the TOP 100 Political Biography Books - 05/02/2012
all of the TOP 100 Books are avalible to buy on amazon.co.uk - just click on the item to buy
Political Biography
Search by author, title, ISBN, keyword(s), or publisher.
81
Product Description:
Hons and Rebels
Our Price:
£5.96
Used Price:
£1.62
New Price:
£3.15
Product Description:
The classic memoir of one of the century's most extraordinary families.
82
Product Description:
Pericles: A Sourcebook and Reader
Our Price:
£11.84
Used Price:
£11.85
New Price:
£11.84
Product Description:
Pericles, Greece's greatest statesman and the leader of its Golden Age, created the Parthenon and championed democracy in Athens and beyond. This work presents accounts of those close to Pericles, including Thucydides, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Protagoras, Sophocles, Lysias, Xenophon, Plato, and Plutarch.
83
Product Description:
Daughters Of Arabia
Our Price:
£5.79
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£2.98
Product Description:
This volume is a reissue of the sequel to 'Princess'.
84
Product Description:
Prison Diary 2: Wayland: Purgatory
Our Price:
£6.07
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£2.86
Product Description:
The No 1. Bestseller continues his forceful account of life inside the British penal system.
85
86
Product Description:
Sold: One woman's true account of modern slavery: Story of Modern-day Slavery
Our Price:
£5.72
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£2.92
Product Description:
For fifteen-year-old Zana Muhsen and her younger sister Nadia, born and raised in Birmingham, a six-week holiday with relatives in North Yemen sounded like the trip of a lifetime. It turned into a living nightmare. On their arrival Zana and her sister discovered that their father had literally sold them into marriage and that they were helpless prisoners. The girls had to adapt to a completely alien way of life, living in primitive stone houses with dung-plastered walls and no running water. They suffered rape, frequent beatings and the terrifying ordeal of childbirth on bare mud floors with only old women in attendance. After eight years of misery and humiliation, Zana escaped - and her story, now fully updated for this new edition, is shocking as it is heart-rending.
87
George F. Kennan: An American Life
Our Price:
£19.20 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details & conditions
Used Price:
£16.94
New Price:
£15.50
88
Amazon.co.uk:
The Audacity of Hope
Our Price:
£6.38
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£0.14
Amazon.co.uk:
<hr noshade="true" size="1" class="bucketDivider" /><div class="bucket" id="productDescription"><b class="h1">Editorial Reviews <br /><div class="content"> Amazon.com <br /> Barack Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father , was a compelling and moving memoir focusing on personal issues of race, identity, and community. With his second book The Audacity of Hope , Obama engages themes raised in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, shares personal views on faith and values and offers a vision of the future that involves repairing a"political process that is broken" and restoring a government that has fallen out of touch with the people. Amazon.com had the opportunity to ask Senator Obama a few questions about writing, reading, and politics--see his responses below. --Daphne Durham <hr noshade="noshade" size="1" class="bucketDivider" /><b class="h1"> 20 Second Interview: A Few Words with Barack Obama
<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/promos/a-plus/obama.1.jpg" hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0" align="left"> Q: How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by so many compare to writing your first book, when few people knew who you were?
A: In many ways, Dreams from My Father was harder to write. At that point, I wasn't even sure that I could write a book. And writing the first book really was a process of self-discovery, since it touched on my family and my childhood in a much more intimate way. On the other hand, writing The Audacity of Hope paralleled the work that I do every day--trying to give shape to all the issues that we face as a country, and providing my own personal stamp on them.
Q: What is your writing process like? You have such a busy schedule, how did you find time to write?
A: I'm a night owl, so I usually wrote at night after my Senate day was over, and after my family was asleep--from 9:30 p.m. or so until 1 a.m. I would work off an outline--certain themes or stories that I wanted to tell--and get them down in longhand on a yellow pad. Then I'd edit while typing in what I'd written.
Q: If readers are to come away from The Audacity of Hope with one action item (a New Year's Resolution for 2007, perhaps?), what should it be?
A: Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn't matter what it is--improving the school system, developing strategies to wean ourselves off foreign oil, expanding health care for kids. We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result.
Q: You're known for being able to work with people across ideological lines. Is that possible in today's polarized Washington?
A: It is possible. There are a lot of well-meaning people in both political parties. Unfortunately, the political culture tends to emphasize conflict, the media emphasizes conflict, and the structure of our campaigns rewards the negative. I write about these obstacles in chapter 4 of my book,"Politics." When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished. It also helps if you're willing to give other people credit--something politicians have a hard time doing sometimes.</div>
Q: How do you make people passionate about moderate and complex ideas?
A: I think the country recognizes that the challenges we face aren't amenable to sound-bite solutions. People are looking for serious solutions to complex problems. I don't think we need more moderation per se--I think we should be bolder in promoting universal health care, or dealing with global warming. We just need to understand that actually solving these problems won't be easy, and that whatever solutions we come up with will require consensus among groups with divergent interests. That means everybody has to listen, and everybody has to give a little. That's not easy to do.
Q: What has surprised you most about the way Washington works?
A: How little serious debate and deliberation takes place on the floor of the House or the Senate.
Q: You talk about how we have a personal responsibility to educate our children. What small thing can the average parent (or person) do to help improve the educational system in America? What small thing can make a big impact?
A: Nothing has a bigger impact than reading to children early in life. Obviously we all have a personal obligation to turn off the TV and read to our own children; but beyond that, participating in a literacy program, working with parents who themselves may have difficulty reading, helping their children with their literacy skills, can make a huge difference in a child's life.
Q: Do you ever find time to read? What kinds of books do you try to make time for? What is on your nightstand now?
A: Unfortunately, I had very little time to read while I was writing. I'm trying to make up for lost time now. My tastes are pretty eclectic. I just finished Marilynne Robinson's Gilead , a wonderful book. The language just shimmers. I've started Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is a great study of Lincoln as a political strategist. I read just about anything by Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, or Philip Roth. And I've got a soft spot for John le Carre.
Q: What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?
A: I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency. I'm inspired by the love people have for their children. And I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.
<hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1"><p clear="all">
<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/promos/a-plus/obama.1.jpg" hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0" align="left"> Q: How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by so many compare to writing your first book, when few people knew who you were?
A: In many ways, Dreams from My Father was harder to write. At that point, I wasn't even sure that I could write a book. And writing the first book really was a process of self-discovery, since it touched on my family and my childhood in a much more intimate way. On the other hand, writing The Audacity of Hope paralleled the work that I do every day--trying to give shape to all the issues that we face as a country, and providing my own personal stamp on them.
Q: What is your writing process like? You have such a busy schedule, how did you find time to write?
A: I'm a night owl, so I usually wrote at night after my Senate day was over, and after my family was asleep--from 9:30 p.m. or so until 1 a.m. I would work off an outline--certain themes or stories that I wanted to tell--and get them down in longhand on a yellow pad. Then I'd edit while typing in what I'd written.
Q: If readers are to come away from The Audacity of Hope with one action item (a New Year's Resolution for 2007, perhaps?), what should it be?
A: Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn't matter what it is--improving the school system, developing strategies to wean ourselves off foreign oil, expanding health care for kids. We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result.
Q: You're known for being able to work with people across ideological lines. Is that possible in today's polarized Washington?
A: It is possible. There are a lot of well-meaning people in both political parties. Unfortunately, the political culture tends to emphasize conflict, the media emphasizes conflict, and the structure of our campaigns rewards the negative. I write about these obstacles in chapter 4 of my book,"Politics." When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished. It also helps if you're willing to give other people credit--something politicians have a hard time doing sometimes.</div>
Q: How do you make people passionate about moderate and complex ideas?
A: I think the country recognizes that the challenges we face aren't amenable to sound-bite solutions. People are looking for serious solutions to complex problems. I don't think we need more moderation per se--I think we should be bolder in promoting universal health care, or dealing with global warming. We just need to understand that actually solving these problems won't be easy, and that whatever solutions we come up with will require consensus among groups with divergent interests. That means everybody has to listen, and everybody has to give a little. That's not easy to do.
Q: What has surprised you most about the way Washington works?
A: How little serious debate and deliberation takes place on the floor of the House or the Senate.
Q: You talk about how we have a personal responsibility to educate our children. What small thing can the average parent (or person) do to help improve the educational system in America? What small thing can make a big impact?
A: Nothing has a bigger impact than reading to children early in life. Obviously we all have a personal obligation to turn off the TV and read to our own children; but beyond that, participating in a literacy program, working with parents who themselves may have difficulty reading, helping their children with their literacy skills, can make a huge difference in a child's life.
Q: Do you ever find time to read? What kinds of books do you try to make time for? What is on your nightstand now?
A: Unfortunately, I had very little time to read while I was writing. I'm trying to make up for lost time now. My tastes are pretty eclectic. I just finished Marilynne Robinson's Gilead , a wonderful book. The language just shimmers. I've started Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is a great study of Lincoln as a political strategist. I read just about anything by Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, or Philip Roth. And I've got a soft spot for John le Carre.
Q: What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?
A: I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency. I'm inspired by the love people have for their children. And I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.
<hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1"><p clear="all">
89
90
Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
Our Price:
£6.95
Used Price:
£4.33
New Price:
£4.18
91
Product Description:
The Lady In The Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn
Our Price:
£7.09
Used Price:
£2.80
New Price:
£4.91
Product Description:
Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, was imprisoned in the Tower of London on 2 May 1536, and tried and found guilty of high treason on 15 May. Her supposed crimes included adultery with five men, one her own brother, and plotting the King's death. She was executed on 19 May 1536. This title tells the story of Anne's fall.
92
Product Description:
Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer
Our Price:
£7.69
Used Price:
£0.59
New Price:
£0.59
Product Description:
Henry Morton Stanley was a cruel imperialist - a bad man of Africa. This book shows the reality of Stanley's life - his trans-Africa journey, a human endurance which solved virtually every one of the continent's remaining geographical puzzles.
93
Product Description:
An Evil Cradling
Our Price:
£6.38
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£3.94
Product Description:
Brian Keenan's release from captivity was the first ray of hope for those hostages held in the Middle East. He describes the plight of his fellow hostages with first-hand knowledge. The language he uses reflects his past efforts as a poet in describing the pain and claustrophobia of imprisonment.
94
Product Description:
England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton
Our Price:
£6.38
Used Price:
£3.69
New Price:
£4.34
Product Description:
Presents a tale of sex, glamour, intrigue, romance and heartbreak. This book aims to trace the rise of the gorgeous Emma Hamilton. Born into poverty, she clawed her way up through London's underworlds of sex for sale to become England's first media superstar. Nothing could stand in the way of her dreams - except her self-destructive desires.
95
The Concise Pepys Diary (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature)
more books by Samuel Pepys, Lord Braybrooke (Editor)
Our Price:
£3.59
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£1.37
96
Product Description:
Stones into Schools
Our Price:
£6.99
Used Price:
£1.34
New Price:
£4.81
Product Description:
Presents the author's extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005. This book offers information on the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords.
97
Product Description:
Wedlock: How Georgian Britain's Worst Husband Met His Match
Our Price:
£5.66
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£0.59
Product Description:
'The remarkable story of one woman's triumph over years of appalling violence and abuse' DAILY EXPRESS
98
Product Description:
The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Memoir
Our Price:
£6.99
Used Price:
£1.96
New Price:
£4.24
Product Description:
An intimate and moving portrait of a family combined with an account of the events which swept through Africa in the post-independence period.
99
Amazon.co.uk Review:
Churchill: A Biography
Our Price:
£6.92
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£3.50
Amazon.co.uk Review:
Book buyers will never tire of reading about Winston Churchill, for"the greatest adventurer of modern political history" (RA Butler's verdict) led a life of action-packed drama and global significance. Roy Jenkins' Churchill is the latest biography of this great Briton, following closely in the tailwind of Geoffrey Best's Churchill: A Study in Greatness . Where Best restores altitude to Churchill's dipping reputation, seeing off academic critics of the last decade or so, Jenkins provides a jumbo-size old-fashioned biography, lauding his subject's achievements, sympathising with his quirks, and stepping lightly over his well-known mistakes. As he did in his earlier biographies of Dilke, Asquith and Gladstone, Jenkins sticks closely to the published record, utilising in particular the definitive researches of Martin Gilbert, but he brings the authority and the inside knowledge of British politics to his book, slipping in his own memories of Churchill, and his own comparable experience sat the Cabinet table. It is all here, from the Boer Wars to the nuclear bomb, from the hustings in Oldham to the diplomacy of Yalta, with due coverage of the big moments--at the Board of Trade and at the Admiralty in Asquith's peacetime and wartime cabinets, taking on the appeasers in the 1930s and Hitler in the 1940s. All the books are here, and all the political relationships tetchy and touchy alike, from Lloyd George to Baldwin, Smuts to Stalin, and of course, the British people. Like its subject the book is bulky and at times indulgent, but impossible not to enjoy.-- Miles Taylor
100
What's in the Queen's Handbag: And Other Royal Secrets
Our Price:
£6.05
Used Price:
£0.01
New Price:
£3.24



