Biography & Autobiography : Political

Shining the spotlight on a hundred men and women who really made a difference to the world’s most powerful nation, this book features the lives and achievements of extraordinary Americans – presidents and sports figures, film stars and physicists, generals and Internet mavericks – from the age of the Founding Fathers to the present. Telling the stories of lives of men and women over the last 300 years, the book celebrates their achievements and presents a revealing history of the United States. Selected by the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, the book contains surprises and insights into the personalities that created America and is bound to cause debate. more...

Price: $16.95

An unforgettable account of defiance against political terror by one of South Africa?s pioneering anti-apartheid activists. An invaluable testimonial of the excesses of the apartheid system, 117 Days presents the harrowing chronicle of journalist Ruth First?s isolation and abuse at the hands of South African interrogators after her arrest in 1963. Upon her arrest, she was detained in solitary confinement under South Africa?s notorious ninety-day detention law. This is the story of the war of nerves that ensued between First and her Special Branch captors?a work that remains a classic portrait of oppression and the dignity of the human spirit. more...

Price: $14.00

The story of Abigail and John Adams is as much a romance as it is a lively chapter in the early history of this country. The marriage of the second president and first lady is one of the most extraordinary examples of passion and endurance that this country has ever witnessed. And it is a drama peopled with a pantheon of eighteenth-century stars: George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, his daughter Patsy, Ben Franklin, and Mercy Otis Warren. Abigail and John were a uniquely compatible duo, and in their remarkable union we can see the strength of a people determined to achieve full independence in the face of daunting odds. Yet while much has been written about each as an individual, Abigail and John provides, for the first time, the captivating story of their dedication and sacrifice that helped usher in the founding of our country, a time that fascinates us still. Married in 1764 by Abigail's reverend father, the young couple worked side by side for a decade, raising a family while John's status as one of the most prosperous, respected lawyers in Massachusetts grew. As his duties within the new republic expanded, the Adamses endured a long period of sporadic separations. But their loyalty and love kept their bond firm across the distance, as is evident in their tender letters. It's in this correspondence that Abigail comes into her own as a woman of politics, offering words of advice and encouragement to a husband whose absences were crucial to the independence they both cherished. And it's also in these exchanges that they worked through the familial tragedies that tested them: the death of their son Charles from alcoholism and the impoverishment and early death of their daughter Nabby. Through its fifty-four years, the union of John and Abigail Adams was based on mutual respect and ambition, intellect and equality, that went far beyond the conventional bond. Abigail and John is an inspirational portrait of a couple who endured the turmoil more...

Price: $20.99

Author Joe Wheeler, historian and scholar, brings to the pages of this insightful book the knowledge gleaned from over ten years of study and more than sixty books on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Skillfully weaving his own narrative with direct quotes from Lincoln and poignant excerpts from other Lincoln biographers, Wheeler brings a refreshingly friendly rendition of Lincoln's life, faith, and courage. more...

Price: $19.99

When his term of office finishes, what does life hold for a former US president? Max Skidmore traces the fates and fortunes of America's leaders from Washington to Clinton, assessing the continuing influence of these men on the political life of the nation. more...

Price: $27.95