Biography & Memoir

Part of the Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers in a collectible format   In the popular imagination, as in her portraits, Elizabeth I is the image of monarchical power. The Virgin Queen ruled over a Golden Age: the...

Henry III was a medieval king whose long reign continues to have a profound impact on us today. He was on the throne for 56 years and during this time England was transformed from being the private play-thing of a French speaking dynasty into a medieval...

George I was not the most charismatic of the Hanoverian monarchs to have reigned in England but he was probably the most important. He was certainly the luckiest.Born the youngest son of a landless German duke, he was taken by repeated strokes of good...

The acclaimed Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperbackHenry VIII's reign transformed the physical and spiritual landscape of England. Magnificent, tyrannical, a strong ruler, a 'pillager of the...

The acclaimed Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperback   Richard II (1377-99) came to the throne as a child, following the long, domineering, martial reign of his grandfather Edward III. He suffered...

(Available after 3-20 days)In September 2015 Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch. During her long lifetime Britain and the world have changed beyond recognition, yet throughout she has stood steadfast as a lasting emblem of...

The acclaimed Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperbackLike his mother Queen Victoria, Edward VII defined an era. Both reflected the personalities of their central figures: hers grand, imperial and...

'To provide splendid settings for their displays of majesty, kings had great halls built, and none more so than Rufus'William II, or William Rufus, son and successor to William the Conqueror, is most famous for his death: killed by an arrow while out...

'He had brought nothing but trouble to the navy: how would he fare as King?'Known as the 'Sailor King', William IV was sent to join the navy by his father to discipline him, but instead became notorious for his calamitous years of service, his debts and...

'He seems to have laboured under an almost child-like misapprehension about the size of his world. Had greatness not been thrust upon him, he might have lived a life of great harmlessness'The reign of Edward II was a succession of disasters. Inept in...

'No other medieval king had such demonstrably serious mental health issues; no other king was so notoriously susceptible to those around him; no other king was so clearly uninterested in the business of government'Henry VI, son of the all-conquering...

The acclaimed Penguin Monarchs series: short, fresh, expert accounts of England's rulers - now in paperbackCharles II has always been one of the most instantly recognisable British kings - both in his physical appearance, disseminated through endless...

(Available after 3-20 days)In July 1947, fresh out of college and long before he would win the Pulitzer Prize and become known as one of America's finest historians, Stanley Karnow boarded a freighter bound for France, planning to stay for the summer. He...

“[Red Notice] does for investing in Russia and the former Soviet Union what Liar’s Poker did for our understanding of Salomon Brothers, Wall Street, and the mortgage-backed securities business in the 1980s. Browder’s business saga meshes well with the...

A globe-spanning history of sewing, embroidery, and the people who have used a needle and thread to make their voices heardFrom the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in...

New York Times Bestseller   "Probably the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read.” – Mark Manson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck The Chinese believe that before you can conquer a beast, you must...

There is no better person than an outsider to look at the world and pull us back in. R. Eric Thomas is funny, brave and curious. The world needs more writers like him. NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • From...

(Available after 3-20 days)Elizabeth Wurtzel's New York Times best-selling memoir, with a new afterword"Sparkling, luminescent prose . . . A powerful portrait of one girl's journey through the purgatory of depression and back." —New York Times"A book...

From acclaimed historian Garry Wills, author of Lincoln at Gettysburg, a celebrated re-appraisal of the meaning and the source of inspiration of The Declaration of Independence, based on a reading of Jefferson's original draft document.Inventing...

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE AND THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time“A towering biography . . . a brilliant chronicle.”—TimeThis classic biography is the story of seven men—a...