Biographies & Memoirs
Explore the stories of remarkable lives in our Biographies & Memoirs section at Thryft. Discover firsthand accounts of influential figures and captivating memoirs that'll inspire and educate. Our collection is carefully curated to ensure you find the perfect narrative to delve into.
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John Kobler
Capone : The Life and World of Al Capone
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Recommended for true-crime enthusiasts fascinated by Capone's reign. The book offers an in-depth exploration of both the man and the era in which he thrived. Kobler's vivid portrayal of Capone's life, from his violent childhood to his ultimate downfall, makes for an unforgettable read.
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Max Hastings
Warriors : Portraits from the Battlefield
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Heroism in battle has been celebrated throughout history, yet it is one of the least understood virtues. What makes some men and women perform extraordinary deeds on the battlefield? What makes them risk their lives in the pursuit of victory?Max Hastings, one of our foremost military historians, has seen combat up close and written about it for decades. In Warriors, he brings us the experiences of fourteen soldiers who fought in the wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From an exuberant cavalry officer in Napoleon’s army to an abused orphan who in World War II became America’s youngest general since Custer, to an Israeli officer who recovered from a devastating injury to save his country, each portrait depicts a unique and remarkable story. A tribute to soldierly valor and a deeply insightful study of combat, this is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand what it means to be at war.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Betty Carlson, Francis A. Schaeffer, Jane Stuart Smith
The Gift Of Music - Great Composers And Their Influence
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This book is the perfect read for music students and those interested in learning about the influence of faith on composers throughout history. With descriptions of 40 leading composers, readers will gain insight into the impact of faith on their music and the development of Western civilization. The indexed format makes it easy to navigate and find specific composers of interest.
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William J. Duiker
Ho Chi Minh - A Life
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Recommendation: This book is a great read for those interested in the life of Ho Chi Minh, who was key in the revolution and reunification of Vietnam. The author covers Minh's life from his impoverished youth to his time in the US, France and the Soviet Union. The most outstanding feature of the book is its vivid description of the struggles of the Vietnamese, and the author's ability to bring the story to life.
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Adeline Yen Mah
Falling Leaves : The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
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Born in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer.A compelling, painful, and ultimately triumphant story of a girl's journey into adulthood, Adeline's story is a testament to the most basic of human needs: acceptance, love, and understanding. With a powerful voice that speaks of the harsh realities of growing up female in a family and society that kept girls in emotional chains, Falling Leaves is a work of heartfelt intimacy and a rare authentic portrait of twentieth-century China.
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Khushwant Singh
99 : Unforgettable Fiction, Non - Fiction, Poetry & Humour
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This book would be perfect for those who want to discover the work of Khushwant Singh, one of the greatest Indian writers of all time. The book is a comprehensive collection of his works across genres, including short stories, essays, poetry, and more. Its unique feature is the inclusion of one work for each year of his life, presenting a sort of retrospective of his journey as a writer. If you are looking for a great introduction to Singh's work, this book is a must-read.
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Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Sandra Smith
But You Did Not Come Back
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In 1944, at the age of fifteen, Marceline Loridan-Ivens was arrested in occupied France, along with her father. They were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and forcibly separated. Though he managed to smuggle one last note to her, Marceline never spoke to her father again. But You Did Not Come Back is Marceline's letter to the father she would never know as an adult. This is a breath-taking memoir by an extraordinary woman, and a deeply moving message from a daughter to a father.
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Thant Myint-U
The River of Lost Footsteps : Histories of Burma
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Recommendation: The River of Lost Footsteps is a mesmerizing exploration of Burma's complex past, taking readers on a captivating journey through the country's rich history. Thant Myint-U weaves personal narratives with historical accounts, providing an intimate and insightful perspective that brings Burma to life. With lyrical prose and a meticulous attention to detail, this book offers a profound understanding of the country's struggles, triumphs, and the enduring resilience of its people. Whether you are a history enthusiast or simply seeking a compelling tale, The River of Lost Footsteps is a must-read that will leave a lasting impression.
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Maya Angelou
His Day Is Done - A Nelson Mandela Tribute
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His Day Is Done is a powerful and moving tribute to Nelson Mandela's unwavering courage and resolute determination. This book celebrates the life and remarkable soul of Mandela, whose leadership, strength, and perseverance helped end apartheid in South Africa. Maya Angelou authentically and elegantly captures Mandela's legacy in a way that is truly heartfelt and gripping for readers. This book is perfect for those who are looking to learn more about the man behind the legend and his lasting impact on the world.
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Adeline Yen Mah, Kim McGillivray
Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots : The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
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This book is a poignant memoir of Adeline Yen Mah's difficult childhood in a wealthy Chinese family. It highlights themes of family dynamics, cultural clashes, and resilience. Readers who appreciate candid accounts of personal struggles and triumphs will find this book compelling and thought-provoking.
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Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca, Natalie Pope Boyce
Leonardo da Vinci : A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House Merlin Mission #10: Monday with a Mad Genius
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Recommendation: Explore the fascinating world of Leonardo da Vinci through this engaging nonfiction companion. Discover his passion for flight, his famous paintings, and his ingenious notebooks. This book is perfect for young readers who are curious about history, art, and science. With up-to-date information, photos, and illustrations, it brings da Vinci's genius to life. Get ready to be inspired by one of history's greatest minds!
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Nancy Marie Brown
The Far Traveler : Voyages of a Viking Woman
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Five hundred years before Columbus, a Viking woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the known world. She landed in the New World and lived there for three years, giving birth to a baby before sailing home. Or so the Icelandic sagas say. Even after archaeologists found a Viking longhouse in Newfoundland, no one believed that the details of Gudrid’s story were true. Then, in 2001, a team of scientists discovered what may have been this pioneering woman’s last house, buried under a hay field in Iceland, just where the sagas suggested it could be. Joining scientists experimenting with cutting-edge technology and the latest archaeological techniques, and tracing Gudrid’s steps on land and in the sagas, Nancy Marie Brown reconstructs a life that spanned—and expanded—the bounds of the then-known world. She also sheds new light on the society that gave rise to a woman even more extraordinary than legend has painted her and illuminates the reasons for its collapse.
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Peter Collier, David Horowitz
The Kennedys : An American Drama
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The Kennedys may be the most photographed, written about, talked about, admired, hated & controversial family in American history. But the real story was not told until Collier & Horowitz spent years researching archives & interviewing family members & hundreds of people close to them. The Kennedys: An American Drama is a comprehensive history that brings together all the complex strains of the story of the Kennedys' rise & fall. The authors have added new material showing the effect of the death of John F. Kennedy Jr, & the other family tragedies of the last few years, on the Kennedys & their mythic role in American life.PrologueArchitect of Their LivesThe Stand-In Brothers WithinThe Lost BoysEpilogueBibliographic NoteNotesIndexPicture Credits
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Margaret Thatcher
The Downing Street Years
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This book is a captivating account of Margaret Thatcher's time as Prime Minister, revealing her determination and resilience in achieving her goals. Through her frank accounts of her dealings with foreign statesmen and her own ministers, readers gain insight into the challenges and triumphs that defined her political career. If you're interested in leadership, politics, or the life of an influential woman, this book is a must-read.
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Said Zahari
Dark Clouds at Dawn : A Political Memoir
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Dark Clouds at Dawn is a must-read for those interested in political history and the ever-changing landscape of politics. The book offers insight into Said's personal experiences, as well as the political climate of the time, making it a fascinating and informative read. Said's unique perspective is the most distinctive feature of this book and sets it apart from other political memoirs. Overall, Dark Clouds at Dawn is a captivating and thought-provoking memoir that is both informative and entertaining.
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Slavenka Drakulić
Cafe Europa : Life After Communism
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Croatian journalist, novelist, and essayist Slavenka Drakulić notes that Eastern Europeans are so anxious to become like their Western counterparts that every city and town has a Cafe Europa that is a pale imitation of similar establishments in cities like Paris and Rome. She presents here a collection of essays that explore life in various Eastern European countries since the fall of communism. As a citizen of Croatia (formerly part of Yugoslavia) living now in Vienna with her Swedish husband, she writes knowingly as a survivor of a communist regime, as one who realizes that pitfalls still lie ahead for nations emerging from the Soviet yoke. In Albania, she observes rage everywhere in people who seem to want to smash all vestiges of the Hoxha regime. In Romania, she comments on the execrable state in which public toilets are maintained: "[T]he standard of Romanian toilets reflects the nature of the communist system of which it is a legacy"; "the absence of any improvement is... a warning for the future of democracy" there. Drakulic's pungent and insightful ruminations not only describe life in her part of the world?she makes us feel it as well.--Publishers Weekly
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Lisa See
On Gold Mountain : A Family Memoir of Love, Struggle and Survival
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In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son Fong See later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family's antiques store in Los Angeles's Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams.With these stories and her own years of research, Lisa See chronicles the one-hundred-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius, and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.
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Lesley Downer
Madame Sadayakko : The Geisha who Seduced the West
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A critically acclaimed author tells the enthralling true story of the real Madame Butterfly, a woman who became the most celebrated geisha in Japan and the first to tour the West. At twenty-nine, she captivated the worldas stage. From San Francisco to New York, Paris, and Berlin, audiences thrilled to her mesmeric acting and exquisite dancing. She performed for the American President and for the Prince of Wales in London. Picasso painted her. Gide, Debussy, Degas, and Rodin were among her devoted fans. She was Sadayakko, Japanas most notorious geishaaand its first international superstar.In Italy, Puccini was working on "Madame Butterfly," He had the plot for his opera, but he had yet to see a real live flesh-and-blood Japanese womanauntil Sadayakko arrived with her troupe of traveling actors."Madame Sadayakko" is the true story of this extraordinary womanamuse to writers, artists, and fashion designers. Her adventures lift the veil on the secretive world of the geisha and reveal a missing piece of history from the turn of the last century, when Japanese women wore bustles and learned the waltz and women in the West wore Sadayakko kimonos.
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Hidayah Amin
Gedung Kuning
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Gedung Kuning or the Yellow Mansion was home to the family of Haji Yusoff 'Tali Pinggang' from 1912 to 1999. It was acquired by the Singapore government in August 1999 under the Land Acquisition Act. What used to house six families is now preserved as a historic building under the Malay Heritage Centre. Hidayah Amin, one of Haji Yusoff's great-granddaughters, revisits her childhood home and takes readers beyond the gate guarded by stone eagles, through rooms with big mirrors and marble floors, and shares interesting anecdotes growing up in Gedung Kuning. Through 28 short stories, readers get a historical narrative detailing the lives of people living in Gedung Kuning and the Malays of Singapore from 1850s to 1999.
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Chanrithy Him
When Broken Glass Floats : Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge : A Memoir
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A survivor of the Cambodian genocide recounts a childhood in Cambodia, where rudimentary labor camps filled with death and illness were the norm and modern technology, such as cars and electricity, no longer existed. 15,000 first printing.
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John Kerr
A Most Dangerous Method - The Story Of Jung, Freud, And Sabina Spielrein
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Recommendation: This book would be a great read for anyone interested in the dynamics between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Kerr provides an intimate portrayal of their professional and personal relationship, enhanced by the inclusion of Sabina Spielrein, a woman who played a significant role in both men's lives. Overall, A Most Dangerous Method is a must-read for those interested in the history of psychoanalysis and the tensions between its most prominent figures.
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Stephen E. Ambrose
Citizen Soldiers : U.S.Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge, to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945
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From Stephen E. Ambrose, bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day , the inspiring story of the ordinary men of the U.S. army in northwest Europe from the day after D-Day until the end of the bitterest days of World War II.In this riveting account, historian Stephen E. Ambrose continues where he left off in his #1 bestseller D-Day. Citizen Soldiers opens at 0001 hours, June 7, 1944, on the Normandy beaches, and ends at 0245 hours, May 7, 1945, with the allied victory. It is biography of the US Army in the European Theater of Operations, and Ambrose again follows the individual characters of this noble, brutal, and tragic war. From the high command down to the ordinary soldier, Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the overrunning of Germany, Ambrose tells the real story of World War II from the perspective of the men and women who fought it.
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Loung Ung
Lulu in the Sky
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Concluding the trilogy that started with the bestselling memoir First They Killed My Father , Loung Ung describes her college experience and her first steps into adulthood, revealing her struggle to reconcile with her past while moving forward towards happiness. After the violence of the Khmer Rouge and the difficult assimilation experience of a refugee, Loung’s daily struggle to keep darkness, anger, and depression at bay will finally find two unexpected allies: the empowering call of activism, and the redemptive power of love. Lulu in the Sky is the story of Loung’s journey to a Cambodian village to reconnect with her mother’s spirit; to a vocation that will literally allow her to heal the landscape of her birth; and to the transformative influence of a supportive marriage to a loving man.
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Chelsea Clinton, Alexandra Boiger
She Persisted - 13 American Women Who Changed The World
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Chelsea Clinton introduces tiny feminists, mini activists and little kids who are ready to take on the world to thirteen inspirational women who never took no for an answer, and who always, inevitably and without fail, persisted.Throughout American history, there have always been women who have spoken out for what’s right, even when they have to fight to be heard. In early 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s refusal to be silenced in the Senate inspired a spontaneous celebration of women who persevered in the face of adversity. In this book, Chelsea Clinton celebrates thirteen American women who helped shape our country through their tenacity, sometimes through speaking out, sometimes by staying seated, sometimes by captivating an audience. They all certainly persisted.She Persisted is for everyone who has ever wanted to speak up but has been told to quiet down, for everyone who has ever tried to reach for the stars but was told to sit down, and for everyone who has ever been made to feel unworthy or unimportant or small.With vivid, compelling art by Alexandra Boiger, this book shows readers that no matter what obstacles may be in their paths, they shouldn’t give up on their dreams. Persistence is power.This book features: Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Clara Lemlich, Nellie Bly, Maria Tallchief, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, Margaret Chase Smith, Sally Ride, Florence Griffith Joyner, Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Sotomayor—and one special cameo.
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James Gleick
Isaac Newton
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Isaac Newton was born in a stone farmhouse in 1642, fatherless and unwanted by his mother. When he died in London in 1727 he was so renowned he was given a state funeral—an unheard-of honor for a subject whose achievements were in the realm of the intellect. During the years he was an irascible presence at Trinity College, Cambridge, Newton imagined properties of nature and gave them names—mass, gravity, velocity—things our science now takes for granted. Inspired by Aristotle, spurred on by Galileo’s discoveries and the philosophy of Descartes, Newton grasped the intangible and dared to take its measure, a leap of the mind unparalleled in his generation.James Gleick, the author of Chaos and Genius, and one of the most acclaimed science writers of his generation, brings the reader into Newton’s reclusive life and provides startlingly clear explanations of the concepts that changed forever our perception of bodies, rest, and motion. Ideas so basic to the twenty-first century we literally take them for granted.
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Dive Into Real-Life Stories
Biographies and memoirs offer unparalleled insights into the lives and minds of individuals who've shaped our world. Be it political icons, celebrities, or unsung heroes, Thryft brings you a rich assortment of stories that reveal extraordinary experiences and life lessons. Embark on a journey through time as you explore the personal tales that have influenced history and culture.
Our collection includes a wide range of biographies, from influential leaders to pop culture icons. Find engrossing memoirs that give insight into personal journeys and historical events.
Consider what aspects of life you’re curious about. Whether it’s artistic journeys, political memoirs, or overcoming adversity, our collection will have something that resonates with you.
Yes, we include stories about notable religious figures. You might also explore our Religion collection for more faith-based narratives.
Yes, we celebrate local voices and histories. Discover the lives of Singaporean figures that have shaped our city-state's unique culture and heritage.