Family Biography

Between them, the three men in the fearsome Pierrepoint dynasty executed over 800 people during a career spanning more than half a century. Henry, his brother Thomas, and his son Albert, dispatched some of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, and in the process earned a public notoriety that followed them throughout their eventful lives.

It is the genius of actor Carroll O'Connor that millions of fans will forever confuse him with his most unforgettable creation, Archie Bunker. But O'Connor has lived the kind of rich, momentous life that Archie would never have imagined. Now, O'Connor speaks eloquently and intimately about his great triumphs and terrible tragedies -- and a career that has been immortalized in television history.

From well-known nature and adventure writer Dan Koeppel, whose work has appeared in Audubon and National Geographic Adventure, comes this true story of one bird watcher's incredible achievements.

In this remarkable history of father-son relationships in his family, Alexander Waugh exposes the fraught dynamics of love and strife that has produced a succession of successful authors. Based on the recollections of his father and on a mine of hitherto unseen documents relating to his grandfather, Evelyn, the book skillfully traces the threads that have linked father to son across a century of war, conflict, turmoil, and change.

A haunting and beautiful memoir from a Cambodian refugee who lost her country and her family during Pol Pot's genocide in the 1970s but who finds hope by reclaiming the recipes she tasted in her mother's kitchen.

Blood Brother: The Gene That Rocked My Family offers a brave and nuanced take on one of the most radioactive issues of our times: genetic testing. When her beloved brother, Jim, is diagnosed with Huntington’s disease - a fatal brain disease - author Mona Gable is suddenly thrust into alien, frightening territory without a road map to guide her. Still, as she recovers from the shock of her brother’s death, decisions must be made. To get tested or not? To inform her children that they may also be at risk?

Queen Victoria and Albert, the Prince Consort, had nine children, who, despite their very different characters, remained a close-knit family. Inevitably, as they married into European royal families, their loyalties were divided and their lives dominated by political controversy. This is not only the story of their lives in terms of world impact but also of personal achievements in their own right, individual contributions to public life in Britain and overseas, and as the children of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.

In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy. But Jarrett's family is much more complicated than that. His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. His father is a mystery - Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is. Jarrett lives with his grandparents - two very loud, very loving, very opinionated people who had thought they were through with raising children until Jarrett came along. Only as a teenager can Jarrett begin to piece together the truth of his family.

In 2014, the landmarks of Victoria Belim’s personal geography were plunged into tumult at the hands of Russia. Her hometown Kyiv was gripped by protests and violent suppression. Crimea, where she’d once been sent to school to avoid radiation from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, was invaded. Kharkiv, where her grandmother Valentina studied economics and fell in love; Donetsk, where her father once worked; and Mariupol, where she and her mother bought a cherry tree for Valentina’s garden all became battlegrounds.

Cassy is the first of her generation born into a Christian Lebanese family after they emigrated to Australia, and she was set to be the golden grandchild. But when it was discovered that she had cerebral palsy, the promise of her wonderful future vanished, and a veil of shame descended. Now an embarrassment to the family, Cassy was hidden away from the community, just tolerated at home, and told she was an embarrassment, useless and would have no future.

This English professor grew up spacey and overweight. Drowning in the unrealistic demands of motherhood, Livingston steals her son's ADHD medication and watches it transform her life—for good and bad. She grows weary of subjective diagnoses and chemical treatments from traditional psychology experts, and experiments with functional medicine—brain mapping and nutritional supplements—as a way to understand her brain's potential, bio-hacking her way to a healthy body and mind.

In this beautiful and poignant tribute to her late daughter, award-winning actress and New York Times best-selling author Carol Burnett presents a funny and moving memoir about mothering an extraordinary young woman through the struggles and triumphs of her life.

In 1882, Emily Dickinson's brother Austin began a passionate love affair with Mabel Todd, a young Amherst faculty wife, setting in motion a series of events that would forever change the lives of the Dickinson family. The feud that erupted as a result has continued for over a century. Lyndall Gordon, an award-winning biographer, tells the riveting story of the Dickinsons and reveals Emily to be a very different woman from the pale, lovelorn recluse that exists in the popular imagination.

When Allegra Huston was four years old, her mother was killed in a car crash. Soon afterward, she was introduced to an intimidating man wreathed in cigar smoke - the legendary film director John Huston - with the words, “This is your father”. At the heart of Love Child is Allegra’s search for the widely adored mother she never knew - and also a search for where she herself belongs. Allegra grew up in a fragmented, contradictory family: an only child with many siblings; not unwanted, but a perennial problem to be solved.

The author of My Name Is Maria Isabel offers an inspiring look at her childhood in Cuba in this collection that includes "Where the Flame Trees Bloom", "Under the Royal Palms", five new stories, and more. These true autobiographical tales from renowned Hispanic author and educator Alma Flor Ada are filled with family love and traditions, secrets and deep friendships, and a gorgeous, moving picture of the island of Cuba, where Alma Flor grew up.

A moving, compelling memoir about growing up and escaping the tragic legacy of mental illness, suicide, addiction, and depression in one of America's most famous families: the Hemingways.

After selling her first novel - a dream she'd worked long and hard for - Stephanie Danler knew she should be happy. Instead, she found herself driven to face the difficult past she'd left behind a decade ago: a mother disabled by years of alcoholism, further handicapped by a tragic brain aneurysm; a father who abandoned the family when she was three, now a meth addict in and out of recovery.

After 28 days on a respirator, hanging in the balance of life and death at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Queens, Gary Mizel was well enough to be sent into a rehabilitation center to regain the strength to hold up his head and walk again. A month later, Mizel was released to his only family member, his sister Vicki, and returned to his home in Astoria. This miraculous story of recovery is being published in Vicki Mizel’s newest book, A Sister’s Love–How Family Bonds Can Save a Life.

Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world’s first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world.

Juniper French was born four months early, at 23 weeks' gestation. She weighed one pound, four ounces, and her twiggy body was the length of a Barbie doll. Her head was smaller than a tennis ball, her skin was nearly translucent, and through her chest you could see her flickering heart. Babies like Juniper, born at the edge of viability, trigger the question: Which is the greater act of love - to save her or to let her go? Kelley and Thomas French chose to fight for Juniper's life, and this is their incredible tale.