His political career afforded him many roles, and he is recognized till today for his accomplishments as a freedom fighter, Congress party boss, chief minister, national leader, kingmaker and opposition leader.Of his many achievements, the ones that Kamaraj is remembered most for are bringing school education to millions of the rural poor by introducing free education and the free Midday Meal Scheme during his tenure as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, and the role he played in bringing to power as prime minister first Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Indira Gandhi.Known for his integrity and his modesty in conduct, Kamaraj exercised his political power for the benefit of the masses and was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1976. Dealing with significant phases of Kamaraj’s life, Bala Jeyaraman explains his actions in a larger historical context.A concise yet comprehensive biography, this book unravels for the reader the story of this exceptional visionary and leader.

    Kennedy’s assassination has been the subject of public and cultural fascination (a film by Oliver Stone, a novel by Stephen King, endless conspiracy theories) for nearly 50 years. It’s time, this brief biography argues, to give equal consideration to Kennedy’s life.

    Kennedy Jr.'s closest confidant. Now, in a beautiful and moving memoir, Littell introduces us to the private John. A story of laughter and sorrow, joy and heartbreak, The Men We Became is an unforgettable memoir.Rob Littell was a freshman at Brown when he met the young JFK, Jr. during orientation week. Although Littell came from a privileged background, it was worlds apart from the glamorous life of the son of the late President and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Eager to be accepted on his own terms, Kennedy admired Littell's irreverence toward his celebrity and they became close friends.John opened up to Littell on a very personal level, revealing the complex and sometimes tense nature of his relationships with his sister and cousins, as well as his mother's extraordinary influence on John-and how they both worked to keep it from being overbearing. John's marriage had its ups and downs and Carolyn had made enemies of some of his friends, but she was in great shape mentally and physically and they were planning to have children. Littell recounts wonderful dinners at Jacqueline Onassis's apartment where she surprised him with his favorite dinner of specially burned hamburgers and weekends at her retreat in Martha's Vineyard where she critiqued their touch football while lying on a chaise lounge, her face covered in cold cream and cucumber slices. As students, Littell and Kennedy bummed around Europe. They slept in Hyde Park, sampled the pleasures of Amsterdam, ran afoul of customs officers and almost got busted at the Ritz Hotel for smoking pot. They even shared apartments in New York City until Jackie summoned them to dinner one day and gently suggested it was time to grow up. The two went on to pursue their professional lives. John trained as a lawyer - and Littell speaks of his friend's anguish at repeatedly failing the bar - and then he founded his own political magazine, which seemed only fitting because Kennedy yearned to live up to the family name and accepted that politics would be his destiny. Later on, Littell was a part of JFK, Jr.'s secret wedding to Carolyn Bessette on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and three years later a pallbearer at his funeral.From shared adventures, private moments and lasting memories, Robert Littell offers a unique look at John F. Kennedy Jr.'s life - one that has never been seen before.

    In this book, Sanders tells the story of a passionate and principled political life. He describes how, after cutting his teeth in the Civil Rights movement, he helped build a grassroots political movement in Vermont, making it possible for him to become the first independent elected to the US House of Representatives in forty years. The story continues into the US Senate and through the dramatic launch of his presidential campaign.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Speaker of the House, senator, secretary of state, five-time presidential candidate, and idol to the young Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is captured in full at last in this rich and sweeping biography that vividly portrays all the drama of his times.David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler present Clay in his early years as a precocious, witty, and optimistic Virginia boy, raised on a farm, who at the age of twenty transformed himself from bumpkin to attorney—a shrewd and sincere defender of the ordinary man who would be his eventual political base. The authors reveal Clay’s tumultuous career in Washington, one that transformed the capital and the country. Nicknamed “the Western Star,” Clay became the youngest Speaker of the House shortly before the War of 1812 and transformed that position into one of unprecedented power. Then, as a senator, he joined and sometimes fought John Calhoun and Daniel Webster to push through crucial legislation affecting everything from slavery to banking. Commonly regarded as the greatest U.S. senator in history, Clay served under ten presidents and overshadowed most of them, with the notable exception of his archrival Andrew Jackson. Clay ran unsuccessfully for president five times, and his participation in the deadlocked election of 1824 brought about the “Corrupt Bargain” with John Quincy Adams that made Clay secretary of state—and haunted him for the rest of his career. As no other book, Henry Clay humanizes Clay’s marriage to plain, wealthy Lucretia Hart, a union rumored to be mercenary on his part but that lasted fifty-three years and produced eleven children.Featuring an inimitable supporting cast including Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, James Polk, and Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is beautifully written and replete with fresh anecdotes and insights. But it is Henry Clay who often rises above them all. Horse trader and risk taker, arm twister and joke teller, Clay was the consummate politician who gave ground, made deals, and changed the lives of millions. His life is an astounding tale—and here superbly told.

    Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, Martina Navratilova knew by the age of ten that she wanted to be a Wimbledon champion -- and a U.S. citizen. She would attain her goals and so much more -- but not before her incredible life unfolded in ways not even she could have dared imagine.MARTINA is more than the thrilling story of an unparalleled career in the tough, sexy world of women's tennis. It is a startling tale of love (with famed novelist Rita Mae Brown), tragedy (her father "disappeared" when Martina was eight, and only later did she learn the true cause of his death), and personal as well as professional triumph. It includes fascinating, intimate portraits of the greats of women's tennis -- King, Evert, Casals, Austin -- plus revealing glimpses of her working relationship with basketball star Nancy Lieberman.Emotion. Grit. Intensity. Integrity. Martina's shown them all from Flushing Meadows to Wimbledon, from Dallas to Paris to Sydney to Prague. Here they are again, in an autobiography only a champion could write."Fascinating and unexpectedly candid." --The San Francisco Chronicle

    

    This will become a treasured addition to the collections of Elvis fans everywhere.

    For almost a century, historians have speculated about the role this improbable holy man played in the start of the Russian Revolution and the demise of the Romanov dynasty. But in 1995, a lost file from the State Archives of Russia mysteriously turned up, a file containing the extensive and often explicit testimony of both Rasputin's inner circle and those who kept him under police surveillance.The first to draw on this substantial amplification of the record as well as numerous archival sources, Edvard Radzinsky, author of the bestselling STALIN and THE LAST TSAR, masterfully reconstructs the life of this remarkable man who rose to prominence in the twentieth-century Russia. From the complexities of Rasputin's religious calling to controversial nature of his relationship with the tsarina and his coterie of female followers, from the extent of his influence at court to the spellbinding details of his brutal death, THE RASPUTIN FILE dispels the contradictory myths in an utterly convincing, definitive portrait that is every bit as mesmerizing as the legend.

    In these uncensored memoirs, he shares his thoughts and bares his soul. Here is the most unorthodox book yet from this controversial man of the cloth.

    She has since become a myth, a style icon existing between the glamour of Hollywood and the royalty of Monaco. As Hitchcock's favorite actress to work with, Kelly acted in classic films including Rear Window and To Catch a Thief, opposite actors such as Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant. Yet her private life remained in the shadows. Her marriage to Prince Rainier III was not anchored by love, and her life on the Riviera was more akin to a golden cage. She was an individual torn between illusion and reality, simultaneously idolized by millions.This comprehensive biography draws from previously unreleased documents from the Grimaldi family archive and, for the first time, access to the letters between Kelly and Hitchcock. It is also based on interviews with Kelly's companions and relatives, including an exclusive interview with Prince Albert II of Monaco.

    One is of his youth in rural Mississippi and his devotion to his brother whose life ended in seeming tragedy. The other tells of his ordination at age 17 and gradual realization that civil rightsfor blacks, for women, for gays was an essential part of a ministry that has not yet ended.

    Making it through 333 of them is a mark of greatness. Whether it was on the ice or off it, Tie Domi was driven to be the best at his job and was gifted with an extraordinary ability to withstand pain. He made a career out of protecting the people around him and became known as someone who would stand up for the people who needed it most.Raised by immigrant parents in Belle River, Domi found success from an early age on the field and the rink. A gifted athlete in whatever sport he played, Tie eventually focused his sights on hockey. As he moved up the junior ranks, he made a name for himself as a player who was always ready to take on anyone who dared to cross his teammates.Tie’s reputation followed him into the NHL, and it wasn’t long before he ranked among the game’s most feared—and fearless—enforcers. From New York to Winnipeg to Toronto, Tie quickly became a fan favourite in whatever city he played. As he went about working his name into the record books, Tie surrounded himself with people from every walk of life, learning from each one as he evolved into a respected leader who was never afraid to tell it like it was.In Shift Work, Tie recounts the ups and downs of his life on and off the ice, showing what he has learned and how he has grown as both a player and a person. He offers insight into the most memorable points of his career, sharing his successes and mistakes with unparalleled honesty. Shift Work shows Tie Domi as he is—a devoted father and friend, a valued and loyal team player, a magnetic personality, and an athlete of immense skill and courage.

    This highly entertaining biography, written by Jason Thomas and culled from the recollections and family records of Duke's godson, Pony Duke, represents the only candid record of Doris Duke's remarkable life and highly controversial death. From early childhood—too rich to play with other children for fear of disease, kidnapping, or mixing with those of less desirable lineage—Doris was virtually imprisoned in a cold, sterile mansion on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue (the house reeked of ammonia used to keep her environment germ-free) with a powerful father and a bitter, blue-blooded mother. As she broke free into adulthood, Doris inherited a massive fortune and learned to live life on her own terms. She entered into an arranged marriage and later divorced (her first); she learned the ways of sex and desire in the arms of a muscular Hawaiian Olympic champion; she followed her next love into World War II and returned alone. And amid her numerous and headline-making affairs, Doris Duke increased her vast wealth. Her investments in real estate, art, and business allowed her to leave behind far more money than she inherited, something few heiresses can boast. She learned from an early age that those who befriended her mind or romanced her body more than likely desired her wallet, and this realization left Doris Duke a lonely woman.<br>From interviews, private family documents, and the words of Doris herself, Too Rich provides facts and insights never before unearthed by the outside media. Her bizarre adoption of a thirty-five-year-old woman, Chandi Heffner, and, in later years, sensational events surrounding Duke's death and suspected murder in 1993—including the inside story of her butler, Bernard Lafferty—are meticulously documented in this uniquely intimate portrait of one of the most interesting and controversial celebrities of the twentieth century.<br><br>PONY DUKE is Doris Duke's cousin and godson and one of the surviving members of the Duke clan. He is a self-employed businessman and rancher living in Montana. JASON THOMAS is a novelist and former nationally syndicated columnist.<br><br>She was the richest child born in America; she had the president's private phone number; her scandalous marriages and affairs—with an ambassador, Olympian, musician, politician, general, international stud, and movie star—were legendary. But who, really, was Doris Duke? Who was the mysterious woman behind the billions, who took private pleasure in singing gospel music, loving nature, and seducing men? What insurmountable rules and expectations of wealth corralled her life into the world of the lonely elite—and led, at the age of eighty, to her alleged murder?<br><br>Too Rich was made into a successful CBS television mini-series entitled Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke starring Richard Chamberlain and Lauren Bacall.