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  The Last Sultan - The Life and...

  Robert Greenfield

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  The Last Sultan is the definitive biography of a man who changed popular culture throughout the world. As the founder and head of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun signed and/or recorded many of the greatest musical artists of all time, among them Ruth Brown; Big Joe Turner; Ray Charles; Bobby Darin; Sonny and Cher; Eric Clapton; Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Led Zeppelin; the Rolling Stones; Bette Midler; and Kid Rock. Working alongside his older brother, Nesuhi, one of the preeminent jazz producers of all time, and the legendary Jerry Wexler, who produced great soul artists like Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, and Aretha Franklin, Ertegun transformed Atlantic Records from a small independent record label into a hugely profitable multinational corporation. In successive generations, he also served as a mentor to record-business tyros like Phil Spector, David Geffen, and Lyor Cohen.Brilliant, cultured, and irreverent, Ertegun was as renowned for his incredible sense of personal style and nonstop A-list social life as his work in the studio. Born into great privilege as the son of a high-ranking Turkish diplomat during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, Ertegun spent his life bringing the black-roots music he loved to the world.A larger-than-life figure, always hip, Ertegun lived in the grand manner but was never happier than when he found himself in some down-and-out joint listening to music late at night. Blessed with impeccable taste and brilliant business acumen, he brought rock 'n' roll into the mainstream while creating the music that became the sound track for the lives of multiple generations.With supporting characters like Steve Ross, Henry Kissinger, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jann Wenner, and a host of others, The Last Sultan is the fascinating story of a man who always lived by his own rules.

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  Simply Chopin

  William Smialek

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  Born in a small town near Warsaw, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was a musical prodigy who began giving public concerts and composed his first piano pieces at the age of seven. Following studies at the Warsaw Conservatory, he left his native Poland in 1830, eventually settling in Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life. There he cultivated friendships with prominent musicians and intellectuals of the period and quickly achieved renown as a virtuoso performer and pioneering composer. However, by 1842, his lifelong health issues had become increasingly serious, and his brilliant career went into a precipitous decline, concluding with his untimely death at the age of thirty-nine.  
  In Simply Chopin, Dr. William Smialek presents an accessible and revealing portrait of a musical genius, including his artistic development, his tempestuous love life, and his towering artistic achievements. Relating Chopin’s life story to his historical place and time, Dr. Smialek intimately chronicles his influences and significant relationships, in particular, his long love affair with the writer George Sand. The book also draws on recent research to explore the compositional technique displayed in Chopin’s piano compositions, with commentary on his most important works.  
  Intended for a general readership, Simply Chopin is both a lucid introduction to a giant of classical music and an insightful look at a key moment in musical history, as nineteenth-century Europe turned toward Romanticism and the powerful idea of nationalism.

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  The Book of Iona - An Anthology

  Robert Crawford

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  Writings about the Scottish island from throughout history and today, from the likes of novelists, poets, playwrights, saints, queens, and more. This anthology is comprised of creative prose, nonfiction, and poetry that ranges from St. Columba to the present day, all linked by the isle of Iona. Featuring specially commissioned work by Meaghan Delahunt, Jennie Erdal, Sara Lodge, Victoria Mackenzie, Candia McWilliam, Ruth Thomas, and Alice Thompson, this wonderful collection will have broad historical and contemporary appeal. The Book of Iona is a celebration of one of Scotland’s most beautiful islands and follows on from the success of The Book of St. Andrews.Praise for The Book of Iona“A celebration of one of Scotland’s most beautiful islands, this wonderful collection has broad historical and contemporary appeal.” —Scottish Life Magazine“Enthusiasts of Iona will appreciate the rich woven through the pages, whilst those who have never visited will be captivated and spirited away to a special land.” —Life and Work“The Book of Iona shows just what an anthology can achieve when approached with an open mind and imagination.” —Gutter

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  The Life Back

  Lisa Ann

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  This is the story of life after The Life.In December of 2014, Lisa Ann announced her retirement from the adult entertainment industry. She released her first book, The Life, in December of 2015. On New Year’s Eve, she received a phone call threatening her life—a call that came from inside her own home.For Lisa Ann, this was only the beginning of a terrifying year that would spiral completely out of control. In public, she was still entertaining her fans and maintaining her persona on her wildly popular Fantasy Sports Radio shows. In private, she descended through layer after layer of depression, isolation, fear, and darkness.But the more her life contracted physically—as she retreated into the small, quiet places where she could feel safe—the more her mind began to open. The force to be still created a silence that gave her room to listen. Room to learn. Room to change.And the chance to break free.The Life Back chronicles her three-year odyssey through terror, chaos, forgiveness—and becoming unstoppable.

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  Across Boundaries - A life in...

  Ton Vosloo

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  Ton Vosloo is one of South Africa’s most widely admired newspapermen and businessmen. Under his leadership, Naspers evolved from a print group into a media giant with investments across the world. In his memoir, Vosloo tells the story of his remarkable career, spanning fifty-nine fractious years – years that saw a great many changes in South Africa, in the media and politically. 
  Born in 1937 in Uitenhage, Vosloo started out writing sports reports for local newspapers while he was still at school. Once he had cut his teeth in newspaper journalism, his career took him to Parliament, where he worked as a parliamentary correspondent, and then on to editing Beeld, the popular Afrikaans daily. In 1970, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University; it was during this time in the USA that he became increasingly aware of the unsustainability of apartheid. 
    
  In 1983, Vosloo was appointed managing director of Naspers and set about vigorously transforming the company. On the commercial front, with Koos Bekker and other media companies, he established M-Net, the country’s first pay-television network. In 1992, Vosloo became chairman of Naspers, with Bekker later succeeding him. Today, Naspers’s story of singular and commercial success continues – a success that has its roots in Ton Vosloo’s stewardship.

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  The Kennedy Curse - Why Tragedy...

  Edward Klein

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  Death was merciful to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for it spared her a parent's worst nightmare: the loss of a child. But if Jackie had lived to see her son, JFK Jr., perish in a plane crash on his way to his cousin's wedding, she would have been doubly horrified by the familiar pattern in the tragedy. Once again, on a day that should have been full of joy and celebration, America's first family was struck by the Kennedy Curse. 
  In this probing expose, renowned Kennedy biographer Edward Klein—a bestselling author and journalist personally acquainted with many members of the Kennedy family—unravels one of the great mysteries of our time and explains why the Kennedys have been subjected to such a mind-boggling chain of calamities. Drawing upon scores of interviews with people who have never spoken out before, troves of private documents, archives in Ireland and America, and private conversations with Jackie, Klein explores the underlying pattern that governs the Kennedy Curse. 
  The listener is treated to seven profiles demonstrating the basic premise of this book: The Kennedy Curse is the result of the destructive collision between the Kennedy's fantasy of omnipotence—an unremitting desire to get away with things that others cannot—and the cold, hard realities of life.

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