Classic Biography

A Vendetta is a dark short story that shows a grieving old woman's determination to get revenge for her slain son. She wishes that there were either a cousin, father, or brother to carry on this vendetta, but since there’s no one, the mother pursues it. With her living in rage, she has no time to rest and only focuses on the idea of killing the murderer. She trains her dog, doing harsh starvation training to prepare for the day. After the deed is done, she can relax again.

Charles Dudley Warner was an essayist, novelist, and friend of Mark Twain. My Summer in a Garden is a landmark of American garden writing. In the book, Warner chronicles his work in the garden, where he and his cat, Calvin, try to ward off a stream of invaders, from the neighbors' cows and thieving children, to the pusley weed. He makes the rounds of his beloved vegetable patch, to feel the sun on his back, the hoe in his hands, and to ponder the philosophical implications of contact with the earth, and companionship with gently growing things.

Sewists, you deserve a good laugh. Beth is a former president of her local sewing guild and loves to sew. Rich has a lot of time on his hands after retiring early. Follow the humorous antics of these two as they adjust to his new found freedom. He wants to micromanage her days, and she just wants to sew! You’ll relate to their back and forth and chuckle at the anecdotes within. The only problem being how to put it down to get something else done, or finish work on a sewing project.

Was wird als Rechtfertigung, Entschuldigung und Erklärung missbraucht, um Menschen zu misshandeln, zu vertreiben, zu ermorden? Die Wahrheit! Faschisten, Kommunisten, Diktatoren und Religionen bedienen sich ihrer gewissenlos, um ihre gehirntoten Horden hinter sich zu bringen. Unser Protagonist "Karl Duschek" weiß dies genau, denn er erlebt den Fanatismus verifizierter Staats- und Glaubensfacetten am eigenen Leib und Verstand.

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, or a Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ to his Poor Servant John Bunyan, is a Puritan spiritual autobiography written by John Bunyan. It was composed while Bunyan was serving a 12-year prison sentence in Bedford prison for preaching without a license, and was first published in 1666.

Mark Twain’s essay, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness", was published in the North American Review in 1901. This dark satire exposes the imperialism behind the Chinese Boxer Uprising, the Boer War, and the Philippine-American War. In this, Twain's most famous anti-imperialist work, he indicts the brutalities of the British, French, German, Belgian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and American governments for their actions around the world. He also attacks the imperialist greed of missionaries like William Scott Ament, then-head of the American Board for Foreign Missions.

Originally published in 1856, The Kidnapped and the Ransomed is the personal memoir of Peter Still, who was born a slave. He was yoked to servitude for more than four decades in Alabama and Kentucky. Still was finally freed with the help of two Jewish brothers.

Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada is an engrossing blend of scientific exploration and personal adventure. Clarence King describes the ascent of Mounts Tyndall, Shasta, and Whitney with a scientific poet’s eye, and makes the grandeur of the cliffs, the peaks, the glaciers, and the meadows of Yosemite Valley come alive through his remarkable gifts of portrayal. King describes nature like a master painter while his portrait of the people of California 20 years after the Gold Rush finds engaging expression in a subtle shift of style.

Walden is a work by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and to some degree a manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, Walden details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond amid woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.

In this excerpt from her historically significant autobiography first published in 1889, American suffragette, educator, and president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union Frances Willard gives us a deeper understanding of the ethos of the woman’s temperance movement, as well as the day to day struggles and triumphs of the movement in the US at the time.

Phocion, known as "The Good", was one of the most beloved Greek politicans. He was elected military stratego numerous times. Listen to the noble life and death of this Greek hero.

Pausanias is one of the most interestingly complicated figures in Greek history. A Spartan hero, he was also a Spartan villain; even his own contemporaries did not know what to make of him. Explore his life with Cornelius Nepos and come to your own conclusion - was Pausanias great or terrible?

Pelopidas and Epaminondas' lives are inseperable in history. One's actions would not have been possible without the other by their side. Listen as Pelopidas reclaims his homeland and challenges one of the great Alexanders of history as he seeks his own kleos, or eternal glory.

"Few are considered equal to him," is how Nepos first describes Themistocles in his ancient history of the man. Cast out from his family at a young age, Themistocles suddenly found himself having to face the world on his own. Rising from nothing he became one of the most feared and respected men in Greece, the only who could claim to have driven back Xerxes.

The biography of Titus Pomponius Atticus was one of Nepos' greatest writings during his life. Considered by many to be one of the most upstanding men in ancient history, and the friend of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, he lived during one of the most turbulent and important periods of ancient Rome. Learn how a politican could actually manage to maintain honor and fulfill his duty without being swayed or tempted by personal interest and gain.

There's honest graft and dishonest graft, according to George Washington Plunkitt. Listen to this candid discourse from a 19th-century politician and decide for yourself if things have changed.

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" These famous lines from The Graduate (1967) would forever link Anne Bancroft (1931-2005) to the groundbreaking film and confirm her status as a movie icon. Along with her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in the stage and film drama The Miracle Worker, this role was a highlight of a career that spanned a half-century and brought Bancroft an Oscar, two Tonys, and two Emmy awards. In the first biography to cover the entire scope of Bancroft's life and career, Douglass K. Daniel reveals how, from a young age, Bancroft was committed to challenging herself and strengthening her craft.

In the first authoritative biography of Alexander the Great written for a general audience in a generation, classicist and historian John C Martin tells the remarkable life of the great conqueror. The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history.

In Volume Four, Dumas relates the 1819 murder of German dramatist August von Kotzebue by Karl Ludwig Sand, the campaign to destroy Father Urbain Grandier in 1634, who was successfully convicted of witchcraft and put to a brutal death, and the consequences of the amorous relationship between the prince of Brancaleone and Nisida.

Learn essential lessons in leadership and life from the classic tale of Alexander the Great. This engrossing book also discusses the legacy of this famous man, including the many kingdoms and empires that grew out of his wake. You'll also learn how the Ancient Greek language, ideas, and culture spread across the world - affecting us even today.