During much of his life Voltaire's plays and verse made him the toast of society, but his barbed wit and commitment to reason also got him into trouble.
Revolutionary novelist, historian, anarchist, Bolshevik and dissident-Victor Serge is one of the most compelling figures to have emerged from the history of the Soviet Union.
George Orwell's autobiographical essay, 'Such, Such Were the Joys', recounts his memoirs between the ages of eight and thirteen, offering insight into Edwardian class conflict from the perspective of a child.
Goethe war nicht nur ein begabtes Kind, ein vielgeliebter Dichter und bedeutender Politiker, sondern hat während seines gesamten Lebens gesucht, geirrt und gelitten.
An engaging reassessment of the celebrated essayist and his relevance to contemporary readersMore than two centuries after his birth, Ralph Waldo Emerson remains one of the presiding spirits in American culture.
'[A] deeply considered and stimulating book, informed throughout by the author's intimate knowledge of the literature and society of Shakespeare's age.
A heartbreaking, darkly funny and deeply moving memoir from a fearlessly talented writerDelivered on the banks of the Mainoru River by her two full-blood grandmothers, Marie Munkara was born with light skin which meant one thing - it would only be a matter of time before she would be taken by the authorities and given to a white family to be raised.
This captivating book by May Sarton rejoices in friendship and family In A World of Light, renowned poet and novelist May Sarton renders unforgettable portraits of the friends she considers family—and the family she looks upon as friends.
From critically acclaimed journalist Valerie Boyd comes an eloquent profile of one of the most intriguing cultural figures of the twentieth centuryZora Neale Hurston.
This fifth and final volume of Joseph Frank's justly celebrated literary and cultural biography of Dostoevsky renders with a rare intelligence and grace the last decade of the writer's life, the years in which he wrote A Raw Youth, Diary of a Writer, and his crowning triumph: The Brothers Karamazov.
'A scrupulous biography' -- Publishers Weekly'Fresh, incisive, and uplifting' -- Kirkus'If you want to know the real Baldwin, this is the book to read' -- Robin D.
Winner of the Children's Literature Association's 2014 Honor Book AwardCrockett Johnson (born David Johnson Leisk, 1906-1975) and Ruth Krauss (1901-1993) were a husband-and-wife team that created such popular children's books as The Carrot Seed and How to Make an Earthquake.
An unprecedented eyewitness account of the New York School, as seen between the lines of O'Hara's poetryJoe LeSueur lived with Frank O'Hara from 1955 until 1965, the years when O'Hara wrote his greatest poems, including "e;To the Film Industry in Crisis,"e; "e;In Memory of My Feelings,"e; "e;Having a Coke with You,"e; and the famous Lunch Poems-so called because O'Hara wrote them during his lunch break at the Museum of Modern Art, where he worked as a curator.
Airman, war hero, immigrant, law student, diplomat, novelist and celebrity spouse, Romain Gary had several lives thrust upon him by the history of the twentieth century, but he also aspired to lead many more.
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867) was a French poet, art critic, and essayist who was among the first people to translate the work of Edgar Allen Poe.
