Other books that might interest you

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  Andrew Johnson - The American...

  Annette Gordon-Reed

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  A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian recounts the tale of the unwanted president who ran afoul of Congress over Reconstruction and was nearly removed from office 
   
   
   
  Andrew Johnson never expected to be president. But just six weeks after becoming Abraham Lincoln's vice president, the events at Ford's Theatre thrust him into the nation's highest office. Johnson faced a nearly impossible task—to succeed America's greatest chief executive, to bind the nation's wounds after the Civil War, and to work with a Congress controlled by the so-called Radical Republicans. Annette Gordon-Reed, one of America's leading historians of slavery, shows how ill-suited Johnson was for this daunting task. His vision of reconciliation abandoned the millions of former slaves (for whom he felt undisguised contempt) and antagonized congressional leaders, who tried to limit his powers and eventually impeached him. 
   
   
   
  The climax of Johnson's presidency was his trial in the Senate and his acquittal by a single vote, which Gordon-Reed recounts with drama and palpable tension. Despite his victory, Johnson's term in office was a crucial missed opportunity; he failed the country at a pivotal moment, leaving America with problems that we are still trying to solve.

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  Mera Dagistan

  Rasool Hamzatov

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  "Mera Dagistan" is a famous book by Russian writer Rasool Hamzatov, in which he writes about his homeland, Dagestan, its cultural heritage, the lives of its people, their customs, and its history. The book is beautifully written, filled with poetic expression, as Gamzatov shares his emotions, memories, and deep connection with his native land. He considers forgetting one's mother tongue a great tragedy. The book conveys the idea that a person's true identity is deeply rooted in the land where they are born and raised.

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  Reverence - A priest's life of...

  Magdalen Smith

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  Part memoir, part reflection on vocation, Reverence charts the past and present life of an Anglican and female priest, one of the first women to be ordained in the Church of England in the 1990s. Magdalen Smith grew up in a clergy family, married a cleric, then became one herself. Working in many different contexts, cathedral, outer estate, city and countryside, she draws from a depth of experience in ministry and spirituality and reflects on how the church has changed over the years. Describing the often quirky and profound experiences of human life where all is infused with the holy, the book communicates a deep love of enabling others to discover a sense of the divine for themselves.
  
   
  Reverence is a journey through one woman’s life, beginning in the 23-roomed vicarage where she grew up and ending in a place where her priestly calling is still believed to be relevant in a rapidly changing world. It takes familiar concepts of spirituality and through personal stories, reflections on art, culture and place, seeks to connect with the sense of vocation and an intuitive sense of the numinous that many people feel whether they describe themselves as religious or not.

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  Beyond the surface - Christopher...

  Davis Truman

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.   
  "Beyond the Surface: Christopher Columbus and the Kaleidoscope of American Identity" invites readers on an enlightening journey through the intricate layers of history, culture, and identity that have shaped the Americas. In this captivating exploration, the book delves deep into the legacy of Christopher Columbus, unearthing the complex intersections of triumph and tragedy, discovery and displacement. With meticulous research and vivid storytelling, it uncovers the multifaceted facets of Columbus's impact, unveiling the profound effects on indigenous civilizations, European expansion, and the forging of a New World identity. Seamlessly weaving together historical narratives, cultural analyses, and contemporary reflections, the book illuminates the kaleidoscope of influences that have contributed to the diverse tapestry of American identity, challenging readers to confront the nuanced truths that lie beyond conventional narratives. "Beyond the Surface" is a thought-provoking odyssey that compels us to examine the past in order to understand better the present and chart a more inclusive, empathetic future.

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  A Legend of Old Egypt - From...

  Boleslaw Prus

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  Aleksander Głowacki who wrote under the nom de plume Boleslaw Prus was born on 20th August 1847 at Hrubieszów in the Kingdom of Poland, at that time, controlled by the Russian Empire. 
  At three his mother died and then at nine his father.  Female relatives helped raise him but at 15 he joined the Polish uprising against the might of Imperial Russia.  Wounded on the battlefield, arrested and imprisoned, he was later released into the care of a relative and resumed secondary school and then Warsaw University but poverty forced him to leave after two years.  At some point he developed agoraphobia which often caused problems. 
  In 1869, he enrolled in the Forestry Department at Puławy but was soon sacked and so he began a system of self-education that led to work as a newspaper columnist on a wide-ranging series of topics that eventually became the ‘Weekly Chronicles’ and spanned 40 years. 
  With his finances now stabilized he married and then adopted his late brother-in-law’s son.  
  It seems he had doubts as to the scale of his talents and early on adopted the name ‘Boleslaw Prus’ for both his journalistic and literary offerings. 
  His work as a short-story writer met with much acclaim. He wrote several dozen of them, originally published in newspapers and ranging in length from micro-story to novella. His keen observation of everyday life and sense of humor are evident in them.  
  During his career he also wrote novels. After ‘Pharoah’, in 1895, he embarked on a four-month journey taking in Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Rapperswil in Switzerland, where he stayed for two months, and his final destination, Paris.  Here his agoraphobia was so bad he couldn’t cross the Seine.  
  However, his writing continued and in 1911 his novel ‘Changes’, though uncompleted, began to be serialised.  It was never finished. 
  Boleslaw Prus died on 19th May 1912, at his Warsaw apartment.  He was 64.  A National Hero, thousands attended both his funeral service and interment.

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  The Ghost in the Cupboard Room -...

  Wilkie Collins

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  Wilkie Collins was born on 8th January 1824 in Marylebone, London.  
  The family moved several times in his early years before, at 12, they travelled to France and Italy for 2 years where the sights and atmosphere made a deep and lasting impression on him. 
  He resumed his education at Mr Cole’s private boarding school in Highbury, Islington.  Here, he began his literary career under unusual circumstances: the school bully would give him no peace until he had been told a bedtime story.  This ‘little brute’ helped create one of England’s greatest writers.  
  On leaving school, in 1841, he became a clerk at a tea merchant before, 2 years later, publishing his first short story.  However, his first novel was rejected and remained so during his lifetime.  
  A brief stint at Lincoln’s Inn to please his father and to acquire a steady income was halted by his father’s death.  Collins then wrote and published his fathers’ memoirs.  He then completed his legal education though he would never practice.  
  In March 1851, he was introduced to Charles Dickens and there now started a period of sustained literary output and a remarkable lifelong friendship.  His stories were published in Dicken’s magazines, and he toured with Dicken’s theatrical before the two of them travelled to the Continent. 
  By the early 1860’s worrying signs of ill-health appeared with rheumatic gout.  As it worsened, he sought respite and cures in German spa towns and gave up writing to help his recuperation. 
  His personal life had become very complicated.  He was living with the widowed Caroline Graves and conducting an affair with a much younger Martha Rudd.  With the serialised release of ‘The Moonstone’ and vicious attacks of gout Caroline left him and married another.  Collins was now prescribed opium and was soon its lifelong dependent.  Martha bore him two children and with the return of a now divorced Caroline Graves he now divided his time between the two women. 
  In 1874 he set aside writing to tour North America on a reading tour. 
  Throughout his later years he continued to write and publish.  In all 30 novels, 14 plays, 60 short stories and over a 100 non-fiction essays as well as many more collaborations with Dickens. 
  In 1884 the Society of Authors elected him as it’s Vice-President. 
  Wilkie Collins died from a paralytic stroke on September 23rd, 1889, in London. He was 65.

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