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Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove
by Paul AlexanderKarl Rove has come to personify scorched earth political tactics and merciless, win-at-any-cost trickery. His status as the so-called architect behind Bush's election victories has elevated him to a mythic kingmaker in the national imagination. Not since Mark Hanna, special assistant to President William McKinley, has someone not elected to public office played such a vital role in the governance of our nation. We know the myth, but who is the man? In Machiavelli's Shadow, the full, unvarnished truth about the mastermind of the Bush administration is revealed as swirling scandals and Karl Rove's diminished power have freed people to speak candidly as never before. Acclaimed author and veteran journalist Paul Alexander tracks Rove's journey from consummate outsider to presidential consigliere, conducting firsthand interviews with A-list sources who have never gone on the record about Rove before now. The result is a gripping, no-holds-barred account of the man whose insistence on politicizing any area on which he has advised the president—from the war in Iraq to domestic issues like Social Security, energy, the environment, and hotly controversial judicial matters—has brought about his own fall from grace and an escalating crisis within the government and the nation. Drawing on the author's extensive connections in the political arena and delving into all areas of Rove's life—political, business, psychological, and personal—this book stands as the definitive portrait of one of the most fascinating figures ever to emerge on the American political scene.
Machiavelli: A Biography
by Miles J. UngerHe is the most infamous and influential political writer of all time. His name has become synonymous with cynical scheming and the selfish pursuit of power. Niccolò Machiavelli, Florentine diplomat and civil servant, is the father of political science. His most notorious work, The Prince, is a primer on how to acquire and retain power without regard to scruple or conscience. His other masterpiece, The Discourses, offers a profound analysis of the workings of the civil state and a hardheaded assessment of human nature. Machiavelli’s philosophy was shaped by the tumultuous age in which he lived, an age of towering geniuses and brutal tyrants. He was on intimate terms with Leonardo and Michelangelo. His first political mission was to spy on the fire-and-brimstone preacher Savonarola. As a diplomat, he matched wits with the corrupt and carnal Pope Alexander VI and his son, the notorious Cesare Borgia, whose violent career served as a model for The Prince. His insights were gleaned by closely studying men like Julius II, the “Warrior Pope,” and his successor, the vacillating Clement VII, as well as two kings of France and the Holy Roman Emperor. Analyzing their successes and failures, Machiavelli developed his revolutionary approach to power politics. Machiavelli was, above all, a student of human nature. In The Prince he wrote a practical guide to the aspiring politician that is based on the world as it is, not as it should be. He has been called cold and calculating, cynical and immoral. In reality, argues biographer Miles Unger, he was a deeply humane writer whose controversial theories were a response to the violence and corruption he saw around him. He was a psychologist with acute insight into human nature centuries before Freud. A brilliant and witty writer, he was not only a political theorist but also a poet and the author of La Mandragola, the finest comedy of the Italian Renaissance. He has been called the first modern man, unafraid to contemplate a world without God. Rising from modest beginnings on the strength of his own talents, he was able to see through the pious hypocrisy of the age in which he lived. Miles Unger has relied on original Italian sources as well as his own deep knowledge of Florence in writing this fascinating and authoritative account of a genius whose work remains as relevant today as when he wrote it.
Machiavelli: A Portrait
by Christopher S. Celenza&“Explores why . . . The Prince . . . continues to enthrall readers and . . . can help enrich the way we understand [the statesman]. . . . A compelling portrait&” (Kirkus Reviews). The man whose name is shorthand for all that is ugly in politics was more nuanced than his reputation suggests. Christopher Celenza&’s portrait of Machiavelli removes the varnish to reveal not just the hardnosed philosopher but the skilled diplomat, learned commentator on ancient history, comic playwright, tireless letter writer, and thwarted lover. &“Machiavellian. The very word calls up images of plots, daggers and devious minds. Christopher Celenza separates the man from the melodrama.&” —Sydney Morning Herald &“Both readable and trustworthy.&” —Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly &“Demonstrates how Machiavelli&’s thoughts on conflict and leadership are relevant to today&’s political world.&” —Choice &“By setting the author of The Prince in his historical context, Christopher Celenza captures the brilliance, risk-taking, danger, and sheer exuberant delight of the Italian Renaissance . . . Celenza enables us to seize upon what continues to be relevant in [Machiavelli&’s] work to our own time and place.&” —Stephen Greenblatt, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern &“Celenza&’s Machiavelli is a man passionately engaged in history, a scholar of the past whose interests run from the remote annals of ancient Rome to the tormented chronicles of early modern Italy, and an unflaggingly committed participant in the events of his own time. The result is a singularly humane portrait of a wise man making his way through what was often a cruel, chaotic world.&” —Ingrid Rowland, University of Notre Dame
Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction
by Quentin SkinnerI think of Machiavelli essentially as the exponent of a neo-classical form of humanist political thought. I argue in addition that the most original and creative aspects of his political vision are best understood as a series of polemical -- sometimes even satirical -- reactions against the humanist assumptions he inherited and basically continued to endorse. While my principal aim has been to provide a straightforward introduction to Machiavelli's views on statecraft, I hope that this interpretation may also be of some interest to specialists in the field.
Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power (Eminent Lives)
by Ross KingNew York Times bestselling author Ross King’s biography Machiavelli is “a convincing portrait of one of the most misunderstood thinkers of all time.”*The author of The Prince—his controversial handbook on power, which is one of the most influential books ever written—Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was no prince himself. Born to an established middle-class family, Machiavelli worked as a courtier and diplomat for the Republic of Florence and enjoyed some small fame in his time as the author of bawdy plays and poems. In this discerning biography, Ross King rescues Machiavelli’s legacy from caricature, detailing the vibrant political and social context that influenced his thought and underscoring the humanity of one of history’s finest political thinkers.“Provides a strong sense of the history of both the man and his times and a nice introduction to Machiavelli’s writings. Moreover, like one of Machiavelli’s bawdy plays, it is a riveting and exhilarating read, full of salacious details and brisk prose.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)“An engaging, revealing biography and a vivid portrait of a city-state in turmoil.” —Financial Times
Machiavelli: The Art of Teaching People What to Fear
by Patrick BoucheronIn a series of poignant vignettes, a preeminent historian makes a compelling case for Machiavelli as an unjustly maligned figure with valuable political insights that resonate as strongly today as they did in his time. Whenever a tempestuous period in history begins, Machiavelli is summoned, because he is known as one for philosophizing in dark times. In fact, since his death in 1527, we have never ceased to read him to pull ourselves out of torpors. But what do we really know about this man apart from the term invented by his detractors to refer to that political evil, Machiavellianism?It was Machiavelli's luck to be disappointed by every statesman he encountered throughout his life—that was why he had to write The Prince. If the book endeavors to dissociate political action from common morality, the question still remains today, not why, but for whom Machiavelli wrote. For princes, or for those who want to resist them? Is the art of governing to take power or to keep it? And what is &“the people?&” Can they govern themselves? Beyond cynical advice for the powerful, Machiavelli meditates profoundly on the idea of popular sovereignty, because the people know best who oppresses them.With verve and a delightful erudition, Patrick Boucheron sheds light on the life and works of this unclassifiable visionary, illustrating how we can continue to use him as a guide in times of crisis.
Machine Gunner’s Notes, France 1918 [Illustrated Edition]
by Lieutenant Colonel Charles M. DupuyIncludes The Americans in the First World War Illustration Pack - 57 photos/illustrations and 10 mapsWhen the United States entered the First World War in 1917 the size of the army was tiny in comparison to the European Powers. The long-serving officers of the U.S. army faced the daunting task of licking the new recruits of 1917 into shape for service overseas. Among these officers was Charles Dupuy who was charged with getting his men ready for battle utilising the weapon that had inflicted so much damage during the previous three years - the machine gun. Key to offence or defence, the machine gun companies of the U.S. expeditionary force had to be fast and deadly in the offence and staunch and steadfast in defence. Major Dupuy tells of how he whipped his men into shape and led them to hard fought victory against the Germans on the Western front in 1918.
Machine Learning and Mixed Reality for the Enhancement of Cultural Heritage: The Monastery of Saints Severino and Sossio Case Study
by Maurizio PerticariniThis book addresses the role of modern surveying and representation technologies in preserving and disseminating cultural heritage. A workflow is illustrated, describing the Former Monastery of Ss Severino and Sossio case study, currently the headquarters of the State Archives of Naples, Italy. After offering a historical overview, the work examines the spaces and structure of the building. A methodology for three-dimensional restitution is presented, using low-cost image-based and professional range-based surveying, concluding with recent AI technologies such as NeRF. The research continues with the virtual and augmented restitution of parts of the building that have been modified, lost over the centuries, or are no longer accessible. The Atrio dei Marmi, the Atrio del Platano, and the Sala del Capitolo and Sala del Refettorio are some of the places where the research has focused, creating a BIM model, using AR for precise interventions, and developing an immersive applied game to understand the third level of the monastery, rich in works of art and today also serving as a museum. In the final chapters, a particular focus is placed on the future of representation: new techniques, ongoing developments in AI supporting surveying, and the new possibilities offered by virtual spaces.
Machines in the Head: Selected Stories
by Anna KavanEnter the strange and haunting world of Anna Kavan, author of mind-bending stories that blend science fiction and the author's own harrowing experiences with drug addiction, in this new collection of her best short stories.Anna Kavan is one of the great originals of twentieth-century fiction, comparable to Leonora Carrington and Jean Rhys, a writer whose stories explored the inner world of her imagination and plumbed the depths of her long addiction to heroin. This new selection of Kavan&’s stories gathers the best work from across the many decades of her career, including oblique and elegiac tales of breakdown and institutionalization from Asylum Piece (1940), moving evocations of wartime from I Am Lazarus (1945), fantastic and surrealist pieces from A Bright Green Field (1958), and stories of addiction from Julia and the Bazooka (1970). Kavan&’s turn to science fiction in her final novel, Ice, is reflected in her late stories, while &“Starting a Career,&” about a mercenary dealer of state secrets, is published here for the first time. Kavan experimented throughout her writing career with results that are moving, funny, bizarre, poignant, often unsettling, always unique. Machines in the Head offers American readers the first full overview of the work of a fearless and dazzling literary explorer.
Macho Row: The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Code
by William C. KashatusColorful, shaggy, and unkempt, misfits and outlaws, the 1993 Phillies played hard and partied hard. Led by Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, and Mitch Williams, it was a team the fans loved and continue to love today. Focusing on six key members of the team, Macho Row follows the remarkable season with an up-close look at the players’ lives, the team’s triumphs and failures, and what made this group so unique and so successful. With a throwback mentality, the team adhered to baseball’s Code. Designed to preserve the moral fabric of the game, the Code’s unwritten rules of the game formed the bedrock of this diehard team whose players paid homage and respect to the game at all times. Trusting one another and avoiding ideas of superstardom, they consistently rubbed the opposition the wrong way and didn’t care. William C. Kashatus pulls back the covers on this old-school band of brothers, depicting the highs and lows and their brash style while also digging into the suspected steroid use of players on the team. Macho Row is a story of winning and losing, success and failure, and the emotional highs and lows that accompany them.
Mack The Life: Enhanced Edition
by Lee Mack‘His book is a joy to read, full of homespun wisdom and hilarious asides’ Independent____________________Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from? Well, young Lee McKillop used to wonder that too.___________________ Growing up in his parents’ pub, small and wiry in a world of bigger and chunkier specimens, Lee quickly learned that cracking jokes was a way to get attention. After a somewhat random series of jobs, which included being Red Rum’s stableboy and a bingo hall barman, it was as a Great Yarmouth holiday camp entertainer that he had his first crack at telling jokes on stage. It got him some laughs, the sack and a punch in the face.*Now, as Lee Mack, he’s one of our best loved and most successful comedians, both as a live stand-up and on television. In Mack the Life, Lee tells the story of how he got there and gives extraordinary insight into what really makes comics tick. Hilarious and brilliant, it’s the kind of book which reminds you why you learned to read in the first place.*Nearly.
Macnolia
by A. Van JordanIn 1936, teenager MacNolia Cox became the first African American finalist in the National Spelling Bee Competition. Supposedly prevented from winning, the precocious child who dreamed of becoming a doctor was changed irrevocably. Her story, told in a poignant nonlinear narrative, illustrates the power of a pivotal moment in a life.
Macri: Historia íntima y secreta de la élite argentina que llegó al poder
by Laura Di MarcoPor primera vez, Mauricio Macri habla para contar como nunca antes el detrás de escena del nuevo poder en la Argentina. La difícil relación con su padre, los amigos de la infancia que hoy son funcionarios, asesores o empresarios. Los secretos más íntimos y polémicos del hombre que sorprendió a todos. Este libro desnuda a un Macri privado y sin filtro: un presidente que en su más profunda intimidad padece el poder, y que empujado por un mandato inconfesable llega inesperadamente a la Casa Rosada para destronar al populismo. Ilumina las contradicciones de un líder extraño, que a menudo va contra el establishment al que él mismo pertenece. Devela la trama íntima de un joven educado para convertirse en el heredero de un sospechado emporio económico, que un día decide torcer su propio destino enfrentando a un padre narcisista, que siempre buscó anularlo. Descubre la trastienda del poder a través de las sesiones con su psicoanalista, José Luis Ahumada; el entrenamiento con el coach oculto del Pro, Alberto "Tito" Lederman; y el decisivo encuentro con quien fue el desconocido terapeuta de Alfonsín, Eduardo Issaharoff. Muestra la verdadera influencia de Jaime Durán Barba y de su mejor discípulo, Marcos Peña. Y cómo la filosofía budista formatea su concepción de la política. También se zambulle en el elenco de figuras del nuevo poder y narra la evolución de la élite argentina y de sus ideas: una clase dirigente que se fue aggiornando hasta acoplarse a aliados impensables, como los radicales y la Coalición Cívica de Elisa Carrió. Laura Di Marco ha escrito el primer gran libro político desde que Mauricio Macri llevó a la élite argentina al poder. Una historia cautivante, que arranca en la madrugada previa a su asunción, cuando su círculo de amigos decide "tomar" en secreto la Casa Rosada. Con asombrosos encuentros cara a cara con Macri y más de sesenta entrevistas a su entorno íntimo, Di Marco cuenta esta saga con el virtuosismo de los grandes periodistas literarios. Una investigación imprescindible para entender qué pasó en la Argentina en 2015 y encontrar claves hacia el futuro.
Mad Dad, Fun Dad: Finding Hope that Things will Get Better
by Doug DraperFrom an early age, Ben Baker knows that “when dad is mad, someone is going to get hurt.” He sees it when his father bashes his mother in the head with a shotgun and experiences it through frequent beatings with brooms, rakes or whatever tool is handy. The physical pain is matched by the emotional damage of his father repeatedly calling him “the stupidest and laziest boy in the world.” This mistreatment takes place while working on the family farm and at his father’s service station in a small town located on the foothills of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. As the smallest boy in his class, Ben also faces abuse at school because bullies find him to be an easy target for punches, kicks and insults. He deals with the cruelty by keeping his back to the wall and doing whatever he can to dodge the bullies. <P><P> His run-and-hide approach changes when an ex-convict, Derek Dean, takes a job pumping gas at his father’s service station. Derek teaches Ben how to deliver the pain instead of being the one who feels it. Ben applies what he learns and lashes out with unbridled fury. He uses a steel pipe to humiliate a pair of bigger opponents and knocks out another bully with a viscous kick to the head. Besides getting him in trouble at school, Ben worries that his anger-fueled actions will lead him to become like his father. <P>His mind becomes a battlefield, with a wish to live peacefully fighting against a ruthless desire to punish anyone who messes with him. Ben’s relationship with Derek shifts from friend to foe when he catches Derek stealing his father’s truck and tools. After Derek spends five years in prison for theft, he returns to Alma seeking revenge. While Ben is on a camping trip with his Boy Scout troop, Derek and two friends confront him and promise to make Ben pay for his role in sending Derek back to prison. With this threat weighting heavily on his mind, Ben reacts with violence to a cruel prank pulled on him by his fellow scouts and finds himself in trouble again. Frustrated, he decides to escape all his problems by running away and living off the land. Before launching his secret plan, Ben chats with his scoutmaster who encourages Ben to rely on God to help him deal with his challenges. The scoutmaster also promises to pray for Ben. When he runs away, Ben soon needs all the help he can get. Once again, he crosses paths with Derek and a chase through the mountains begins, with Ben leading the vengeful ex-convict on an overnight hike during a powerful snowstorm. Instead of having to merely face punishment for his angry outburst at the scout camp, Ben’s attempt to escape brings him to the point of death. While frightening and painful, this battle for survival becomes a turning point in Ben’s life. It plants a seed of hope in him that things will get better. Ben’s struggles continue, but he moves forward equipped with new strength. His story provides a compelling example of the power of faith and prayer in changing lives. For Ben, it means breaking the cycle of violence, replacing despair with hope and finding peace in a combative world.
Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and 'C Company'
by David Lister Hugh JordanA mindless sectarian psychopath or a loyalist folk hero who took the war to the IRA's front door? The name Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair is synonymous with a killing spree by loyalist terrorists that took Northern Ireland to the brink of civil war.From humble beginnings as a rioter and glue-sniffer on Belfast's Shankill Road, Adair rose through the ranks of the outlawed Ulster Freedom Fighters to head its merciless killing machine, 'C Company'. Surrounded by a group of trusted friends, his reign of terror in the early 1990s claimed the lives of up to 40 Catholics, picked out at random as Adair's hitmen roamed Belfast. Determined to lead from the front, his men even fired a rocket at Sinn Fein's headquarters, writing themselves into loyalist mythology and embarrassing the IRA in its republican heartland. Its desperate attempts to kill Adair culminated in October 1993, when a bomb on the Shankill Road, intended for the loyalist godfather, claimed the lives of nine Protestant civilians. Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and 'C Company' describes in graphic detail Adair's criminal empire and an egomaniac's bloody war against Catholics and anybody else who got in his way. Adair's friends and enemies talk for the first time about the murders he ordered, his sordid personal life, and his attempts - ultimately disastrous - to become Northern Ireland's supreme loyalist figurehead.
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
by Ranulph FiennesRanulph Fiennes tells the story of his unconventional, exceptional family, and reveals the ingredients for the man described by the Guinness Book of Records as 'the world's greatest living explorer'.Discover Sir Ranulph Twistelton-Wykham-Fiennes's personal expedition to trace his extraordinary family through history. From Charlemagne - himself a direct ancestor of the author - to the count who very nearly persuaded William the Conqueror to retreat at Hastings, many members of this unique clan have lived close to the nerve centre of the ruler of their day.They number in their ranks a murderer, a wife poisoner, a poacher, England's greatest female traveller of the 17th century, and an extortionist Lord High Treasurer, teen cousins who eloped, a noble lord hanged for manslaughter, another hanged for adultery with the King's wife, and many who, as admirals or major-generals, won famous battles. The Fiennes' behind Cromwell provided the castle in which the Parliamentarians made their first secret moves, the same building in which twenty-one successive generations of the family have lived for 600 unbroken years . . . And that is just a taster.A whirlwind romp through the annals of time, peopled with the good, the bad and downright mad among the Fiennes clan. - Sunday Telegraph
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
by Ranulph FiennesRanulph Fiennes tells the story of his unconventional, exceptional family, and reveals the ingredients for the man described by the Guinness Book of Records as 'the world's greatest living explorer'.Discover Sir Ranulph Twistelton-Wykham-Fiennes's personal expedition to trace his extraordinary family through history. From Charlemagne - himself a direct ancestor of the author - to the count who very nearly persuaded William the Conqueror to retreat at Hastings, many members of this unique clan have lived close to the nerve centre of the ruler of their day.They number in their ranks a murderer, a wife poisoner, a poacher, England's greatest female traveller of the 17th century, and an extortionist Lord High Treasurer, teen cousins who eloped, a noble lord hanged for manslaughter, another hanged for adultery with the King's wife, and many who, as admirals or major-generals, won famous battles. The Fiennes' behind Cromwell provided the castle in which the Parliamentarians made their first secret moves, the same building in which twenty-one successive generations of the family have lived for 600 unbroken years . . . And that is just a taster.A whirlwind romp through the annals of time, peopled with the good, the bad and downright mad among the Fiennes clan. - Sunday Telegraph
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
by Ranulph FiennesSir Ranulph Fiennes can trace his lineage back to Charlemagne and he's related to Jane Austen. Eustache Fiennes fought for William the Conqueror - but other Fiennes' were on Harold's side. One of his relatives, Geoffrey de Saye, was at the signing of the Magna Carta. Thomas Fiennes sat on the Jury at Anne Boleyn's trial, and was later hanged for deer poaching.Celia Fiennes wrote a journal of her horseback exploration of England and inspired the nursery rhyme 'Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross to see a Fiennes [fine] lady upon a white horse'. Ranulph's grandfather, was a fur trapper, a Canadian Mountie and later served as Private Secretary to Winston Churchill. Ranulph's father was killed in Italy in 1943, four months before he was born.MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN is Sir Ranulph's personal expedition to trace the roots of this extraordinary family, which has been intimately involved in the major events of English history. His often eccentric ancestors have been an inspiration for his own life of adventure, and this personal history reveals another side to Ranulph himself.(P)2009 Hodder & Stoughton
Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman: Travels with Sled Dogs in Canada's Frozen North
by Polly EvansPolly Evans had a mission: to learn everything possible about the howling, tail-wagging world of sled dogs. Fool's errand? Or the adventure of a lifetime? The intrepid world traveler was about to find out. In the dead of winter, Polly Evans ventured to Canada's far northwest, where temperatures plunge to minus forty and the sun rises for just a few hours each day. But though she was prepared for the cold, she never anticipated how profoundly she'd be affected by that blissful and austere place. In a pristine landscape patrolled by wolves and caribou, the wannabe musher was soon learning the ropes of arctic dogsledding, careening across the silent tundra with her own team of yapping, leaping canines. Shivering but undaunted, Polly follows the tracks of the legendary Yukon Quest, a dogsledding race more arduous than the Iditarod, witnessing a life-and-death spectacle she'll never forget. Along the way she makes a stop at the Santa Clause house in North Pole, Alaska (where the post office delivers unstamped mail), and witnesses the astonishing northern lights weaving green and red across the sky. And before the snows melt in spring, Polly will have discovered a deep affection for the loving, mischievous huskies whose courage and enthusiasm escort her through the delights and dangers of living life at the extreme--in one of the most forbidding places on earth. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Mad Ducks and Bears: Football Revisited
by Steve Almond George PlimptonGeorge Plimpton's follow-up to Paper Lion, one of his personal favorites among his classic books--now repackaged and including a foreword from Steve Almond and photographs from the Plimpton archives.In MAD DUCKS AND BEARS, George Plimpton's engaging companion to Paper Lion, Plimpton focuses on two of the most entertaining and roguish linemen and former teammates--Alex Karras ("Mad Ducks") and John Gordy ("Bears"), both of whom went on to achieve brilliant post-football success. A more reflective, less madcap book than Plimpton's other work, MAD DUCKS AND BEARS is no less truthful and searching. In this fond exploration of football's values and follies, Plimpton rejoins his two teammates to discuss their careers in this brutal but captivating game. The result is an astute exploration into the fascinating lives and motivations of the players at home, in the locker room, and on the field.
Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lillies
by Ross KingAcclaimed historian Ross King paints the most nuanced, riveting and humane portrait yet of Claude Monet, arguably the most famous artist of the 20th century.We have all seen--live, in photographs, on postcards--some of Claude Monet's legendary water lily paintings. They are in museums all over the world, and are among the most admired paintings of our time. Yet nobody knows the extraordinarily dramatic story behind their creation. Telling that story is the brilliant historian, Ross King--and in the process, he presents a compelling and original portrait of perhaps the most beloved artist in history. As World War I exploded within hearing distance of his house at Giverny, Monet was facing his own personal crucible. In 1911, his adored wife, Alice, had died, plunging him into deep mourning at age 71. A year later he began going blind. Then, his eldest son, Jean, fell ill and died of syphilis, and his other son was sent to the front to fight for France. Within months, a violent storm destroyed much of the garden that had been his inspiration for some 20 years. At the same time, his reputation was under attack, as a new generation of artists, led by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, were dazzling the art world and expressing disgust with Impressionism. Against all this, fighting his own self-doubt, depression and age, Monet found the wherewithal to construct a massive new studio, 70 feet long and 50 feet high, to accommodate the gigantic canvases that would, he hoped, revive him. Using letters, memoirs and other sources not employed by other biographers, and focusing on this remarkable period in the artist's life, Ross King reveals a more complex, more human, more intimate Claude Monet than has ever been portrayed, and firmly places his water lily project among the greatest achievements in the history of art.From the Hardcover edition.
Mad Frank's Britain
by James Morton Frank FraserMad Frankie Fraser has become a household name, known to millions as one of London's most notorious gangsters. In Mad Frank's London - his fourth book - Frank continues the shocking stories of his life of crime.Frankie Fraser recalls the good and the bad times, brings the criminals of his acquaintance to life, and guides us through the darker streets of London - as only a born Londoner, and true gangster could.
Mad Frank's Diary: The Confessions of Britain’s Most Notorious Villain
by James Morton Frankie Fraser‘They say I’ve killed 40 people and who am I to disagree? I’ve always liked even numbers.’Branded the dentist for using pliers to extract the teeth of those who owed money to his boss Charlie Richardson, Frankie Fraser was labelled the most dangerous man in Britain by two Home Secretaries. He is famous for his crimes, many of which have entered gangster folklore. In these diaries, however, originally published when he was 78, Mad Frank delved into areas he had never chosen, or dared, to talk about before. His day-by-day entries record unsolved murders, shoot-outs, crooked coppers, bribery, extortion, wrongful convictions, and even sex in prison. And by contrast, he also opens up with personal memories of growing up in poverty, in London's East End, and the reality of having to steal food to feed the family.Frankie Frasier died in 2014, and this rare True Crime classic is first-hand history at its most compelling.
Mad Frank's Underworld History of Britain
by James Morton Frank FraserSites of gruesome murders, stories of killings, frauds, jewel thefts and treachery are all part of Mad Frankie Fraser's grand tour of Britain's criminal underworld. As one of the most notorious gangsters of the 20th Century, he is perfectly placed to give us the lowdown on crimes from up and down the country, plus his take on crimes he was personally involved in and cases as yet unsolved. Written with crime author James Morton, this is the definitive guide to Britain's many lives of crime.
Mad Girl
by Bryony GordonBryony Gordon has OCD.It's the snake in her brain that has told her ever since she was a teenager that her world is about to come crashing down: that her family might die if she doesn't repeat a phrase 5 times, or that she might have murdered someone and forgotten about it. It's caused alopecia, bulimia, and drug dependency. And Bryony is sick of it. Keeping silent about her illness has given it a cachet it simply does not deserve, so here she shares her story with trademark wit and dazzling honesty.A hugely successful columnist for the Telegraph, a bestselling author, and a happily married mother of an adorable daughter, Bryony has managed to laugh and live well while simultaneously grappling with her illness. Now it's time for her to speak out. Writing with her characteristic warmth and dark humour, Bryony explores her relationship with her OCD and depression as only she can.Mad Girl is a shocking, funny, unpredictable, heart-wrenching, raw and jaw-droppingly truthful celebration of life with mental illness.(P)2016 Headline Digital