Other books that might interest you

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  On the Shoulders of Giants

  Umberto Eco, Alastair McEwen

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  In Umberto Eco’s first novel, The Name of the Rose, Nicholas of Morimondo laments, “We no longer have the learning of the ancients, the age of giants is past!” To which the protagonist, William of Baskerville, replies: “We are dwarfs, but dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of those giants, and small though we are, we sometimes manage to see farther on the horizon than they.” 
   On the Shoulders of Giants is a collection of essays based on lectures Eco famously delivered at the Milanesiana Festival in Milan over the last fifteen years of his life. Previously unpublished, the essays explore themes he returned to again and again in his writing: the roots of Western culture and the origin of language, the nature of beauty and ugliness, the potency of conspiracies, the lure of mysteries, and the imperfections of art.  
  Eco examines the dynamics of creativity and considers how every act of innovation occurs in conversation with a superior ancestor. In these playful, witty, and breathtakingly erudite essays, we encounter an intellectual who reads comic strips, reflects on Heraclitus, Dante, and Rimbaud, listens to Carla Bruni, and watches Casablanca while thinking about Proust. On the Shoulders of Giants reveals both the humor and the colossal knowledge of a contemporary giant.

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  The Right Way to Do Wrong

  Harry Houdini

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  Harry Houdini, master illusionist and contortionist, unmasks the various ways that criminals take advantage of their victims. (summary by Lee Ann Howlett)

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  Original Sin - From Preacher's...

  Jeremy Scott, Marvel

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  Perhaps best known as the snarky narrator and co-founder of the viral YouTube channel CinemaSins, Jeremy Scott cracked the code of turning a passion for film and sarcasm into a full-time job. Original Sin is Jeremy's compelling story of family, career, and deep love for movies that launched him into internet stardom. In his trademark, unapologetic voice, he gives an irreverent and honest take on the wild ride to creating a YouTube sensation. This memoir-with-a-twist sprinkles listeners with his personal advice on the combination of dumb luck, know-how, and je nais se quois it takes to be successful on YouTube while hilariously relaying how two friends stumbled into fame. With anecdotes of laugh-out-loud misadventures and insightful, actionable advice for aspiring YouTubers, Original Sin is the ultimate behind-the-scenes look into the inception of an internet sensation. But more than that, it's one man's love letter to humankind's greatest escape, a pastime that allows us to dream and dwell on beauty, art, and truth.

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  Quitters Never Win - My Life in UFC

  Anthony Evans, Michael Bisping

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  The Ultimate Fighting Champion Hall of Famer tells his story in this no-holds-barred memoir—featuring a bonus chapter in this updated American edition.In Quitters Never Win, Michael Bisping—Britain’s own Rocky Balboa—tells his life story from childhood as a British Army brat to a legendary mixed martial arts career and induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. The ultimate UFC underdog, Bisping fought his way to Number One contender three times, only to be knocked back each time. But he refused to give in, clawing his way to his first World Title shot at the age of thirty-seven—and becoming the first ever British UFC world champion. Bisping offers fresh insights about his fighting career, never-before-told stories about his film and TV career, and a harrowing account of his fighting off attempted kidnappers while filming in South Africa. Loaded with the humor and brutal honesty that first won him a following on the television show Ultimate Fighter 3, Bisping recounts his record setting thirteen-year fight career battling the likes of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Dan Henderson.

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  David Steel - Rising Hope to...

  David Torrance

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  Michael Foot was speaking affectionately when in 1979 he quipped that David Steel had apparently gone from 'rising hope to elder statesman' without any intervening period whatsoever. But the remark also neatly captured a career which had seen 'the Boy David' enter the House of Commons aged only twenty-six, become leader of the Liberal Party in 1976 (at thirty-eight years old one of the youngest party leaders in British history) and then, within months of his election, lead his party into a controversial Lib-Lab Pact with James Callaghan's Labour government. Taking the lead in demanding cooperation with the new Social Democratic Party, Steel helped the Alliance poll an unprecedented share of the vote for a third party in the 1983 election. Alongside David Owen of the SDP, he fought another memorable election four years later as one of the 'two Davids' and later became the major force behind the troubled birth of the Liberal Democrat Party. Based on extensive interviews and fresh archival research, this biography - with which Steel has cooperated - charts both the 'rising hope' and 'elder statesman' phases in Steel's career, as well as his role as the first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and his political legacy in light of the post-2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.

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  Six Wives - The Queens of Henry...

  David Starkey

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  “Extraordinary. . . . It is a tribute to Starkey’s narrative drive, his puckish wit, and sharp discrimination that it doesn’t seem a page too long. . . . With each queen, Starkey offers a vivid character study but also has fresh discoveries that subtly alter the picture he started out with.” — Sunday Times (London)The dramatic, legendary story of Henry VIII, his six wives, and the England they ruled—told by one of the world’s preeminent historians of the Tudor era.Perhaps no one in history had a more eventful career in matrimony than Henry VIII. His marriages were tumultuous and complicated, and made instant legends of six very different women. Henry took his first bride, Catherine of Aragon, when he was 17. Their 24-year marriage was a relatively stable prelude to what followed. Anne Boleyn, a pretty, French-educated Protestant who was the mother of Elizabeth I, was eventually beheaded. Jane Seymour served as a demure contrast to the vampish Boleyn, and gave birth to Henry’s longed-for son (Edward VI). After a brief marriage to the plain Anne of Cleves, Henry married a flirtatious teenager, Catherine Howard, who would be the second of his brides to lose her head along with the king’s favor. Finally, there was Catherine Parr, a shrewd Protestant bluestocking.In this brilliant new work, one of the world’s most respected historians weaves startling new facts and fresh interpretations into a spellbinding account of the emotional drama and political intrigue that attended Henry’s six marriages. With a keen eye for both the personal and the global stage, David Starkey masterfully recaptures the Tudor era—and the wives of Henry VIII—as only he can.

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