Best of
Biography

1962

Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller


Burke Davis - 1962
    Now, Davis offers a no-holds-barred biography of this courageous hero--the only marine in history ever to win five Navy Crosses.

My Happy Days In Hell


György Faludy - 1962
    Fleeing Hungary in 1938 as the German army approaches, acclaimed poet Faludy journeys to Paris, where he finds a lover but merely a cursory asylum. When the French capitulate to the Nazis, Faludy travels to North Africa, then on to America, where he volunteers for military service. Missing his homeland and determined to do the right thing, he returns – only to be imprisoned, tortured, and slowly starved, eventually becoming one of only twenty-one survivors of his camp.

My Land and My People: The Original Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet


Dalai Lama XIV - 1962
    My Land and My People tells the story of his life.

The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas


Mahatma Gandhi - 1962
    Gandhi, called Mahatma (“great soul”), was the father of modern India, but his influence has spread well beyond the subcontinent, and is as important today as it was in the first part of the twentieth century, and during this nation’s own civil rights movement. Taken from Gandhi’s writings throughout his life. The Essential Gandhi introduces us to his thoughts on politics, spirituality, poverty, suffering, love, non-violence, civil disobedience, and his own life. The pieces collected here, with explanatory head-notes by Gandhi biographer Louis Fischer, offer the clearest, most thorough portrait of one of the greatest spiritual leaders the world has known.“Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable... We may ignore him at our own risk.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.With a new Preface drawn from the writings of Eknath EaswaranIn the annals of spirituality certain books stand out both for their historical importance and for their continued relevance. The Vintage Spiritual Classics series offers the greatest of these works in authoritative new editions, with specially commissioned essays by noted contemporary commentators. Filled with eloquence and fresh insight, encouragement and solace, Vintage Spiritual Classics are incomparable resources for all readers, who seek a more substantive understanding of mankind's relation to the divine.

To End All Wars: A True Story about the Will to Survive and the Courage to Forgive


Ernest Gordon - 1962
    I was a prisoner of war, lying among the dead, waiting for the bodies to be carried away so that I might have more room."When Ernest Gordon was twenty-four he was captured by the Japanese and forced, with other British prisoners, to build the notorious Railroad of Death, where nearly 16,000 Prisoners of War gave their life. Faced with the appalling conditions of the prisoners camp and the brutality of the captors, he survived to become an inspiring example of the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. To End All Wars is Ernest Gordon's gripping true story behind both the Academy Award-winning film The Bridge on the River Kwai starring Alec Guinness and the new film To End All Wars directed by David Cunningham.

Veeck As In Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck


Bill Veeck - 1962
    His classic autobiography, written with the talented sportswriter Ed Linn, is an uproarious book packed with information about the history of baseball and tales of players and owners, including some of the most entertaining stories in all of sports literature.

C. H. Spurgeon Autobiography: The Early Years, 1834-1859


Charles Haddon Spurgeon - 1962
    Here is an inspiring record of a Christian life which continues to be of blessing for so many.

Underfoot in Show Business


Helene Hanff - 1962
    Each year there are hundreds of stagestruck kids arrive in New York determined to crash the theatre, firmly convinced they're destined to be famous Broadway stars or playwrights.

The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde


Oscar Wilde - 1962
    In this collection, replete with newly discovered letters, the full extent of that genius is unveiled.Charting his life from his Irish upbringing to fame in his fin de siècle London to infamy and exile in Paris, the letters--written between 1875 and 1900 to publishers and fans, friends and lovers, enemies and adversaries--resound with Wilde's wit, brilliance, and humanity. Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, and Rupert Hart-Davis have produced a provocative and revealing self-portrait. Wilde's reputation as a serious thinker, humorous writer, and gay icon continues to flourish. The Complete Letters is an intimate exploration of his life and thoughts--Wilde in his own words.

The Lonely Life


Bette Davis - 1962
    The Hollywood legend talks about her four marriages, her leading men, her feud with a well-known co-star, her longing to have a child, and her favorite roles.

Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work


E.M. Standing - 1962
    The first woman to win a degree as a Doctor of Medicine in Italy in 1896, Maria Montessori?s mission to improve children?s education began in the slums of Rome in 1907, and continued throughout her lifetime. Her insights into the minds of children led her to develop prepared environments and other tools and devices that have come to characterize Montessori education today. Her influence in other countries has been profound and many of her teaching methods have been adopted by educators generally. Part biography and part exposition of her ideas, this engaging book reveals through her letters and personal diaries Maria Montessori's humility and delight in the success of her educational experiments and is an ideal introduction to the principals and practices of the greatest educational pioneer of the 20th century. The new introduction to Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work by Lee Havis, executive director of the International Montessori Society, discusses the changes that have taken place in Montessori education within recent years.An updated appendix of Montessori periodicals, courses, societies, films, and teaching materials.A revised bibliography of books by and about Maria Montessori.

Arthur Rimbaud: A Biography


Enid Starkie - 1962
    He is, indeed, the very symbol of what we now call “modern” literature; nearly a hundred years before the arrival of the “mind-expanding” drugs, Rimbaud understood that the borders of the writer’s consciousness must be extended and made the deliberate attempt to use hallucination as a creative method.Dr. Starkie, a lecturer in French literature at Oxford, has devoted many years of research to Rimbaud, revising her biography three times as new manuscript material and information about him has come to light.

Plenty-coups: Chief of the Crows


Frank Bird Linderman - 1962
    Linderman, the well-known western writer who had befriended him. Plenty-coups is a classic account of the nomadic, spiritual, and warring life of Plains Indians before they were forced onto reservations. Plenty-coups tells of the great triumphs and struggles of his own life: his powerful medicine dreams, marriage, raiding and counting coups against the Lakotas, fighting alongside the U.S. Army, and the death of General Custer. This new edition allows readers to appreciate more fully the accomplishments and rich legacy of Plenty-coups. A previously unpublished essay by Linderman tells of his meeting and working with the chief. An introduction by Phenocia Bauerle and Barney Old Coyote Jr., both members of the Crow Nation, speaks to the enduring importance of Plenty-coups for the Crow people in the twenty-first century; an afterword by Timothy P. McCleary, also of the Crow Nation, highlights the pivotal role Plenty-coups played during the early reservation years after the buffalo had gone; an essay by Celeste River examines the special relationship between the old chief and Linderman; a map of Plenty-coups's world highlights places named in the story; a glossary of Crow words and concepts found in the story draws upon the latest orthographic standards and contemporary translation; and a photo gallery showcases both Plenty-coups at different stages of his life and unforgettable scenes of his world.

Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses


Régine Pernoud - 1962
    Using historical documents and translated by Regine Pernoud, Joan of Arc seeks to answer the questions asked by Joan's contemporaries as well as us: Who was she? Whence came she? What had been her life and exploits? First published in the United States in 1966 by Stein and Day, this book reveals the historical Joan, described in contemporary documents by her allies as well as her enemies.

Raymond Chandler Speaking


Raymond Chandler - 1962
    This skillfully edited selection of letters, articles, and notes also includes the short story "A Couple of Writers" and the first chapters of Chandler's last Philip Marlowe novel, The Poodle Springs Story, left unfinished at his death. Paul Skenazy has provided a new introduction for this edition as well as a new selected bibliography.

We Seven: By the Astronauts Themselves


Scott Carpenter - 1962
    Chosen from hundreds of crackerjack pilots for their fitness, intelligence & courage, the original Mercury Seven astronauts risked their lives to cross the space frontier. In We Seven they take readers behind the scenes to show them their training, technology & teamwork, & to share personal stories, including the lighter moments of their mission. They bring readers inside the Mercury program, even into the space capsules themselves. We Seven straps you in with the astronauts & rockets you along for the ride. Share Alan Shepard's exhilaration as he breaks thru the earth's atmosphere. Endure moments of panic with Gus Grissom when his hatch blows, stranding him in the open sea. Race with John Glenn as he makes split-second life-or-death maneuvers during reentry, & feel his relief when he emerges safe but drenched with sweat. Despite such heroism, Project Mercury was more than the story of individual missions. It defined the manned space flight program to come, from Gemini thru Apollo. In We Seven America's original astronauts tell us 1sthand about the space program they pioneered, & share with us the hopes of the USA at the dawn of a new era.

Fire on the Mountain


Norma R. Youngberg - 1962
    Drums, drinking, dancing these things pleased him. He tried to push out of his mind all thoughts of Rajin's God. But Saksee could not quiet the voice speaking to his heart! Many of the people even his own family were turning to this God who brings love, happiness, and healing. Afraid and in pain, Saksee calls out to the One his heart longs to know. His tiny mustard seed of faith begins to grow.In this mission adventure, first published 40 years ago, Norma Youngberg weaves a classic story about the struggle between good and evil in every heart. It's a story that's as fresh as ever for a new generation of young readers. With illustrations and vivid word pictures, Fire on the Mountain tells of a God so loving that no place is too far for Him to find - and no soul is too lost for Him to save.

Lawrence of Arabia


Alistair MacLean - 1962
    That and more is what readers will find in this spellbinding biography of Lawrence of Arabia that is impossible to put down. Bestselling author and screenwriter Alistair MacLean follows Lawrence as he breaks with tradition to live with Arabs and, using modern-day guerrilla tactics, helps them defeat the Turks and gain an independent state. In addition to the enthralling details of the campaign, MacLean provides valuable insight into the origins of the Middle East we know today.

Prelude to Greatness: Lincoln in the 1850s


Don E. Fehrenbacher - 1962
    . . [The] paperback edition of Professor Fehrenbacher’s study, first published in 1962, of Lincoln in the 1850s is a welcome reminder of what can be achieved by a fresh and searching investigation of often-asked questions. . . . The book is lucidly and soberly written, and full of carefully considered argument. It is one more major contribution to the work of putting the slavery issue back where it has always belonged—at the very centre—of any discussion of the origins of the Civil War.”—Journal of American Studies“This is a brilliant book. With thorough research . . . and a fresh point of view, we have a study that will shape Lincoln scholarship for many years.”—The Journal of Southern History

Blackfeet and Buffalo: Memories of Life among the Indians


James Willard Schultz - 1962
    With the disappearance of the buffalo it was as difficult for Schultz to adjust to the new way of life as it was for the other Blackfeet. He took to the mountains and explored the eastern slope of the Rockies, hunting game and guiding other hunters and explorers, including George Bird Grinnell, the Baring brothers, and Ralph Pulitzer. He named mountains, glaciers, and lakes; he was the first to identify the mountain goat; and through his and Grinnell’s efforts the northern portion of the American Rockies was set apart as Glacier National Park.

My Life


Ahmadu Bello - 1962
    The descendant of the great reformer, Shehu Usuman dan Fodio, the Sardauna grew up in the atmosphere of the Muslim and aristocratic tradition of the Fulani conquerors of Northern Nigeria. He reached maturity in a Nigeria that was rapidly advancing towards independent nationhood, with political institutions deriving largely from the traditions of the Christian West. As leader of the Northern Peoples Congress, the majority political party in Northern Nigeria, the Sardauna became the first Premier of that region in 1954.

Hudson Taylor & Maria: A Match Made in Heaven


John Charles Pollock - 1962
    Even more interesting is the story of the relationship at the heart of it all - the story of Hudson and Maria Taylor.There are few love stories as enchanting as that of Hudson Taylor, the pioneering missionary, and Maria Dyer. Their relationship and short marriage flourished in the bitterest of circumstances because their lives were firmly rooted in their devotion to God, as well as to each other.They were a perfect match, (though not perfect people), a couple who show us how to share our lives at the deepest level.John Pollock draws his material extensively from original letters and papers. What unfolds is a picture of courage and adventure in Imperial China, a lost world of pigtails, Mandarins and dragon-roofed temples. It also shows how Maria played a crucial role in shaping the ministry of a Yorkshire lad who, against oriental and western opposition, changed the way that missionaries work.

God Holds The Key


Geoffrey T. Bull - 1962
    

Magnificent Destiny: A Novel About the Great Secret Adventure of Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston


Paul I. Wellman - 1962
    A great Wellman adventure story.

They Shall Not Pass: The Autobiography of La Pasionaria


Dolores Ibárruri - 1962
    The gripping, autobiographical story of the Spanish Civil War by the legendary Communist leader.

Spycatcher omnibus: the spy and counter-spy adventures of Lt. -Col. Oreste Pinto


Oreste Pinto - 1962
    

The Queens and the Hive


Edith Sitwell - 1962
    In the fatal clash between the Protestant Queen of England and the Catholic Queen of Scots, men were determined that "The death of Mary is the life of Elizabeth."In this moving chronicle, a modern poet magnificently recaptures the splendid color and sordid intrigue of the most spectacular period of history in Britain.

Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker


Robert George Reisner - 1962
    His brilliant handling of the alto saxophone inspired a generation of jazz musicians; without him, there would have been no John Coltrane, no Ornette Coleman, no jazz as we know it today.Parker died in 1955 at the age of thirty-five. He left behind a rich legacy of musical innovation and a legend of self-destructive dissipation that made him a votive hero of the hipsters and the beat generation.For this first full-length reminiscence, Reisner interviewed eighty-one of Parker's friends, relatives, and fellow performers. From Charlie Mingus, one of the few real innovators since Bird, and Dizzy Gillespie, whom Parker once called "the other half of my heart," to jazz historian Rudi Blesh and Parker's mother, each remembers Bird in his or her own special way.Thus from the shards and splinters of firsthand reminiscence emerges a telling mosaic of Parker's brief but intense career: the indulgences in drugs and alcohol; the legendary bouts of lovemaking; the temperamental behavior on and off the bandstand; the jam sessions at the Harlem jazz club Minton's Playhouse with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk; and the historic firing from Birdland, the club which took its name from this larger-than-life musician and man.

The Heart to Artemis: A Writer's Memoirs


Bryher - 1962
    Amidst the intellectual circles of the twenties and thirties, she develops relationships with her longtime partner H. D., and with Marianne Moore, Ernest Hemingway, Sigmund Freud, Gertrude Stein, Man Ray, and others. This compelling memoir reveals Bryher's exotic childhood, her impact on modernism, and her sense of social justice-helping over 100 people escape from the Nazis while fleeing the war herself.

Seeing Fingers: The Story of Louis Braille


Etta B. Degering - 1962
    When Louis Braille was almost 4 years old he blinded himself with a sharp awl in his father's harness shop. But the instrument that caused his tragic accident later helped Louis solve the problem of reading.With his six-dot code, Louis Braille opened the doors of universities and libraries, and made available the trades and professions of a sighted world to those who read by touch and see with their fingers." - from the back cover

Towards an American Army: Military Thought from Washington to Marshall


Russell F. Weigley - 1962
    Weigley here wrote a series of biographical essays on the development of American military thought. Starting with the American Revolution, Weigley covers George Washington and Alexander Hamilton; John C. Calhoun; Dennis Hart Mahan; Henry W. Halleck and George B. McClellan; William T. Sherman And Ulysses S. Grant; Emory Upton and his disciples; John A. Logan; John M. Schofield; R. M. Johnston; Leonard Wood; and ending with John McAuley Palmer and George C. Marshall.

Rabad of Posqui`Eres: A Twelfth-Century Talmudist


Isadore Twersky - 1962
    This biographical treatise captures the personality of Rabbad of Posquieres or Rabbi Abraham ben David – one of the most creative talmudic scholars of the twelfth century, chronicles his role in the intellectual history of the Jews in southern France duri

Cross Fire: The Eight Years with Eisenhower


Ezra Taft Benson - 1962
    To all of them, my deep appreciation. I owe a special debt of gratitude to: Dr. Clarence J. ("Doc") Enzler, a long-time USDA employee of high competence and unqualified integrity, who did much of the basic research, arrangement of materials, gave detailed assistance in the style of presentation, and did some of the writing. My staff of loyal, devoted and dedicated public servants without whose united and unselfish service this book would have been impossible. Members of my family who gave helpful suggestions and endured demands on my time which lessened the hours with them. Sam Vaughan of Doubleday for encouragement, editorial help, and for seeing the project through publication. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who invited me, a stranger, into his Cabinet and who through eight difficult but rewarding years, offered his heroic and... well, that story follows.

A child's Story of the Prophet Wilford Woodruff


Deta Petersen Neeley - 1962
    

The Buddha and His Teaching


Ernest K. D. Hunt - 1962
    Hunt began his preaching of Buddhism in the Hawaiian Islands. His work which is now entitled "The Buddha and His Teaching" was written and published in booklet form many years ago for the Buddhist Sunday School use.

Edward Jenner and Smallpox Vaccination


Irmengarde Eberle - 1962
    His invention of vaccination against smallpox was a medical breakthrough. Before him, smallpox was a killer disease, the majority of its victims infants and young children. And, except for the skin lesions, there is nothing small about smallpox. In the twentieth century alone, it killed more than 300 million—three times the number of deaths from all the century's wars and battles combined. While this book was written for young adults and has a Flesch-Kincaid reading level of 7.3., readers of all ages will find the story of Jenner’s work against smallpox inspiring. For years, he battled skeptics who did not think that vaccinations with material from cows could protect humans from smallpox. Read about how he persuaded the world to use new science to save lives.

Thomas Jefferson and His Times, Vol. 3: Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty: Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty


Dumas Malone - 1962
    The University of Virginia Press is pleased to announce that the complete, illustrated six-volume biography is available for the first time in a handsome boxed set. Merrill Peterson, editor of the Library of America edition of Thomas Jefferson's writings, has contributed a new foreword to the Virginia edition.Author Biography: Dumas Malone, 1892-1986, spent thirty-eight years researching and writing Jefferson and His Time. In 1975 he received the Pulitzer Prize in history for the first five volumes. From 1923 to 1929 he taught at the University of Virginia; he left there to join the Dictionary of American Biography, bringing that work to completion as editor-in-chief. Subsequently, he served for seven years as director of the Harvard University Press. After serving on the faculties of Yale and Columbia, Malone retired to the University of Virginia in 1959 as the Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. He remained at the university as biographer-in-residence and finished his Jefferson biography at the University of Virginia, where it was begun.

Franz Rosenzweig: His Life and Thought


Nahum M. Glatzer - 1962
    A reprint of the Schocken Books edition of 1961.

Ivan the Terrible


Sergei Eisentein - 1962
    Part 1 was released in 1945, but the second part was banned and Eisenstein died before he could complete the re-editing."

I Am Not Ashamed


Barbara Payton - 1962
    and ultimately walk the streets of Hollywood as an alcoholic prostitute. But, as she says throughout, she is not ashamed of her life. She achieved rare success in the Hollywood system and went down in an archconservative era, when McCarthy threatened the country's free speech and Hollywood producers ran terrified of even a whiff of scandal. When Payton's boyfriend, actor Tom Neal, pounded a concussion into his effete romantic rival Franchot Tone, the whole incident went public and made Payton the Hollywood bad girl - too bad, as it turned out, for Warner Brothers to handle. Describing her downfall, Payton also talks about her relationships with Cagney, Sinatra, Peck and other big names. Lost for decades after its original 1963 release, I Am Not Ashamed leapt back into the limelight when Jack Nicholson lent it to Jessica Lange to help her prepare for her part in The Postman Always Rings Twice. Now Holloway House Publications has finally released this classic Hollywood tell-all.

Francis: A Biography Of The Saint Of Assissi


Michael de la Bedoyere - 1962
    

Thomas Cranmer


Jasper Ridley - 1962
    Its is based exclusively on contemporary authorities and presents a considerable amount of new material ignored by all previous biographers.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THOMAS BECKET


George Greenaway - 1962
    He was well educated and quickly became an agent to Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him on several missions to Rome. Becket's talents were noticed by King Henry II, who made him his chancellor and the two became close friends. When Theobald died in 1161, Henry made Becket archbishop. Becket transformed himself from a pleasure-loving courtier into a serious, simply-dressed cleric.