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Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba
by Alma Flor AdaThe author recalls her life and impressions growing up in Cuba.<P><P> Winner of the Pura Belpre Medal
Descartes's Secret Notebook: A True Tale of Mathematics, Mysticism , and the Quest to Understand the Universe
by Amir D. AczelRené Descartes (1596–1650) is one of the towering and central figures in Western philosophy and mathematics. His apothegm “Cogito, ergo sum” marked the birth of the mind-body problem, while his creation of so-called Cartesian coordinates have made our physical and intellectual conquest of physical space possible. But Descartes had a mysterious and mystical side, as well. Almost certainly a member of the occult brotherhood of the Rosicrucians, he kept a secret notebook, now lost, most of which was written in code. After Descartes’s death, Gottfried Leibniz, inventor of calculus and one of the greatest mathematicians in history, moved to Paris in search of this notebook—and eventually found it in the possession of Claude Clerselier, a friend of Descartes. Leibniz called on Clerselier and was allowed to copy only a couple of pages—which, though written in code, he amazingly deciphered there on the spot. Leibniz’s hastily scribbled notes are all we have today of Descartes’s notebook, which has disappeared. Why did Descartes keep a secret notebook, and what were its contents? The answers to these questions lead Amir Aczel and the reader on an exciting, swashbuckling journey, and offer a fascinating look at one of the great figures of Western culture.
The Mystery of the Aleph
by Amir D. AczelThe history of infinity emphasizing the people who were interested in the concept. Stresses philosophical and religious importance of mathematical ideas throughout history. Fascinating even if math is not your strong suit.
Pendulum
by Amir D. AczelHe was neither a mathematician nor a trained physicist and yet Léon Foucault always knew that a mysterious force of nature was among us. Like Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, and others before him, Foucault sensed a dramatic relationship between the rotating skies above and the seemingly motionless ground beneath our feet. But it wasn't until 1851 -- in Paris, inside the Panthéon, and in the company of fellow amateur scientist Napoleon III -- that Foucault swung a pendulum and demonstrated an extraordinary truth about the world: that it turns on its axis. Pendulum is a fascinating journey through the mind and findings of one of the most important and lesser-known characters in the history of science. Through careful research and lively anecdotes, world-renowned author Amir D. Aczel reveals the astonishing range and breadth of Foucault's discoveries. For, in addition to offering the first unequivocal proof of Earth's rotation, Foucault gave us the modern electric compass and microscope, was a pioneer in photographic technology, and made remarkable deductions about color theory, heat waves, and the speed of light. At its heart, Pendulum is a story about the illustrious period in France during the Second Empire; the crucial triumph of science over religion; and, most compelling, the life of a struggling, self-made man whose pursuit of knowledge continues to inform our notions about the universe today.
A Strange Wilderness: The Lives of the Great Mathematicians
by Amir D. AczelThe international bestselling author of Fermat&’s Last Theorem explores the eccentric lives of history&’s foremost mathematicians. From Archimedes&’s eureka moment to Alexander Grothendieck&’s seclusion in the Pyrenees, bestselling author Amir Aczel selects the most compelling stories in the history of mathematics, creating a colorful narrative that explores the quirky personalities behind some of the most groundbreaking, influential, and enduring theorems. Alongside revolutionary innovations are incredible tales of duels, battlefield heroism, flamboyant arrogance, pranks, secret societies, imprisonment, feuds, and theft—as well as some costly errors of judgment that prove genius doesn&’t equal street smarts. Aczel&’s colorful and enlightening profiles offer readers a newfound appreciation for the tenacity, complexity, eccentricity, and brilliance of our greatest mathematicians.
The Artist and the Mathematician
by Amir AczelNicolas Bourbaki, whose mathematical publications began to appear in the late 1930s and continued to be published through most of the twentieth century, was a direct product as well as a major force behind an important revolution that took place in the early decades of the twentieth century that completely changed Western culture. Pure mathematics, the area of Bourbaki's work, seems on the surface to be an abstract field of human study with no direct connection with the real world. In reality, however, it is closely intertwined with the general culture that surrounds it. Major developments in mathematics have often followed important trends in popular culture; developments in mathematics have acted as harbingers of change in the surrounding human culture. The seeds of change, the beginnings of the revolution that swept the Western world in the early decades of the twentieth century -- both in mathematics and in other areas -- were sown late in the previous century. This is the story both of Bourbaki and the world that created him in that time. It is the story of an elaborate intellectual joke -- because Bourbaki, one of the foremost mathematicians of his day -- never existed.
Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (Vintage International)
by Oscar Zeta AcostaBefore his mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was famous as a Robin Hood Chicano layer and notorious as the real-life model for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo," a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan appetite for food, drugs, and life on the edge. Written with uninhibited candor and manic energy, this book is Acosta's own account of coming of age as a Chicano in the psychedelic sixties, of taking on impossible cases while breaking all the rules of courtroom conduct, and of scrambling headlong in search of a personal and cultural identity.
The Revolt of the Cockroach People
by Oscar Zeta AcostaThe further adventures of "Dr. Gonzo" as he defends the "cucarachas" -- the Chicanos of East Los Angeles. Before his mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was famous as a Robin Hood Chicano lawyer and notorious as the real-life model for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo" a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan appetite for food, drugs, and life on the edge. In this exhilarating sequel to The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, Acosta takes us behind the front lines of the militant Chicano movement of the late sixties and early seventies, a movement he served both in the courtroom and on the barricades. Here are the brazen games of "chicken" Acosta played against the Anglo legal establishment; battles fought with bombs as well as writs; and a reluctant hero who faces danger not only from the police but from the vatos locos he champions. What emerges is at once an important political document of a genuine popular uprising and a revealing, hilarious, and moving personal saga.
Cubano Be, Cubano Bop: One Hundred Years of Jazz in Cuba
by Leonardo Acosta Daniel Whitesell Paquito D'RiveraBased on unprecedented research in Cuba, the direct testimony of scores of Cuban musicians, and the author's unique experience as a prominent jazz musician, Cubano Be, Cubano Bop is destined to take its place among the classics of jazz history. The work pays tribute not only to a distinguished lineage of Cuban jazz musicians and composers, but also to the rich musical exchanges between Cuban and American jazz throughout the twentieth century.The work begins with the first encounters between Cuban music and jazz around the turn of the last century. Acosta writes about the presence of Cuban musicians in New Orleans and the "Spanish tinge" in early jazz from the city, the formation and spread of the first jazz ensembles in Cuba, the big bands of the thirties, and the inception of "Latin jazz." He explores the evolution of Bebop, Feeling, and Mambo in the forties, leading to the explosion of Cubop or Afro-Cuban jazz and the innovations of the legendary musicians and composers Machito, Mario Bauzá, Dizzy Gillespie, and Chano Pozo. The work concludes with a new generation of Cuban jazz artists, including the Grammy award-winning musicians and composers Chucho Valdés and Paquito D'Rivera.
The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America
by Jim AcostaFrom CNN’s veteran Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, an explosive, first-hand account of the dangers he faces reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in President Trump’s war on truth. In Mr. Trump’s campaign against what he calls “Fake News,” CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta, is public enemy number one. <P><P>From the moment Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he has attacked the media, calling journalists “the enemy of the people.” Acosta presents a revealing examination of bureaucratic dysfunction, deception, and the unprecedented threat the rhetoric Mr. Trump is directing has on our democracy. When the leader of the free world incites hate and violence, Acosta doesn’t back down, and he urges his fellow citizens to do the same. <P><P>At CNN, Acosta offers a never-before-reported account of what it’s like to be the President’s least favorite correspondent. Acosta goes head-to-head with the White House, even after Trump supporters have threatened his life with words as well as physical violence. From the hazy denials and accusations meant to discredit the Mueller investigation, to the president’s scurrilous tweets, Jim Acosta is in the eye of the storm while reporting live to millions of people across the world. <P><P>After spending hundreds of hours with the revolving door of White House personnel, Acosta paints portraits of the personalities of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner and more. Acosta is tenacious and unyielding in his public battle to preserve the First Amendment and #RealNews. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America
by Jim AcostaA New York Times bestseller.From CNN’s veteran Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, an explosive, first-hand account of the dangers he faces reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in President Trump’s war on truth, featuring new material exclusive to the paperback edition. In Mr. Trump’s campaign against what he calls “Fake News,” CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta, is public enemy number one. From the moment Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he has attacked the media, calling journalists “the enemy of the people.”Acosta presents a damning examination of bureaucratic dysfunction, deception, and the unprecedented threat the rhetoric Mr. Trump is directing has on our democracy. When the leader of the free world incites hate and violence, Acosta doesn’t back down, and he urges his fellow citizens to do the same.At Mr. Trump’s most hated network, CNN, Acosta offers a never-before-reported account of what it’s like to be the President’s most hated correspondent. Acosta goes head-to-head with the White House, even after Trump supporters have threatened his life with words as well as physical violence.From the hazy denials and accusations meant to discredit the Mueller investigation, to the president’s scurrilous tweets, Jim Acosta is in the eye of the storm while reporting live to millions of people across the world. After spending hundreds of hours with the revolving door of White House personnel, Acosta paints portraits of the personalities of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner and more. Acosta is tenacious and unyielding in his public battle to preserve the First Amendment and #RealNews.
The Enemy of the People \ El enemigo del pueblo (Spanis edition): Una época peligrosa para contar la verdad en América
by Jim AcostaDel veterano corresponsal de la Casa Blanca de la CNN, Jim Acosta, un explosivo relato de primera mano sobre los peligros que enfrenta al informar sobre la actual Casa Blanca mientras se encontraba en la primera línea de una Guerra con el presidente Trump por contar la verdad.En la campaña de Trump contra lo que él presidente llama "Noticias falsas", el corresponsal principal de la CNN en la Casa Blanca, Jim Acosta, es el enemigo público número uno. Desde el momento en que el Sr. Trump anunció su candidatura en 2015, ha atacado a los medios de comunicación y ha llamado a los periodistas "el enemigo del pueblo".Acosta presenta un examen condenatorio de la disfunción burocrática, el engaño y la amenaza sin precedentes que la retórica que dirige el señor Trump en nuestra democracia. Cuando el líder del mundo libre incita al odio y la violencia, Acosta no retrocede y exhorta a sus conciudadanos a hacer lo mismo. En el canal de televisión más odiado por el Sr. Trump, CNN, Acosta ofrece un informe nunca narrado de lo que es ser el corresponsal más odiado del presidente. Acosta se enfrenta con la Casa Blanca, incluso después de que los partidarios de Trump hayan amenazado su vida con palabras y con violencia física. Desde los nebulosos rechazos y acusaciones que pretenden desacreditar la investigación de Mueller hasta los escandalosos tuits del presidente, Jim Acosta está en el ojo de la tormenta mientras informa a millones de personas en todo el mundo. Después de pasar cientos de horas en suspenso con el personal de la Casa Blanca, Acosta pinta retratos de las personalidades de Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner y más. Acosta es tenaz e inflexible en su batalla pública para preservar la Primera Enmienda y lo que él llama #RealNews (#noticiasreales).
Plata como cancha: Secretos, impunidad y fortuna de César Acuña
by Christopher AcostaUna exhaustiva investigación periodística que revelan secretos, impunidad y fortuna del político peruano César Acuña Este no es un perfil oficial ni una biografía autorizada. Es más bien la exposición de un proceder, de una conducta. El periodista Christopher Acosta Alfaro escarba en la narrativa que el actual candidato a la presidencia del Perú, César Acuña, ha urdido durante años tanto política como comercialmente. Y demuestra que solo su fortuna ha sido capaz de crear un sistema que compensa atropellos y silencia agraviados. Valiéndose de una exhaustiva investigación que incluye expedientes judiciales y fiscales, resoluciones gubernamentales, informes de inteligencia, acuerdos confidenciales, así como un amplio acceso al círculo más íntimo del político y empresario, el autor de Plata como cancha saca a la luz las piezas de un rompecabezas donde el poder y el dinero se solapan entre sí, en las historias que se cuentan aquí por primera vez. «Si César Acuña no fuera rico —señala Acosta Alfaro en estas páginas—, estaría, muy probablemente, preso».
Presidentes por accidente: Castillo y Boluarte. Corrupción, golpe y suerte
by Christopher AcostaEL MEJOR PERIODISTA DE INVESTIGACIÓN TRAS LA HUELLA DEL ACCIDENTE QUE LLEVÓ A PEDRO CASTILLO Y DINA BOLUARTE A LA PRESIDENCIA Si a Pedro Castillo lo conocíamos poco, a Dina Boluarte, menos. ¿Quién es la mujer que, tras un fallido golpe de Estado, asume el poder del país? ¿Quién el hombre que intenta retenerlo, convencido de una traición de quien lo sucede? Presidentes por accidente, la nueva investigación periodística de Christopher Acosta -autor del bestseller Plata como cancha-, nos revela detalles hasta ahora desconocidos, no solo de las biografías y las personalidades de Castillo y Boluarte, sino de cómo estas explican las controvertidas decisiones que adoptaron tras colocarse la banda presidencial. Boluarte llega a la presidencia ahorrándose aquello que más temen los candidatos de una campaña electoral: el escrutinio de sus actos públicos y sus vidas privadas. Este libro llena ese vacío. Acorralado por las investigaciones en su contra, Castillo cierra su paso por el Gobierno con un número temerario y espectacular: el de un clavadista que se lanza a una piscina que sabe sin agua. Pero ¿son en verdad ambos personajes tan diferentes como se presentan? Estas páginas delinean el doble perfil de nuestros dos últimos presidentes, pero son también una apasionante crónica política colmada de intrigas, traiciones y corrupción. Una historia que demuestra que para Castillo y Boluarte la presidencia es algo que les sucede: un acontecimiento en sus vidas.
No Way Home: A Dancer's Journey from the Streets of Havana to the Stages of the World
by Carlos AcostaCarlos Acosta, the Cuban dancer considered to be one of the world's greatest performers, fearlessly depicts his journey from adolescent troublemaker to international superstar in his captivating memoir, No Way Home.Carlos was just another kid from the slums of Havana; the youngest son of a truck driver and a housewife, he ditched school with his friends and dreamed of becoming Cuba's best soccer player. Exasperated by his son's delinquent behavior, Carlos's father enrolled him in ballet school, subjecting him to grueling days that started at five thirty in the morning and ended long after sunset. The path from student to star was not an easy one. Even as he won dance competitions and wowed critics around the world, Carlos was homesick for Cuba, crippled by loneliness and self-doubt. As he traveled the world, Carlos struggled to overcome popular stereotypes and misconceptions; to maintain a relationship with his family; and, most of all, to find a place he could call home. This impassioned memoir is about more than Carlos's rise to stardom. It is about a young man forced to leave his homeland and loved ones for a life of self-discipline, displacement, and physical hardship. It is also about how the heart and soul of a country can touch the heart and soul of one of its citizens. With candor and humor, Carlos vividly depicts daily life in communist Cuba, his feelings about ballet -- an art form he both lovesand hates -- and his complex relationship with his father. Carlos Acosta makes dance look effortless, but the grace, strength, and charisma we see onstage have come at a cost. Here, in his own words, is the story of the price he paid.
Dance to the Piper
by Joan Acocella Agnes De MilleBorn into a family of successful playwrights and producers, Agnes de Mille was determined to be an actress. Then one day she witnessed the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova, and her life was altered forever. Hypnotized by Pavlova's beauty, in that moment de Mille dedicated herself to dance. Her memoir records with lighthearted humor and wisdom not only the difficulties she faced--the resistance of her parents, the sacrifices of her training--but also the frontier atmosphere of early Hollywood and New York and London during the Depression. "This is the story of an American dancer," writes de Mille, "a spoiled egocentric wealthy girl, who learned with difficulty to become a worker, to set and meet standards, to brace a Victorian sensibility to contemporary roughhousing, and who, with happy good fortune, participated by the side of great colleagues in a renaissance of the most ancient and magical of all the arts."
Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints
by Joan AcocellaHere is a dazzling collection from Joan Acocella, one of our most admired cultural critics: thirty-one essays that consider the life and work of some of the most influential artists of our time (and two saints: Joan of Arc and Mary Magdalene). Acocella writes about Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor and chemist, who wrote the classic memoir,Survival in Auschwitz; M. F. K. Fisher who, numb with grief over her husband’s suicide, dictated the witty and classicHow to Cook a Wolf; and many other subjects, including Dorothy Parker, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Saul Bellow. Twenty-Eight Artists and Two Saintsis indispensable reading on the making of art—and the courage, perseverance, and, sometimes, dumb luck that it requires.
Alfred Hitchcock
by Peter AckroydA gripping short biography of the extraordinary Alfred Hitchock, the master of suspense. Alfred Hitchcock was a strange child. Fat, lonely, burning with fear and ambition, his childhood was an isolated one, scented with fish from his father's shop. Afraid to leave his bedroom, he would plan great voyages, using railway timetables to plot an exact imaginary route across Europe. So how did this fearful figure become the one of the most respected film directors of the twentieth century? As an adult, Hitch rigorously controlled the press's portrait of him, drawing certain carefully selected childhood anecdotes into full focus and blurring all others out. In this quick-witted portrait, Ackroyd reveals something more: a lugubriously jolly man fond of practical jokes, who smashes a once-used tea cup every morning to remind himself of the frailty of life. Iconic film stars make cameo appearances, just as Hitch did in his own films: Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, and James Stewart despair of his detached directing style and, perhaps most famously of all, Tippi Hedren endures cuts and bruises from a real-life fearsome flock of birds. Alfred Hitchcock wrests the director's chair back from the master of control and discovers what lurks just out of sight, in the corner of the shot.
A Brief Guide to William Shakespeare (Brief Histories)
by Peter AckroydAn accessible and entertaining journey through the life, times, and work of the Bard - Enigma. Master of language. The greatest comedian in history? The most famous writer in the world. But isn't he a little bit boring? This is an essential guide for anyone who has previously avoided the Bard, and is the perfect introduction for first time students or seasoned theatre lovers. The book contains a full commentary of all the plays by bestselling and reknowned writer Peter Ackroyd as well as full descriptions of the cast and the drama; not forgetting the best speeches, and the wit and wisdom from across the works. There is also an opportunity to explore the poems and a complete set of sonnets, as well as an investigation of who the dark lady might have been.Contains:The complete sonnets; the greatest speeches; the best lines.Perfect for students struggling through their first play or for theatre lovers anywhere.Entertaining, accessible, Shakespeare without the boring bits.
Charlie Chaplin
by Peter AckroydA brief yet definitive new biography of one of film's greatest legends: perfect for readers who want to know more about the iconic star but who don't want to commit to a lengthy work.He was the very first icon of the silver screen and is one of the most recognizable of Hollywood faces, even a hundred years after his first film. But what of the man behind the moustache? Peter Ackroyd's new biography turns the spotlight on Chaplin's life as well as his work, from his humble theatrical beginnings in music halls to winning an honorary Academy Award. Everything is here, from the glamor of his golden age to the murky scandals of the 1940s and eventual exile to Switzerland. There are charming anecdotes along the way: playing the violin in a New York hotel room to mask the sound of Stan Laurel frying pork chops and long Hollywood lunches with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. This masterful brief biography offers fresh revelations about one of the most familiar faces of the last century and brings the Little Tramp vividly to life.
Chaucer: Ackroyd's Brief Lives
by Peter AckroydGeoffrey Chaucer enjoyed an eventful life, serving with the Duke of Clarence and with Edward III. Through his wife, Philippa, he gained the patronage of John of Gaunt, which helped him carve out a career at Court. His official posts included Controller of Customs at the Port of London, Knight of the Shire for Kent, and King's Forester. He went on numerous adventurous diplomatic missions to France and Italy, and in 1359 was taken prisoner in France and ransomed. He began to write in the 1360s, and his masterpiece,The Canterbury Tales, dominated the last part of his life. He died in 1400. Peter Ackroyd's short biography, rich in drama and colour, evokes the medieval world of London and Kent, and provides an entertaining introduction to Chaucer's poetry.
J.M.W. Turner
by Peter AckroydAlso available in ACKROYD’S BRIEF LIVES ChaucerIn this second volume in the Ackroyd’s Brief Lives series, bestselling author Peter Ackroyd brings us a man of humble beginnings, crude manners, and prodigious talents, the nineteenth-century painter J. M. W. Turner. Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in London in 1775. His father was a barber, and his mother came from a family of London butchers. “His speech was recognizably that of a Cockney, and his language was the language of the streets. ” As his finest paintings show, his language was also the language of light. Turner’s landscapes—extraordinary studies in light, colour, and texture—caused an uproar during his lifetime and earned him a place as one of the greatest artists in history. Displaying his artistic abilities as a young child, Turner entered the Royal Academy of Arts when he was just fourteen years old. A year later his paintings appeared in an important public exhibition, and he rapidly achieved prominence, becoming a Royal Academician in 1802 and Professor of Perspective at the Academy from 1807–1837. His private life, however, was less orderly. Never married, he spent much time living in taverns, where he was well known for his truculence and his stinginess with money. Peter Ackroyd deftly follows Turner’s first loves of architecture, engraving, and watercolours, and the country houses, cathedrals, and landscapes of England. While his passion for Italy led him to oil painting, Turner’s love for London remained central to his heart and soul, and it was within sight of his beloved Thames that he died in 1851. His dying words were: “The sun is God. ”
The Life of Thomas More
by Peter AckroydPeter Ackroyd's The Life of Thomas More is a masterful reconstruction of the life and imagination of one of the most remarkable figures of history. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a renowned statesman; the author of a political fantasy that gave a name to a literary genre and a worldview (Utopia); and, most famously, a Catholic martyr and saint.Born into the professional classes, Thomas More applied his formidable intellect and well-placed connections to become the most powerful man in England, second only to the king. As much a work of history as a biography, The Life of Thomas More gives an unmatched portrait of the everyday, religious, and intellectual life of the early sixteenth century. In Ackroyd's hands, this renowned "man for all seasons" emerges in the fullness of his complex humanity; we see the unexpected side of his character--such as his preference for bawdy humor--as well as his indisputable moral courage.
Newton
by Peter AckroydThe third short biography in Peter Ackroyd’s brilliantBrief Livesseries, Newton is a companion volume to Chaucer and Turner. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) is said to have made his greatest contributions to science in 1665-66 while at his parents’ home in Lincolnshire escaping the Great Plague (which had closed the universities). It was at this fruitful time that he formulated calculus, hit upon the idea of gravity and performed experiments which showed that white light was made up of different coloured rays. Newton wrote Principia, one of the most important books in the history of science, in which he proved the “laws of motion. ” He was also interested in the movements of the planets and designed his own telescope, and was as passionate about astrology as he was about astronomy. Newton dabbled in alchemy, and used the Bible to work out that the date of the earth’s creation was 3,500 B. C. Newton is a wonderful subject for a writer with Peter Ackroyd’s imagination and flair: the alchemist, the magician, the thinker light years ahead of his time. Einstein wrote of Newton: “In one person, he combined the experimenter, the theorist, the mechanic and, not least, the artist in exposition. ”
Poe: A Life Cut Short
by Peter AckroydGothic, mysterious, theatrical, fatally flawed, and dazzling, the life of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America's greatest and most versatile writers, is the ideal subject for Peter Ackroyd. Poe wrote lyrical poetry and macabre psychological melodramas; invented the first fictional detective; and produced pioneering works of science fiction and fantasy. His innovative style, images, and themes had a tremendous impact on European romanticism, symbolism, and surrealism, and continue to influence writers today. In this essential addition to his canon of acclaimed biographies, Peter Ackroyd explores Poe's literary accomplishments and legacy against the background of his erratic, dramatic, and sometimes sordid life. Ackroyd chronicles Poe's difficult childhood, his bumpy academic and military careers, and his complex relationships with women, including his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin. He describes Poe's much-written-about problems with gambling and alcohol with sympathy and insight, showing their connections to Poe's childhood and the trials, as well as the triumphs, of his adult life. Ackroyd's thoughtful, perceptive examinations of some of Poe's most famous works shed new light on these classics and on the troubled and brilliant genius who created them.