Lions when he came within a whisker of losing his life after he was speared to the ground in a heavy tackle, lost consciousness and swallowed his tongue. After taking several months to recover he quickly made an impact at international level following a widespread clamour in the press for his call-up to the England side. An elegant riposte to the old jibe that England rugby players lack guile and imagination, the Harlequins' and former Leicester centre has brought a shimmering, magical quality to his team's back play, opening up defences with clever angled running, superb distribution and a gravity-defying ability to stay up in the tackle. Greenwood also featured in England's doomed Rugby World Cup campaign in 1999 before playing a central role in the team's dramatic triumph in Australia four years later. His life off the pitch has been no less eventful, he and his wife Caro having experienced extreme despair and joy in recent years with the loss of one son, Freddie, and the birth of another, Archie.

Pacific War Stories: In the Words of Those Who Survived


Rex Alan Smith - 2004
    The editors create for the reader, as the veterans themselves recall it, what that war was like—how it looked, felt, smelled, and sounded. The stories collected here are a unique portrayal of the mundane, exotic, boring, terrifying, life-altering events that made up their wartime experiences in World War II in the Pacific, a war fought on countless far-flung islands over an area that constitutes about one-third of the globe. What the veterans saw and lived through has stayed with them their entire lives, and much of it comes to the surface again through their vivid memories. This is an important book for military buffs as well as for the survivors of World War II and their families.The narratives, grouped into fifteen thematic, chronologically arranged chapters, are stirring, first-hand accounts, from front-line combat at the epicenter of violence and death to restless, weary boredom on rear area islands thousands of miles from the fighting. While their experiences differed, all were changed by what happened to them in the Pacific. These are not the stories of sweeping strategies or bold moves by generals and admirals. Instead, we hear from men and women on the lower rungs, including ordinary seamen on vessels that encountered Japanese warships and planes and sometimes came out second best, rank-and-file Marines who were in amtracs churning toward bullet-swept tropical beaches and saw their buddies killed beside them, and astounded eyewitnesses to the war’s sudden start on December 7, 1941.

In the Words of Ronald Reagan: The Wit, Wisdom, and Eternal Optimism of America's 40th President


Michael Reagan - 2004
    President Reagan endeared himself even to his political opponents with his self-effacing wit and irrepressible optimism. Inspiring, thoughtful, and at times downright funny, he had an amazing gift for stirring emotion, sparking debate, and calling a nation to action.In In The Words of Ronald Reagan, now in trade paper, his oldest son Michael Reagan has gathered a wonderful collection of his father's public and private words, providing a close-up portrait of our fortieth president. From hilarious one-liners to eloquent letters to intimate family moments, these selections depict Ronald Reagan in all his many roles-as world leader, conservative icon, orator, actor, and father. Complemented by Michael Reagan's personal and insightful commentary on his father's life, In The Words of Ronald Reagan will delight you, inspire you, and motivate you to finish the job Ronald Reagan began-the job of rebuilding the American dream.

Esquire The Meaning of Life: Wit, Wisdom, and Wonder from 65 Extraordinary People


Esquire Magazine - 2004
    Ten entertaining years’ worth of their often-humorous, always thoughtful advice, along with stunning portrait photography, is gathered in this sharply designed compilation. The contributors include Muhammad Ali, Bill O’Reilly, Faye Dunaway, former Secretary of State Robert McNamara, Hugh Hefner, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Suge Knight, and Julia Child.

Midge Ure: If I Was...: The Autobiography


Midge Ure - 2004
    Few musicians have had a career of such variety: in the past quarter century he has sold more than 20 million albums and been on a veritable rollercoaster ride through the rock'n'roll business. From No. 1 hits with the pop band Slik, via one of the most influential bands to come out of the age of electronica, Ultravox - leaders of the New Romantic movement - to solo success touring the world and selling out leading venues, Midge has a unique perspective on the world of pop music. Among many great stories is his part in the phenomenon that was Live Aid and in particular the making of the classic charity record Do They Know It's Christmas which sold twelve million copies.

Rough Edges


James Rogan - 2004
    After a rough-and-tumble childhood in San Francisco's hardscrabble Mission District—where he was raised by his colorful extended family—he became a political junkie at the age of nine, and once received help with his homework from Harry Truman. But Rogan traveled with a tough circle of friends; after years of borderline delinquency he was expelled from high school, became a porn theater bouncer, and then a bartender at a strip joint and a Hell's Angels bar. Along the way, a young Arkansas politician advised him to study law and become a member of a different kind of bar. In time Rogan scrapped his way through college and law school. He was appointed a Los Angeles County DA, prosecuting members of the notorious Crips and Bloods gangs; then became a judge, a state legislator, and finally a congressman from Southern California. And in 1998, as a Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, he found himself prosecuting the impeachment of the President of the United States—Bill Clinton, the same Arkansas politician who advised him to go into law and politics two decades earlier. Rough Edges is a rarity among Washington tales: full of outrageous stories, wild humor, pull-no-punches candor, and downright fun. Replete with character and characters, and told in Rogan's engaging and unswervingly frank voice, Rogan's story is certainly the most freewheeling—and perhaps the most honest—political memoir ever written.

Dick Enberg, Oh My! [With CD]


Dick Enberg - 2004
    Called the most versatile sportscaster in America, the legendary Dick Enberg takes readers into the booth and behind the camera in this candid autobiography.

News from Somewhere: On Settling


Roger Scruton - 2004
    Always beautifully written, one of these pieces (Vegetables) won the 2002 prize from The Queen's English Society for the best piece of prose writing of the year. These are not sentimental bucolic rambles. Scruton's prose is devoid of sentimentality and soggy nostalgia. Whatever he writes about, he always writes with serious purpose. He speaks up for the country dweller who sees his or her world eroded by the wishy-washy liberal commands of Blairite do-gooders who sit on their backsides in North West London pontificating about the needs of country people. Nature being red in tooth and claw is something that these people only know about from sitting in a classroom. Farming issues are equally important in this book. The devastations of the foot and mouth crisis showed graphically how great is the divide between town and country dwellers. And when the fate of people in the countryside is decided by bureaucrats in Brussels and Strasbourg, their feeling of alienation is even greater. These are the causes that Professor Scruton espouses and he has become their most intelligent, articulate and clear-thinking advocate.

In the Words of Ronald Reagan: The Wit, Wisdom, and Eternal Optimism of America's 40th President


Jim Denney - 2004
    President Reagan endeared himself even to his political opponents with his self-effacing wit and irrepressible optimism. Inspiring, thoughtful, and at times downright funny, he had an amazing gift for stirring emotion, sparking debate, and calling a nation to action.In In The Words of Ronald Reagan, his oldest son Michael Reagan has gathered a wonderful collection of his father's public and private words, providing a close-up portrait of our fortieth president. From hilarious one-liners to eloquent letters to intimate family moments, these selections depict Ronald Reagan in all his many roles-as world leader, conservative icon, orator, actor, and father. Complemented by Michael Reagan's personal and insightful commentary on his father's life, In The Words of Ronald Reagan will delight you, inspire you, and motivate you to finish the job Ronald Reagan began-the job of rebuilding the American dream.

The Road Taken


Michael Buerk - 2004
    His reports sent shock waves round the world. The Live Aid concert, a direct consequence of Bob Geldof watching that broadcast, was watched by half the planet.Michael Buerk has reported on some of the biggest stories in our lifetime: the Flixborough chemical plant fire, the Birmingham pub bombing, Lockerbie. He was in Buenos Aires at the start of the Falklands War; he reported the death throes of apartheid in South Africa. He was the face of the BBC flagship evening news for many years and has fronted everything from the popular BBC1 series 999 to the erudite Radio 4 programme The Moral Maze. He has won every major award and is universally admired and respected for his intelligent and honest journalism.Here, he also reveals the private Michael Buerk, his bigamist father, his long and happy marriage to Christine and his delight at fatherhood.

My Autobiography


Bill McLaren - 2004
    The whole ground rose, leaving McLaren choking back the tears. Then came a voice in his ear: 'Cue, Bill...'Coping with his emotions on that day was obviously not straightforward, even for a commentator of Bill McLaren's experience, used to being caught up in some of the most dramatic moments rugby has ever seen. But Bill also talks frankly about the greatest tragedy of his life: the death of his younger daughter from cancer at 46, the three years of agony and the trauma of her final day. Bill wanted to stay at her bedside but she insisted he go and carry out a commentating duty in Edinburgh on the Saturday afternoon. He did so, rushed back to the hospital, but she had died that afternoon while he was on air. McLaren, himself, had almost died of TB in his youth and he tells of the days and nights when he hid under the sheets in bed at the Scottish hospital where he was kept for 19 months, 'crying myself to sleep each night as they took away my friends who had died that day. I was certain I would be next'. He has excellent memories of his war years and delves deep to recall some harrowing times as a forward observation spotter when he came within inches of being killed by a German sniper. Later, he also remembers leading his men one day into a small northern Italian town where they discovered 1500 corpses piled up in the square. 'That was the day I became a man, rather quickly,' he says. He was 21.As well reliving the highlights of his illustrious career as a commentator, Bill talks of the game today and his regrets that rugby went professional. He is a fierce critic of what this has led to and fears for the future health and safety of rugby players because he regards the modern game as dangerously physical. His story amounts to a history of the game itself and reaffirms McLaren's status as something of a global treasure.

Lie in the Dark and Listen: The Remarkable Exploits of a WWII Bomber Pilot and Great Escaper


Ken Rees - 2004
    By age 21 Ken had already trained to be a pilot officer; flown 56 hair-raising bomber missions by night over Germany; taken part in the siege of Malta; got married; been shot down into a remote Norwegian lake; been captured and interrogated; sent to Stalag Luft III, survived the Great Escape and the forced March to Bremen. Truly a real-life adventure story, written with accuracy, pace and drama. In an age obsessed with C-list television celebrities battling it out on phoney reality survival shows, Rees and his dwindling band of Great Escapers stand out as the real thing. The Daily Telegraph Written in frank, warm and readable style, this is a very engaging account of a remarkable life. - New History A brave man s memory. Hear the fear yet take succour from the courage. North Wales Chronicle"

Dreaming to Some Purpose: The Autobiography of Colin Wilson


Colin Wilson - 2004
    He never went to university, let alone Oxbridge, yet wrote The Outsider, a brilliant account of the pain of being alive today, when he was just twenty-four. It sold millions of copies around the world, and he was acclaimed as one of the leading intellectuals of the age, finding a huge audience with the anti-establishment, alternative and underground thinkers. Because of his radically new attitudes he was - with John Osborne - dubbed an 'angry young man' in the article that originally coined that phrase. In this way a young man from a working class background suddenly found himself moving in the most colourful literary and artistic circles of the day. In his autobiography he tells stories about, among others, Aldous Huxley, Angus Wilson, John Osborne, Kingsley Amis, Kenneth Tynan, Francis Bacon and Norman Mailer - all observed with a true outsider's eye for absurdity. He is regarded by many as a true literary hero - Julian Cope stopped a recent concert to pay tribute to Wilson who as sitting in the audience and Donovan Leitch dedicates his new autobiography to him - but he also has huge mass market appeal. His insightful, brilliant books on the Occult, the Mysteries and Atlantis and the Sphinx were all huge bestsellers netting millions of copies. In this return to the themes of The Outsider, looked at from the point of his own life story, he again proves himself one of the great intellectuals of our age, never ceasing to wrestle with the great questions of life and death, and writing with an erudition and an easy way with ideas that is rare in English literary life.

When Faith Endures: One Man's Courage in the Midst of War


The Van Nguyen - 2004
    

Shooting History


Jon Snow - 2004
    Jon Snow is perhaps the most highly regarded newsman of our time; his qualities as a journalist and as a human being – his passion, warmth, intelligence, frankness and humour – are widely recognised and evident for all to see most nights on Channel 4 News and now in the pages of his first book.His vivid personal chronicle is filled with anecdotes and pithy observations, and delightfully records his life and times since becoming a journalist in the early 1970s. He reported widely on Cold War conflicts in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Angola and Central America before becoming a resident correspondent in Washington D.C. in the 1980s, and he has met and interviewed most of the world’s leaders.Drawing lessons from these experiences, he has pertinent things to say about how the increasing world disorder came about following the fall of the Berlin Wall; how the West’s constant search for an enemy has helped unhinge the world; and how and why the media have, in general, been less than helpful in drawing attention to key political and global developments.

Maximum Diner: Making it Big in Uckfield


Christopher Nye - 2004
    The dream of running a restaurant. In Uckfield, East Sussex. Uckfield didn't actually appear in the dream. But for Christopher Nye it was the perfect choice: a small town, but not too small; a town crying out for American-style diner; a town without a McDonald's. Here's the story of how to make it big in small-town Britain.

Nanda Devi: A Journey to the Last Sanctuary


Hugh Thomson - 2004
    But in 1934 Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman made the first of their great Himalayan expeditions by forcing a way up the river gorge. In 2000, the Sanctuary was entered for one single visit. Hugh Thomson was offered a place on this unique expedition led by Eric Shipton's son, John Shipton and the great Indian mountaineer, Colonel Kumar. This journey forms the basis of the book. Woven through it are all the amazing stories that surround the mountain—a powerful blend of myths and politics.

Success Never Smelled So Sweet: How I Followed My Nose and Found My Passion


Lisa Price - 2004
    Intoxicated by fragrance and scent even as a child, Lisa was famous among her friends for always smelling good. She never imagined that the oils she enjoyed mixing up for her own pleasure would give way to the hugely popular “Carol’s Daughter,” a luxurious, all-natural line of bath and beauty products. How did a young black woman in financial straits, unable to get a business loan and deeply in debt, churn out a multi-million dollar enterprise? With $100 in cash, her own kitchen, and the simple notion that people should follow their hearts (which Lisa did by following her nose!) But first Lisa had to face down her demons—her fears about money, low self-esteem, and a history of failed relationships. But as she tackled each problem, her confidence soared and her business was unstoppable. She met her husband and business partner, began a family, and bought a large, beautiful space in her Brooklyn neighborhood to sell her products—favorites like Honey Pudding, Mango Body Butter, and Jamaican Punch that stars such as Halle Berry, Erykah Badu, Maya Angelou, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Rosie Perez buy religiously. In Success Never Smelled So Sweet, Lisa Price charts her amazing journey in lively, down-to-earth stories about her childhood growing up in Brooklyn and the often unexpected “accidents” in the kitchen that led to her bestselling scents. From the early cultivation of her sensory gift through cooking with her Trinidadian grandmother to her painful years in a rigid school system where she was berated by teachers and bullied by kids, Lisa speaks tenderly and wisely about the subtle ways in which life can guide us to our inner truth—even as it throws out difficult obstacles along the way. For any woman who has ever longed to leave the nine-to-five grind and work successfully from home, Lisa Price’s story is a must-read. Filled with inspiring anecdotes, life advice from her own mother, Carol, and the recipes for some of her best-loved products, Success Never Smelled So Sweet is a book to read by candlelight while soaking in a silky rose-milk bath.

The Book What I Wrote: Eric, Ernie and Me


Eddie Braben - 2004
     The key figure behind the success of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, scriptwriter Eddie Braben has written his autobiography - with the inimitable, timeless humour, warmth and affection for Eric and Ernie of that wonderful bygone era which made their classic sketches so successful. From Liverpool to London and on to Snowdonia, Braben peppers his story with wonderful anecdotes about the original straight man and his amiable sidekick. The Book What I Wrote is as much a unique biography of the charismatic Eric and Ernie as it is an autobiography of the man on whose gags their success was made.

The Way I Was Made: Words and Music for an Unusual Life


Chris Tomlin - 2004
    It's all about God, and His glory. That's the purpose of Chris Tomlin's first book--to get you to think of yourself as one of God's fame builders. Through personal stories and his lyrics, Chris takes you on a journey to discover who you are and how you can live a life that tells the story of God.Includes a study guide for small groups or personal use.

Sisters: Coming of Age & Living Dangerously in the Wild Copper River Valley


Samme Gallaher - 2004
    Enter Samme, her tenacious fifteen-year-old sister. Their lively and honest story details their emotional coming of age in a part of Alaska that is still considered remote.

The Family Silver: A Memoir of Depression and Inheritance


Sharon O'Brien - 2004
    Her quest for her inheritance took her straight into the pressures and possibilities of American culture, and then to the heart of her family—the generations who shaped and were shaped by one another and their moment in history. In The Family Silver, as O'Brien travels into her family's past, she goes beyond depression to discover courage, poetry, and grace.A compassionate and engaging writer, O'Brien uses the biographer's methods to understand her family history, weaving the scattered pieces of the past—her mother's memo books, her father's reading journal, family photographs, tombstones, dance cards, hospital records, the family silver—into a compelling narrative. In the lives of her Irish-American relatives she finds that the American values of upward mobility, progress, and the pressure to achieve sparked both desire and depression, following her family through generations, across the sea, from the Irish famine of the 1840s to Harvard Yard in the late 1960s."Many people who write stories of depression or other chronic illnesses tell tales of recovery in the upward-mobility sense, the 'once I was ill, but now I am well' formula that we may find appealing, but doesn't match the messiness of our lives," she writes. "Mine is not such a tale. But it is a recovery tale in another sense—a story of salvage, of rescuing stories from silence." Told with humor and honesty, O'Brien's story will captivate all readers who want to know how they, and their families, have been shaped by the past.

Heart of the Storm: My Adventures as a Helicopter Rescue Pilot and Commander


Edward L. Fleming - 2004
    Ed Fleming tells a story of true heroism about the constant dangers faced by the pilots and crews who fly the most versatile-and vulnerable-aircraft in the skies today."-John Glenn, former U.S. senator, astronaut, and bestselling author of John Glenn: A Memoir"To risk your life to save a stranger is the highest mark of a human being. Ed Fleming is such a man, and this book is a great read."-Dr. Jerri Nielsen, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Ice Bound"Filled with suspense and emotion, Heart of the Storm reads like a thriller-but it's all true. Ed Fleming has led a dramatic and interesting life, and this book portrays it in living color."-Robert K. Tanenbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Resolved and Absolute Rage

Chronicle of a Working Life (One Pair of Hands / One Pair of Feet / My Turn to Make the Tea)


Monica Dickens - 2004
    Amusing, revealing and witty One Pair of Hands, One Pair of Feet, and My Turn to Make the Tea give a wonderful evocation of the post-war years of the twenties and thirties. 'Surely,' I thought, 'there's something more to life than just going to parties that one doesn't enjoy, with people one doesn't even like?' So begins Monica Dickens's first career move as, bored of being a debutante, she is let loose on series of unsuspecting upper-class employers as a cook-general in One Pair of Hands. Cooking, cleaning and telling all in this deliciously funny memoir, written at the age of twenty-two, this was her first book. One Pair of Feet continues her adventures when she recounts her first, and only, year of training to be a nurse, and My Turn to Make the Tea completes the trilogy by telling of her time as a very junior, very enthusiastic reporter on a local newspaper.

Psychology's Grand Theorists: How Personal Experiences Shaped Professional Ideas


Amy Demorest - 2004
    Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, and Carl Rogers each believed that he had discovered the truth about human nature, yet their truths are entirely different. This book explores how the lives of these men influenced the divergent theories they developed, through a close examination of letters, diaries, biographies, autobiographies, and professional writings. Uncovering the subjective sources of these theories, the book gives the reader a greater sense of intimacy with each man's ideas, and promotes critical inquiry into their scientific status. The book is written in an engaging style that will appeal to a wide range of readers. Intended as a supplement in courses on personality, clinical psychology, and/or the history of psychology, it will also be of interest to clinicians or counselors who use one or more of these theoretical models in their therapeutic work.

The Real Mackay: The Dave Mackay Story


Dave Mackay - 2004
    It is the refreshing, honest, and action-packed autobiography of a man who was at the center of many of the biggest stories of British soccer for almost three decades.

The Greatest Communicator: What Ronald Reagan Taught Me About Politics, Leadership, and Life


Richard B. Wirthlin - 2004
    Now, in this affectionate memoir, Reagan’s chief political strategist and friend for 36 years offers a fascinating close-up portrait of the Great Communicator. Taking us inside the 1980 and 1984 presidential campaigns and beyond, Dick Wirthlin shares illuminating anecdotes, off-the-record remarks, and private moments that reveal the true Ronald Reagan. Through it all, Wirthlin points out the unique qualities and talents that made Reagan such a strong leader-and such a great communicator. For anyone who has fond memories of the late president, this admiring reminiscence brilliantly conjures up the strong values, gregarious charm, and all-American optimism that made Ronald Reagan great.