Bøger i Great Lives serien

The life of one of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton.

A superbly crafted and humane portrait of the last days - and last rulers - of the Russian Empire.

The contrasting lives of the Mitford sisters - stylish, scandalous and tragic by turns - hold up a mirror to upper-class life before and after the Second World War.

A dramatic and compelling quest to solve one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century: the ultimate fate of Russia's last tsar and his family.

The extraordinary story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, the son of former slaves who fled America to build a life in Tsarist Russia. 'A fascinating tale' Anne Applebaum'Thoroughly enjoyable' Spectator'Extraordinary and gripping' Adam HochschildAfter the brutal death of his father when he was a teenager, Frederick Thomas fled the stifling racism of the American South and headed for New York City, where he worked as a valet and trained as a singer. Through charisma and cunning, Thomas emigrated to Europe, where his acquired skills as a multilingual maitre d'hôtel allowed him to travel from London to Monte Carlo before settling in Moscow in the glorious days before the 1917 Revolution. There Thomas became a rich and respected nightclub impresario, opening a lavish nightclub called Maxim.With evocative backdrops in Moscow and later in Odessa and Constantinople, where Thomas rebuilt his life after the revolution, The Black Russian is an inspiring story of personal reinvention set in one of history's richest periods.

Brief life stories of twenty-seven persons whose inventions or discoveries have altered the environment to a marked degree. Includes a list of important dates in the history of invention and technology.

The ninth and final biographical study in the bestselling Great Lives series is filled with biblical and historical insights to the complex and provocative life of Jesus of Nazareth. (Biblical Studies)

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was born in Ulm in the German Empire and received his academic teaching diploma from the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in 1900. Unable to secure a teaching post, he eventually found work in the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, where he began to develop his special theory of relativity. In 1905 (his "e;miracle year"e;), he published four revolutionary papers, which came to be recognized as stunning breakthroughs in physics. For the next 25 years, while continuing his research, he taught at several universities in Europe, relocating to the U.S. in 1933, when Adolf Hitler came to power. During World War II, his insights regarding mass-energy equivalence led to the development of the atomic bomb, a practical demonstration of his theories that shook the world. Einstein was horrified that the bomb was used, and he spent the rest of his life warning about the dangers of nuclear weapons and advocating for peace and international cooperation.InSimply Einstein,ProfessorJimena Canalesoffers the reader a unique perspective on the man who occupies a singular place in the popular imagination. Unlike many Einstein biographies, her book does not glorify the scientist or get lost in esoteric details, but takes pains to present a straightforward, thoroughly readable introduction to the man and his work that shows just how and why an eccentric physicist became a household name. The universe that Einstein described is the one in which we now live, a world of paradoxes and uncertainty, as well as infinite possibility. For anyone interested in better understanding how this came to be-and in gaining a fuller appreciation of the brilliant, flawed human being who changed everything-Simply Einsteinis essential reading.

Explore the lives and achievements of more than 85 of the world's most inspirational and influential scientists with this innovative and boldly graphic biography-led book.The second title in DK's new illustrated biography series, Scientists Who Changed History profiles trailblazing individuals from Greek mathematicians, such as Archimedes and Hipparchus, through physicists of the early 20th-century, such as Marie Curie and Albert Einstein, to modern greats such as Stephen Hawking and Tim Berners-Lee. Each featured individual has made a major contribution to one or more scientific fields, from astronomy, biology, and psychology, to computer science and geology.Combining elements of biography, history, and analysis, Scientists Who Changed History explains the groundbreaking contributions made by these revolutionary men and women in a clear and informative way.

The riveting story of the sex scandal that threatened the life of the young Elizabeth Tudor, and whose outcome was pivotal to the creation of the public persona of Elizabeth I.

The untold story of Winston Churchill's precarious finances.

A much-praised biography of the most brilliant of the Mitford sisters, who dazzled and scandalized interwar high society with their wit and sometimes controversial lifestyles.

Simply Darwin tells the story of Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) and his theory of evolution through natural selection. On one level, the book portrays a dedicated scientist who, through careful observation and brilliant insight, became convinced that organisms were the end product of a long, slow, and natural process of development. On another level, it is an account of a cataclysmic change in our ideas about ourselves—a conceptual upheaval that continues to generate aftershocks—and heated debates—to this day.In Simply Darwin, author Michael Ruse puts Darwin and his ideas in their proper context, clearly showing that, while the father of evolutionary biology was a true trailblazer, he was no rebel. He was simply following an evidentiary trail that led to an inevitable conclusion about the origin of species and natural selection. Eventually, as Darwin and his fellow scientists began to apply his ideas to humans, long-held notions about the nature and origins of religion, morality, race, sexuality, and much more, were called into question. Then, as now, some of us embraced these provocative ideas, while others reacted with horror and disbelief.In recounting this fascinating and inspiring story, Ruse doesn’t neglect the visual component that has always been an inherent part of evolutionary thought. Simply Darwin features copious illustrations, which provide an informative and captivating element to this riveting account.