Biographies of Great Politicians (Four Books)

Our critics chose the greatest memoirs and biographies ever written, from the definitive Book covers: the (40) best biographies and autobiographies of all time.
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A Comic's Life' are excellent examples of must read books by stand up comedians. You don't necessarily have to spend a small fortune to purchase these best autobiographies ever written. Some of them are available as free ebooks , so be sure to check before you shell out a ton of money. If you're a reading fanatic, you might also like this list of famous autobiographical novel books , as well as this list of the top must-read books of all time.

Night Elie Wiesel Night is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in —45, at the height of the Holocaust toward the end The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from to ; however, Franklin himself appears to have The book profiles his early life, coming of The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story Haley coauthored the autobiography based on An Autobiography Andre Agassi.

The Story of My Life Helen Keller The story of my life, with her letters and a supplementary account of her education is a book written by Helen Keller. The memoir consists of various anecdotes and stories of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood and early adulthood in Brooklyn, Augustine Augustine of Hippo Confessions is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of 13 books, by St. Augustine of Hippo, written in Latin between and AD. Modern English translations of it are sometimes It was released in by Hyperion and authored by Kiedis with Larry Sloman, who compiled information and Surely You're Joking, Mr.

Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. The book recounts Walls' and her siblings' unconventional, poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of their deeply dysfunctional parents. Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail is a book by travel writer Bill Bryson, describing his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail with his friend Up From Slavery Booker T. Washington Up from Slavery is the autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his personal experiences in working to rise from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, published in , is a memoir of the author's experiences as a writer, and also serves as a guide book for those who choose to enter the Girl, Interrupted Susanna Kaysen Girl, Interrupted is a best-selling memoir by American author Susanna Kaysen, relating her experiences as a young woman in a psychiatric hospital in the s after being diagnosed with The book tells the story of Burroughs's bizarre childhood life after his mother, a chain-smoking aspiring poet, sent As one of 13 surviving children, Brown went on to be an author, The book describes Hemingway's apprenticeship as a young writer A Comic's Life is a memoir, released November 20, , by Steve Martin, an American author, actor, comedian, producer, playwright and screenwriter.

It chronicles his early Because of the emancipation of American slaves during and following the Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. The Rise and Fall of Rome's Saviour. Review "Displays a high degree of expertise and professional competence..

The best biographies and autobiographies ever written

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Please try again later. I found this to be a good biography on one of my favorite characters of the late republic. There are few biographies on Pompey, and this one does a good job chronicling the man's life and assessing his political choices. Some of the best moments of the book come when Seager tries to assess the calculations Pompey's courting of the optimates versus Caesar. I also appreciate the introduction for the context it provided. Seager does have a good sense of humor, which shows through at interesting points for example, noting that Saturninus won his election for tribune "only" at the "cost" of murdering a fellow candidate.

You have to love Roman politics, and Seager does a great job portraying its complexities and ugliness.


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As other reviewers have noted, this is not a book for a neophyte in ancient Roman history. I have read several other books about the late republic and consider myself reasonably well-informed. However, I do think at some points it would have been useful to provide more background on characters who appear. In particular, it would have been nice to get more of a flavor of people who appeared to play an important role, such as Gabinius. Too often, such men are named and the events are narrated, but the reader never really understands who exactly they were. Likewise, Pompey's relationship with Crassus receives much less attention than I thought it would.

I'm sure some of this is due to Seager's admirable reluctance to not stray too far from the sources. On the other hand, it is sometimes useful to understand the author's view of such characters. For example, the new introduction provides some background history, but also tells us much about Seager's own opinion and sympathies for example, he views the Gracchi and populares relatively favorably , which in turn could impact our reading of the book. I remember once reading, in a Batman comic of all things, a quote that asked how many great champions are known not for their victories but how they were done in by time and a new generation.

Does anyone remember Sony Liston for anything else other than being beaten by Muhammad Ali? Although there are a great many historical figures who legacies survive defeat--Hannibal, Napoleon, Robert E. Lee, and Erwin Rommel are great examples--Ca. Pompeius Magnus does not seem to be one of them. After the first page, Pompeius does not appear much. Caesar on Amazon has endless works about him carrying into the hundreds.


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  • leondumoulin.nl: Pompey the Great: A Political Biography (): Robin Seager: Books!

It is strange that Pompeius is confined to the dustbin of history; he is just part of Caesar's story not a character in his own right. Robin Seager does a great job of telling Pompeius' own story, in which Caesar plays just a part and only shows up half way through.

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The book begins with a summary of the major historic events that had happened to Rome since the fall of Carthage. The Republic was coming to pieces because it could not, with rare exception, function as intended. Pompeius starts his career by raising a private army in the service of the Roman Dictator, Lucius Cornelius Sulla. So Pompeius' position was for the first time placed on a legal footing. He was invested with praetorian imperium by decree of the senate and sent in pursuit of Carbo, who had fled, when the resistance to Sulla collapsed, and despite his pleas for mercy he was put to death and his head sent to Sulla.

His defense of Pompeius in 86 might have given him cause to hope, but Pompeius was never to show any hesitation in betraying old friends when the occasion demanded. For him his link with Carbo must merely have underlined the need to prove his loyalty to Sulla by a suitably harsh and dramatic gesture.

He becomes the golden boy who has victories all over the Empire. He wins in Africa, Spain, and Greece. The triumvirate dominates the Republic for the next decade.

Pompeius holds on to power in Rome while Caesar conquers Gaul and Crassus gets himself killed in Parthia. This leads to a standoff with two of the greatest leaders in the history of any civilization. As it was said centuries later as battle between a man who could not accept any other as an equal Pompeius vs. He saw himself as a father, Caesar as his son.

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In that there was a message, for the optimates could rest assured that Pompeius would act to keep Caesar in his place, subordinate as a son should be to his father, but they were also being warned that he was still not prepared to abandon Caesar, that a bond still existed between them as close as that between a father and his son. Similarly Caesar could read in the words a promise that Pompeius would not forsake him but protect him as a man should his son, but only if he accepted that he owed obedience to Pompeius as a father.

He has to run as his friends abandon him. Pompeius flees to Egypt where a pharaoh who owes him his crown is expected to provide assistance in his time of need. Pompeius is instead greeted with murder. The story of C. Pompeius Magnus is one of glory and tragedy. He is raised as high as anyone can go only to be defeat at the hands of one friend and killed at the hands of another. Robin Seager wrote a great book that I would recommend to anyone who wanted to learn more about the famous general Pompey the Great.

The book was great Amazon , however , sucks.