- Table View
- List View
Bertha Takes a Drive: How the Benz Automobile Changed the World
by Jan AdkinsIt's 1888 and Bertha Benz's husband, Karl, has invented the prototype Benz motorwagen. But the German government declares the vehicle illegal, and the church calls it the devil's work. Unbeknownst to her husband, Bertha steals away with her two sons and drives nearly one hundred miles to prove just how amazing the motorwagen is. Bertha's mechanical savvy gets the boys to Grandma's house safely, and the remarkable mother/son road trip reduces global concern about moving vehicles.
Bertie Ahern Autobiography: The Autobiography
by Bertie AhernBertie Ahern, three times Irish Taoiseach, is often described as an enigma. The Old IRA man's son who delivered peace in Northern Ireland. A working class boy responsible for the Celtic Tiger. The man of faith who ushered in progressive, cosmopolitan secular Ireland. An ardent nationalist admired by European leaders. 'I know 25 per cent of Bertie Ahern', said his finance minister, Charlie McCreevy, 'and that's 24 per cent more than anyone else.'Now in this frank and revealing autobiography, Ahern gives his own account of a remarkable political life and the personal story that accompanies it. He shows the cost to his family of a life played out in the public eye and, for the first time, discloses what really happened in his final weeks in power.Here for the first time is the truth behind the man who is Bertie.Ahern has been at the cutting edge of Irish politics for over three decades. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the Fianna Fáil landslide victory in 1977 that saw Jack Lynch returned as Taoiseach. In 1982, Charles Haughey appointed him Government Chief Whip. In volatile political times, he strongly supported Haughey during three challenges to his leadership of Fianna Fáil.In 1987, Bertie Ahern received his first cabinet portfolio as Minister for Labour. It was a time when the Irish economy was in crisis. Ireland had a higher debt per head than Ethiopia or Sudan. Unemployment stood at 16%. Ahern negotiated Ireland's first social partnership agreement, which underpinned economic recovery and put in place the foundations for a period of sustained growth. In 1991, he was appointed Minister for Finance. International commentators first began to refer to 'Ireland's Tiger economy' in this period. When Bertie Ahern left the Department of Finance in late 1994, for the first time in almost 30 years, Ireland had a budget surplus.Bertie Ahern succeeded Albert Reynolds as leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1994. Following the General Election in 1997, he became Ireland's youngest ever Taoiseach. The Ahern Era was a time of unprecedented progress in Irish society. Over the course of his tenure in office, Ireland's economy out-performed that of every other European country. For the first time ever, the number of people in employment in the State reached 2 million.Working closely with Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, Ahern won widespread acclaim for his perseverance and skill in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, which has provided the political framework for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.On the international stage, he was a respected figure who enjoyed an acclaimed Presidency of the European Council in 2004. He presided over the completion of the largest ever expansion of the EU and concluded negotiations on a European constitution. He is one of only five visiting statesmen to have addressed both the United States Congress and the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.At home, Ahern enjoyed phenomenal electoral support. He was the first Taoiseach since 1944 to win three successive General Elections.Bertie Ahern resigned on 6th May, 2008. He had served for ten years, ten months and ten days as Taoiseach.
Bertie and the Crime of Passion (Albert Edward, Prince of Wales #3)
by Peter LoveseyBertie (the future King Edward VII) has a princely appetite for tasty morsels of all kinds. With glorious food and glamorous women equally appealing, it's not surprising that he visits Paris every year, with a modest retinue of some 30 faithful servants. The year 1889, however, marks his most eventful trip. First, he is he introduced to the can-can - that deliciously vulgar new sensation in which he takes, of course, a purely scholarly interest. And second, a murder at a fashionable nightclub allows him to exercise his beloved sleuthing skills, poking the royal nose into showgirls' dressing rooms and all manner of backstage intrigues. With Sarah Bernhardt and Toulouse-Lautrec acting as a dual Dr. Watson, His Highness cannot fail to find a solution to the crime - though no bets as to whether it's the right one. Delightfully humorous . . . no one is more fun than Bertie - Associated Press Tongue-in-cheek satire and wry humor along with an intriguing, entertaining mystery - Booklist
Bertie and the Tinman (Albert Edward, Prince of Wales #1)
by Peter LoveseySet in Victorian England, This novel's main character is Edward Albert, Prince of Wales. He finds himself involved in murder. Not just your ordinary, garden-variety murder either, but the killing, or suicide, depending on your point of view, of a famous jockey named The Tinman.
Bertrand De Jouvenel: The Conservative Liberal and the Illusions of Modernity
by Daniel J. MahoneyIn his effort to detach the indispensable notion of the common good from its historical identification with the more closed, homogeneous, and static societies of the premodern past, the French political philosopher Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903-87) pointed the way towards a viable conservative liberalism. So argues Daniel J. Mahoney in this compelling introduction to the life and work of Jouvenel, one of twentieth-century France's most profound philosophers and political essayists. Although he vigorously defended the historical achievement of liberal society against its totalitarian critics, Jouvenel also challenged the modern conceit that man is an autonomous being beholden neither to the moral law nor to the humanizing inheritance of the past. Mahoney's study focuses on Jouvenel's three masterworks On Power (1945), Sovereignty (1955), and The Pure Theory of Politics (1963) and on his broader effort to defend civility and social friendship against rationalist individualism and its logical fruit, collectivist politics. Mahoney explores Jouvenel's affinities with and debts to Aristotle, Burke, Rousseau, and Tocqueville, and he contrasts Jouvenel's signal theoretical achievements with the twists and turns manifested in his (sometimes questionable) practical political engagements from the 1930s until his death. Mahoney's characteristically engaging appraisal of this important political philosopher, the fifth entry in the Library of Modern Thinkers series, is the first book on Jouvenel to appear in the English language.
Bertrand Russell's America: His Transatlantic Travels and Writings. Volume One 1896-1945 (Routledge Library Editions: Russell)
by Barry Feinberg Ronald KasrilsOriginally published in 1973, this volume documents Bertrand Russell’s travels in America covering the period 1896-1945. It is presented in two halves with the first a biographical account of Russell’s involvement with the United States, with special reference to the seven visits he made there during this time period. Throughout this section the most representative of Russell’s journalistic writings are highlighted and these are presented as full texts in the second half of the book. This collection is assembled to provide an understanding of Russell’s deep and many-sided involvement with the United States during his life. A documented account, it is supplemented with important letters, photographs and newspaper articles.
Bertrand Russell's America: His Transatlantic Travels and Writings. Volume Two 1945-1970 (Routledge Library Editions: Russell)
by Barry Feinberg Ronald KasrilsOriginally published in 1984, this volume documents Bertrand Russell’s travels in America covering the period 1945-1970. It is presented in two halves with the first a biographical account of Russell’s involvement with the United States, with special reference to the seven visits he made there during this time period. Throughout this section the most representative of Russell’s journalistic writings are highlighted and these are presented as full texts in the second half of the book. This collection is assembled to provide an understanding of Russell’s deep and many-sided involvement with the United States during his life. A documented account, it is supplemented with important letters, photographs and newspaper articles.
Bertrand Tavernier: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by Lynn A. Higgins and T. Jefferson KlineBertrand Tavernier (1941–2021) was widely considered to be the leading light in a generation of French filmmakers who launched their careers in the 1970s in the wake of the New Wave. In just over forty years, he directed twenty-two feature films in an eclectic range of genres from intimate family portrait to historical drama and neo-Western. Beginning with his debut feature—L’Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974), which won the prestigious Louis Delluc Prize—Tavernier showed himself to be a public intellectual. Like his films, he was deeply engaged with the pressing issues facing France and the world: the consequences of war, colonialism and its continuing aftermath, the price of heroism, and the power of art. A voracious cinephile, he was immensely knowledgeable about world cinema and American film in particular. Tavernier’s roots were in Lyon, the birthplace of the cinema. He founded and presided over the Institut Lumière, which hosts retrospectives and an annual film festival in the factory where the Lumière brothers made the first films. In this collection, containing numerous interviews translated from French and available in English for the first time, he discusses the arc of his career following in the lineage of the Lumière brothers, in that his goal, like theirs, is to “show the world to the world.” It is no surprise, then, that an interview with Tavernier is a treat. Beginning with discussions of his own films, the interviews in this volume cover a vast range of topics. At the core are his thoughts about the ways cinema can inspire the imagination and contribute to the broadest possible public conversation.
Beryl: The Making of a Disability Activist
by Dustin GalerBeryl Potter was a reserved working-class mother of three living a decent life, or so it seemed, when a harmless slip and fall marked the unravelling of everything that she had known about herself and the world around her. Over the course of six years, she endured unimaginable pain. As doctors raced to save her life, her limbs and eyesight were taken from her one by one. In the span of a few years, she lost nearly half her body, her financial security, her home, her husband, and any semblance of a recognizable future. A survivor of more than one hundred surgeries, a dangerous opioid addiction, and multiple suicide attempts, Beryl Potter devoted herself to bettering the lives of other people with disabilities and made a tremendous contribution to disability awareness from the 1970s to 1990s. In this unparalleled biography, Dustin Galer demonstrates how Beryl Potter seemed to crack the code of the social system that oppressed her. By wading into the weeds of her complicated life before and after her accident, Galer leaves readers with a complex portrait of a woman who defied and challenged gender and disability norms of her time, paving the way for disability justice.
Besharam: On Love and Other Bad Behaviors
by Priya-Alika EliasBesharam roughly translates to "shameless" in Hindi. This collection from Indian writer Priya-Alika Elias is a bold, sassy, and brilliantly written book on love, dating, body image, consent, and other issues that women today relate to and men should be thinking about. Elias reflects on, and challenges, the ideas of how women are told by society to be humble, obedient, and ashamed of their actions and desires. Her writing is fresh, feminist, and thought-provoking, disrupting taboos and exploring what it means to be a young women in today's world.
Bespoke: Savile Row Ripped and Smoothed
by Richard AndersonThis is the true-life story of a boy who quit school to become an apprentice on Savile Row, home to London's most venerable tailors, and wound up owning his own shop on the world-famous 'Golden Mile', where he hand-cuts exquisite suits for a clientele including royalty, politicians, literati, business tycoons, and media stars.On a bright, bitterly cold and snowy morning in January 1982, 17-year-old Richard Anderson made his way with his father to an interview at Savile Row's illustrious Henry Huntsman & Sons. They were late, but Richard got the job, with its meagre salary of only £2,000 a year, and his life was changed forever. Huntsman was arguably the world's most prestigious tailoring house, and Richard's apprenticeship proved a humbling ordeal overseen by three titans of the trade: the formidably debonair Colin Hammick, fellow chain-smoker and grumpy eccentric Brian Hall, and Dick Lakey, the company's heroically overworked 'leg man'. Training under these men in the arcane art of making trousers and coats that could cost as much as £10,000 was an inspiring but also gruelling game, yet 'Young Richard' persisted for 17 more years of rigorous practice in perfectionism and prestige - to become, at 34, the youngest head cutter in Huntsman's 150-year history. Witty and told with great candour, Bespoke is a fascinating behind-the-scenes exposé of life on Savile Row from one of the world's most celebrated and successful tailors.
Bespotted: My Family's Love Affair with Thirty-Eight Dalmatians
by Linda Gray SextonThe Sexton family's long love affair with the Dalmatian began in Linda's childhood. There, on a snowy morning in the family home just outside Boston, LInda heard a whimpering coming from the basement. She discovered their first family dog giving birth to a litter. Witnessing the intimate act of birth had a profound effect on the family. Her mother, Anne, used the experience to complete the poem "Live," part of her third collection, titled Live or Die , which would be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. For Linda, the boundless joy of both breed and breeding triggered in her a lifelong love of Dalmatians. All told, thirty-eight Dalmatians will move through her life: the ones that cheer and support her through difficulty, divorce, and depression; the ones that stay with her as she enters the world of professional breeding and showing of Dals; and, of course, the one true dog of her heart, Gulliver, her most stalwart of canine champions. Bespotted is a page-turning and compelling look at the unique place dogs occupy in our lives. It captures another piece of this literary family's history, taps into the curious and fascinating world of dog showing/dog fancy. Bespotted is an upbeat and commercial memoir by one of the most critically acclaimed memoirists of our time.
Bess Of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth
by Mary S. LovellFrom the bestselling author of The Mitford Girls: A 'wonderfully researched' (Sunday Express) biography of Bess of Hartwick, the most powerful woman in England next to Queen Elizabeth Bringing 'the Tudor Age to exuberant life' (Hugh Massingberd, Mail on Sunday), Mary S. Lovell tells the story of Bess of Hardwick,, one of the most remarkable women of the Tudor era. Gently-born in reduced circumstances, she was married at 15 and when she was widowed at 16, she was still a virgin. At 19 she married a man more than twice her age, Sir William Cavendish, a senior auditor in King Henry VIII's Court of Augmentations. Responsible for seizing church properties for the crown during the Dissolution, Cavendish enriched himself in the process. During the reign of King Edward VI, Cavendish was the Treasurer to the boy king and sisters, and he and Bess moved in the highest levels of society. They had a London home and built Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. After Cavendish's death her third husband was poisoned by his brother. Bess' fourth marriage to the patrician George, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl Marshall of England, made Bess one of the most important women at court. Her shrewd business acumen was a byword, and she was said to have 'a masculine understanding', in that age when women had little education and few legal rights. The Earl's death made her arguably the wealthiest, and therefore - next to the Queen - the most powerful woman in the country. 'This wonderfully researched book is an intimate portrait of [Bess's] life and a vivid insight into life in Tudor society' Sunday Express
Bess Of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth
by Mary S. LovellFrom the bestselling author of The Mitford Girls: A 'wonderfully researched' (Sunday Express) biography of Bess of Hartwick, the most powerful woman in England next to Queen Elizabeth Bringing 'the Tudor Age to exuberant life' (Hugh Massingberd, Mail on Sunday), Mary S. Lovell tells the story of Bess of Hardwick,, one of the most remarkable women of the Tudor era. Gently-born in reduced circumstances, she was married at 15 and when she was widowed at 16, she was still a virgin. At 19 she married a man more than twice her age, Sir William Cavendish, a senior auditor in King Henry VIII's Court of Augmentations. Responsible for seizing church properties for the crown during the Dissolution, Cavendish enriched himself in the process. During the reign of King Edward VI, Cavendish was the Treasurer to the boy king and sisters, and he and Bess moved in the highest levels of society. They had a London home and built Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. After Cavendish's death her third husband was poisoned by his brother. Bess' fourth marriage to the patrician George, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl Marshall of England, made Bess one of the most important women at court. Her shrewd business acumen was a byword, and she was said to have 'a masculine understanding', in that age when women had little education and few legal rights. The Earl's death made her arguably the wealthiest, and therefore - next to the Queen - the most powerful woman in the country. 'This wonderfully researched book is an intimate portrait of [Bess's] life and a vivid insight into life in Tudor society' Sunday Express
Bess Wallace Truman: Harry's White House Boss
by Sara L. SaleTraces Mrs Truman’s many philanthropic efforts both before and during her White House years and places her public activities in the larger context of contemporary women’s activism. This also reveals how the president discussed all of his policy decisions with his wife, making her his full partner.
Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder
by Mary S. LovellBess Hardwick, the fifth daughter of an impoverished Derbyshire nobleman, did not have an auspicious start in life. Widowed at sixteen, she nonetheless outlived four monarchs, married three more times, and built the great house at Chatsworth.
Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder
by Mary S. Lovell"The best account yet available of this shrewd, enigmatic and remarkable woman."--Sunday Times [London] From the author of The Sisters, a chronicle of the most brutal, turbulent, and exuberant period of England's history. Bess Hardwick, the fifth daughter of an impoverished Derbyshire nobleman, did not have an auspicious start in life. Widowed at sixteen, she nonetheless outlived four monarchs, married three more times, built the great house at Chatsworth, and died one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in English history. In 1527 England was in the throes of violent political upheaval as Henry VIII severed all links with Rome. His daughter, Queen Mary, was even more capricious and bloody, only to be followed by the indomitable and ruthless Gloriana, Elizabeth I. It could not have been more hazardous a period for an ambitious woman; by the time Bess's first child was six, three of her illustrious godparents had been beheaded. Using journals, letters, inventories, and account books, Mary S. Lovell tells the passionate, colorful story of an astonishingly accomplished woman, among whose descendants are counted the dukes of Devonshire, Rutland, and Portland, and, on the American side, Katharine Hepburn.
Bessborough: Three Women. Three Decades. Three Stories of Courage.
by Deirdre Finnerty'I read Bessborough in one sitting, veering from fury to devastation within a matter of pages. A vitally important book.' Louise O'Neill'Vivid and powerful' CAELAINN HOGAN'I loved this book for its sheer honesty' CATHERINE CORLESS'A powerfully important book that demands to be read' Irish ExaminerFor over seventy years, Bessborough House, a grand country mansion on the outskirts of Cork city, operated as one of Ireland's biggest mother and baby institutions. Women and girls who walked up its stone steps were warned never to reveal their true identities and gave birth to babies they would not be allowed to keep. In Bessborough: Three Women. Three Decades. Three Stories of Courage, a trio of remarkable women confined there in the 60s, 70s and 80s, tell their truths. Their vivid accounts take us right inside the walls of the secretive institution and give us a deep insight into how their experiences impacted their lives afterwards.The result is a stark portrait of a system that split families apart -- and a moving account of love, loss and reconnection.'Bessborough will break many a heart. Deirdre Finnerty tells the three stories with compassion, empathy and precision, resulting in an emotionally devastating, vital book' IRISH TIMES
Bessborough: Three Women. Three Decades. Three Stories of Courage.
by Deirdre Finnerty'I read Bessborough in one sitting, veering from fury to devastation within a matter of pages. A vitally important book.' Louise O'Neill'Vivid and powerful' CAELAINN HOGAN'I loved this book for its sheer honesty' CATHERINE CORLESS'A powerfully important book that demands to be read' Irish ExaminerFor over seventy years, Bessborough House, a grand country mansion on the outskirts of Cork city, operated as one of Ireland's biggest mother and baby institutions. Women and girls who walked up its stone steps were warned never to reveal their true identities and gave birth to babies they would not be allowed to keep. In Bessborough: Three Women. Three Decades. Three Stories of Courage, a trio of remarkable women confined there in the 60s, 70s and 80s, tell their truths. Their vivid accounts take us right inside the walls of the secretive institution and give us a deep insight into how their experiences impacted their lives afterwards.The result is a stark portrait of a system that split families apart -- and a moving account of love, loss and reconnection.'Bessborough will break many a heart. Deirdre Finnerty tells the three stories with compassion, empathy and precision, resulting in an emotionally devastating, vital book' IRISH TIMES
Bessie
by Chris AlbertsonThe definitive biography of musical legend Bessie Smith: &“A landmark in the writing of jazz history . . . First-rate&” (The Washington Post). Known as the &“Empress of the Blues,&” Bessie Smith was a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African American performer of the Roaring Twenties. This revised and expanded biography debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Writing with insight and candor about the singer&’s personal life and career, the author supplements his research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends, and associates—in particular Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. Also included in this updated edition are more details of Bessie&’s early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the book&’s original publication. &“The product of painstaking research . . . Devastating, provocative, and enlightening.&” —Los Angeles Times
Bessie (Revised and Expanded Edition)
by Chris AlbertsonThis book-- a revised and expanded edition of the definitive biography of Bessie Smith, known as the "Empress of the Blues"--debunks many of the myths that circulated after her untimely death in 1937. For this new edition, Chris Albertson provides more details of Bessie's early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication. "The first estimable full-length biography not only of Bessie Smith but of any black musician. "-Whitney Balliett, New Yorker (on the first edition). "A remarkably clear-eyed examination of Smith's personality (and sexuality) and, more important, of the gritty and greedy music business. "-Benjamin Schwarz, Atlantic Monthly. "A vivid portrait of this quintessential American diva. "-Will Friedwald, New York Sun. "The most devastating, provocative, and enlightening work of its kind ever contributed to the annals of jazz literature. "-Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times (on the first edition). "An exemplary biography . . . [with] a gripping, often moving, narrative. "-John Mole, Times Literary Supplement.
Bessie Coleman: Bold Pilot Who Gave Women Wings (Movers, Shakers, and History Makers)
by Martha LondonIn the 1920s, Bessie Coleman became the first female pilot with African American and Native American heritage. She aimed to inspire women and people of color. Learn more about Coleman's life as a famous pilot!
Bessie Coleman: First Black Woman Pilot
by Connie PlantzExplores both the personal and professional life of this exemplary woman.
Bessie Smith
by Jackie KayAs a young black girl growing up in Glasgow, Jackie Kay found in Bessie Smith someone with whom she could identify and idolise. Her fascinating and extraordinary Outline mixes fact and fiction, poetry and prose as she relates the tempestuous life of the greatest blues singer who ever lived. She takes us from Bessie's early years in Chattanooga, and her time spent with Ma and Pa Rainey in the Moses Stokes Travelling Show, through her rapid rise to fame and fortune, her raucous and wild lifestyle on the road in her famous yellow Pullman railroad car, to her slide from popularity during the Depression years and her eventual tragic death in a car crash in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1937.
Bessie Smith (SparkNotes Biography Guide)
by SparkNotesBessie Smith (SparkNotes Biography Guide) Making the reading experience fun! SparkNotes Biography Guides examine the lives of historical luminaries, from Alexander the Great to Virginia Woolf. Each biography guide includes:An examination of the historical context in which the person lived A summary of the person&’s life and achievements A glossary of important terms, people, and events An in-depth look at the key epochs in the person&’s career Study questions and essay topics A review test Suggestions for further reading Whether you&’re a student of history or just a student cramming for a history exam, SparkNotes Biography guides are a reliable, thorough, and readable resource.