Collection: Biography & Memoir

The author of Powers and Thrones and presenter of Netflix's Secrets of Great British Castles offers a vivid account of the events that inspired Game of Thrones and Shakespeare's Henry IV and Richard III

Discover the real history behind The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, the PBS Great Performance series of Shakespeare's plays, starring Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sofie Okenedo and Hugh Bonneville.

The crown of England changed hands five times over the course of the fifteenth century, as two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty fought to the death for the right to rule. In this riveting follow-up to The Plantagenets, celebrated historian Dan Jones describes how the longest-reigning British royal family tore itself apart until it was finally replaced by the Tudors.

Some of the greatest heroes and villains of history were thrown together in these turbulent times, from Joan of Arc and Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt marked the high point of the medieval monarchy, to Richard III, who murdered his own nephews in a desperate bid to secure his stolen crown. This was a period when headstrong queens and consorts seized power and bent men to their will. With vivid descriptions of the battles of Towton and Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was slain, this dramatic narrative history revels in bedlam and intrigue. It also offers a long-overdue corrective to Tudor propaganda, dismantling their self-serving account of what they called the Wars of the Roses.

"If you're a fan of Game of Thrones or The Tudors then Dan Jones' swashbucklingly entertaining slice of medieval history will be right up your alley... Every bit as entertaining and readable as his previous blockbuster The Plantagenets." - Daily Express

Special edition: It is Rumored that Taylor Swift will be in the NEW DEADPOOL movie as the character Dazzler. It is the 22-page comic book that has been seen in The Hollywood Reporter and on ABC News and more. The cover features her good friends like Travis Kelce, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Selena Gomez and more.

Attention, Swifties! Unite! TidalWave Comics proudly presents an extraordinary tribute to Taylor and her remarkable ERAS tour, which has shattered records. This captivating retrospective chronicles the career of America's beloved singer/songwriter. Taylor not only cherishes her fans but also supports charitable causes. She stands as an empowering figure, a true embodiment of Female Force. Special edition cover featuring a homage cover of Taylor Swift as Dazzler (Rumors that she will be playing this character in the new "Deadpool" movie!

The "Female Force" imprint features prominent and influential authors, business executives, entertainers, journalists, politicians, and activists. The latest biography comic book joins TidalWave's ever-growing library of more than 200 comic book biographies.

Previous titles have profiled Dolly Parton, Kamala Harris, Tina Fey, Nancy Reagan, Michelle Obama, Barbra Streisand, Madonna to Cher and Gloria Steinem. These biographical comics, written by some of the most talented writers in the comic world and beyond, deliver an informed and illustrated look into the lives of these figures.

This acclaimed picture book autobiography tells the triumphant story of Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, and the first LGBTQ congressperson to represent Kansas.

When Sharice Davids was young, she never thought she'd be in Congress. And she never thought she'd be one of the first Native American women in Congress. During her campaign, she heard from a lot of doubters. They said she couldn't win because of how she looked, who she loved, and where she came from.

But everyone's path looks different and everyone's path has obstacles. And this is the remarkable story of Sharice Davids' path to Congress.

Beautifully illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, an Ojibwe Woodland artist, this powerful autobiographical picture book teaches readers to use their big voice and that everyone deserves to be seen--and heard!

The back matter includes information about the Ho-Chunk written by former Ho-Chunk President Jon Greendeer, an artist note, and an inspiring letter to children from Sharice Davids.

"Rich, vivid illustrations by Ojibwe Woodland artist Pawis-Steckley are delivered in a graphic style that honors Indigenous people. The bold artwork adds impact to the compelling text." (Kirkus starred review)

"The prose is reminiscent of an inspirational speech ("Everyone's path looks different"), with a message of service that includes fun biographical facts, such as her love of Bruce Lee. Pawis-Steckley (who is Ojibwe Woodland) contributes boldly lined and colored digital illustrations, inflected with Native symbols and bold colors. A hopeful and accessible picture book profile." (Publishers Weekly)

"Affecting picture-book autobiography." (The Horn Book)

Acclaim includes:

A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2022 - Outstanding Merit in biography and memoirOn Here Wee Read's 2021 Ultimate List of Diverse Children's Books2022 ALSC Notable Children's Books in the middle readers category2022 Booklist from Rise: A Feminist Book Project--Early Readers NonfictionNominee for 2022 Reading the West book awardSelected as CCBC Choices 2022--biography, autobiography and memoir

MLK Jr.'s Detroit Dream: Memoir of a Civil Rights Foot Soldier is an autobiography of an African American black girl who was indoctrinated into the civil rights movement at the age of eight when Dr. Martin L King Jr., the freedom icon, marched in Detroit during the summer of 1963. The memoir puts, in chronological order from a child's point of view, the events, major personalities, triumphs, and tragedies in American history from the time of the Detroit Dream March in 1963 until Dr. King's tragic death in 1968.

This book was inspired by young children who were mesmerized by the oral recitation of author Sharon Elizabeth Sexton's memory of when Dr. King came to Detroit and delivered his first version of the "I Have a Dream" speech. "Children do like history if they feel they can be a part of it," Sexton discovered and put the story into written form as the memories came back while writing. Sexton realized that she and her baby boom generation of the 1950s went through a lot of life-changing history between the time Dr. King first talked about his dream for the children of America and his untimely death.

In recent history, American youth are once again witnessing life-changing social circumstances. Many of the youth don't realize that their grandparents, who were part of the baby boom generation, were faced with similar issues. This book can be used by multiple generations to bring up similarities, talking points, generate conversations, and provide teaching moments that will bring the different generations of family, community, and nation together to talk about African American history and current events.

Now a Netflix film starring and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, this is a gripping memoir of survival and perseverance about the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village.

When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family's life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William's windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land.

Retold for a younger audience, this exciting memoir shows how, even in a desperate situation, one boy's brilliant idea can light up the world. Complete with photographs, illustrations, and an epilogue that will bring readers up to date on William's story, this is the perfect edition to read and share with the whole family.

A compelling, intimate history of the Revolutionary period through a series of charismatic and ambitious families, revealing how the American Revolution was, in many ways, a civil war.

"Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present Generation, to preserve your Freedom! --John Adams to Abigail Adams, 26 April 1777

All wars are tragic, but the "revolutionary generation" paid an exceptionally personal price. Foreign wars pull men from home to fight and die abroad leaving empty seats at the family table. But the ideological war that forms the foundation of a civil war also severs intimate family relationships and bonds of friendship in addition to the loss of life on the battle fields.

In The Times That Try Men's Soul, Joyce Lee Malcolm masterfully traces the origins and experience of that division during the American Revolution--the growing political disagreements, the intransigence of colonial and government officials swelling into a flood of intolerance, intimidation and mob violence. In that tidal wave opportunities for reconciliation were lost. Those loyal to the royal government fled into exile and banishment, or stayed home to support British troops. Patriots risked everything in a fight they seemed destined to lose. Many people simply hoped against hope to get on with ordinary life in extraordinary times.

The hidden cost of this war was families and dear friends split along party lines. Samuel Quincy, Josiah Quincy's only surviving son, sailed to England, abandoning his father, wife, and three children. John Adam's dearest friend, Jonathan Sewell, fled with his family to England after his home was stormed by a mob. Sewell's sister-in-law was married to none other than John Hancock. James Otis's beloved wife Ruth was a wealthy Tory. One daughter would marry a British Army captain and spend the rest of her life abroad while the other wed the son of a major general in the Continental Army.

The pain of husbands divided from wives, fathers from children, sisters and brothers from each other and close friends caught on opposite sides in the throes of war has been explored in histories of other American wars, yet Malcolm reveals how this conflict reaches into the heart of our country's foundation. Loyalists who fled to England became strangers in a strange land who did not fit into British society. They were Americans longing for home, wondering whether there would--or could--be reconciliation.

The grief of separated loyalties is an important and often ignored part of the revolutionary war story. Those who risked their lives battling the great British empire, and those who left home loyal to the government were all caught in a war without an enemy. In his rough draft of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson reflected sadly that "we might have been a free and a great people together." The Times That Try Men's Souls is a poignant and vivid narrative that provides a fresh and timely perspective on a foundational part of our nation's history.

From one of California's most celebrated librarians and public historians, a coming-of-age memoir about the thirst for knowledge and hometown pride.

"What You Don't Know will inspire for its grace, zest and courage." --Joan Frank, San Francisco Chronicle

Dorothy Lazard grew up in the Bay Area of the 1960s and '70s, surrounded by an expansive network of family, and hungry for knowledge. Here in her first book, she vividly tells the story of her journey to becoming "queen of my own nerdy domain." Today Lazard is celebrated for her distinguished career as a librarian and public historian, and in these pages she connects her early intellectual pursuits--including a formative encounter with Alex Haley--to the career that made her a community pillar. As she traces her trajectory to adulthood, she also explores her personal experiences connected to the Summer of Love, the murder of Emmett Till, the flourishing of the Black Arts Movement, and the redevelopment of Oakland. As she writes with honesty about the tragedies she faced in her youth--including the loss of both parents--Lazard's memoir remains triumphant, animated by curiosity, careful reflection, and deep enthusiasm for life.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER - USA TODAY! BESTSELLER

In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures traveling across the deserts of the American West in an orange van named Bertha and reflects on an unconventional approach to life.

A woman defined by motion, Brianna Madia bought a beat-up bright orange van, filled it with her two dogs Bucket and Dagwood, and headed into the canyons of Utah with her husband. Nowhere for Very Long is her deeply felt, immaculately told story of exploration--of the world outside and the spirit within.

However, pursuing a life of intention isn't always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate--when Bertha overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But Brianna was committed to living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference.

Nowhere for Very Long is the true story of a woman learning and unlearning, from backroads to breakdowns, from married to solo, and finally, from lost to found to lost again . . . this time, on purpose.

A rich, immersive, funny and heartbreaking memoir of the charming bookseller who runs two tiny bookshops in the remote village of Manapouri in Fiordland, in the deep south of New Zealand.

"An extraordinary story." --Shaun Bythell, The Diary of a Bookseller

Ruth Shaw weaves together stories of the characters who visit her bookshops, musings about favorite books, and bittersweet stories from her full and varied life.

She's sailed through the Pacific for years, been held up by pirates, worked at Sydney's Kings Cross with drug addicts and prostitutes, campaigned on numerous environmental issues, and worked the yacht Breaksea Girl with her husband, Lance.

Underlining all her wanderings and adventures are some very deep losses and long-held pain. Balancing that out is her beautiful love story with Lance, and her delightful sense of humor.

This will make you weep and make you laugh and make you want to read more books - and make you want to visit Ruth and her two wee bookshops.

"Shaw's writing is pragmatic and restrained; her voice is so strong and assured that when grief appears you gasp at its intrusion and your heart stops a second." --Alexa Dretzke, Readings Hawthorn

"Amazing!" --Jack Tame, Newstalk ZB

"A fascinating, funny and moving story." --Nicky Pellegrino, New Zealand Woman's Weekly

"Shaw can write about these peaks and troughs [of her life] without a skerrick of maudlin introspection or mawkishness. Battered and emotionally bruised, she marches on. In a word, dauntless, and it's exactly this quality that makes this memoir so readable." --Chris Moore, NZ Listener

"Utterly charming and filled with equal measures of heartbreak and humour, Ruth Shaw's memoir will have you booking the first flight to New Zealand to share a cup of tea at her Wee Bookshops. Shaw has been a cook, a nurse, sailor and world traveller, and endured immeasurable loss. But with Lance, the love of her life, Shaw has found her place bookselling in Fiordland." --Booksellers' Choice Australia

'"Compelling. Shaw tells her own story free of over-sentimentality or self-pity; she's straightforward, frequently humorous... Her resilience, optimism and willingness to help others is to be admired; her remarkable story is to be read and reflected upon as it adds another vital perspective to a NZ life." --Dionne Christian, Sunday Star Times

A riveting story of how dueling ambitions and the power of prodigy made America the cultural center of the world--and Picasso the most famous artist alive--in the shadow of World War II

"[Eakin] has mastered this material. . . . The book soars."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Vanity Fair, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker

In January 1939, Pablo Picasso was renowned in Europe but disdained by many in the United States. One year later, Americans across the country were clamoring to see his art. How did the controversial leader of the Paris avant-garde break through to the heart of American culture?

The answer begins a generation earlier, when a renegade Irish American lawyer named John Quinn set out to build the greatest collection of Picassos in existence. His dream of a museum to house them died with him, until it was rediscovered by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., a cultural visionary who, at the age of twenty-seven, became the director of New York's new Museum of Modern Art.

Barr and Quinn's shared goal would be thwarted in the years to come--by popular hostility, by the Depression, by Parisian intrigues, and by Picasso himself. It would take Hitler's campaign against Jews and modern art, and Barr's fraught alliance with Paul Rosenberg, Picasso's persecuted dealer, to get Picasso's most important paintings out of Europe. Mounted in the shadow of war, the groundbreaking exhibition Picasso: Forty Years of His Art would launch Picasso in America, define MoMA as we know it, and shift the focus of the art world from Paris to New York.

Picasso's War is the never-before-told story about how a single exhibition, a decade in the making, irrevocably changed American taste, and in doing so saved dozens of the twentieth century's most enduring artworks from the Nazis. Through a deft combination of new scholarship and vivid storytelling, Hugh Eakin shows how two men and their obsession with Picasso changed the art world forever.

Born in 1860s Missouri, nobody expected George Washington Carver to succeed. Slaves were not allowed to be educated. After the Civil War, Carver enrolled in classes and proved to be a star student. He became the first black student at Iowa State Agricultural College and later its first black professor. He went on to the Tuskegee Institute where he specialized in botany (the study of plants) and developed techniques to grow crops better. His work with vegetables, especially peanuts, made him famous and changed agriculture forever. He went on to develop nearly 100 household products and over 100 recipes using peanuts.

Meet Raye Montague―the hidden mastermind who made waves in the U.S. Navy!

After touring a German submarine in the early 1940s, young Raye set her sights on becoming an engineer. Little did she know sexism and racial inequality would challenge that dream every step of the way, even keeping her greatest career accomplishment a secret for decades. Through it all, the gifted mathematician persisted―finally gaining her well-deserved title in history: a pioneer who changed the course of ship design forever.

The Girl With a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague is the third book in a riveting educational series about the inspiring lives of amazing scientists. In addition to the illustrated rhyming tale, you'll find a complete biography, fun facts, a colorful timeline of events, and even a note from Montague herself!

Test Your Philadelphia Phillies Knowledge!

The Ultimate Philadelphia Phillies Trivia Book is a staple for anyone who loves baseball, sports trivia, and the Phils. You will be tested on your knowledge of mind-blowing facts from the early days of the franchise, as well as the current era of Phillies baseball led by the likes of Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, and Jake Arrieta.

In these pages, you will find answers to over 350 trivia questions as well as hundreds of interesting facts, including:

• Who was the first Phillie to be named National League Rookie of the Year?
• Country singer Tim McGraw is the son of former Phillies pitcher, Tug McGraw.
• Ryan Howard appeared on which TV sitcom that featured a character of the same name?
• What is the name of the Phillies' mascot?
• The Phillies are the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in American professional sports.

Whether you're a lifelong Phils fan or are simply looking to hit one out of the park on MLB Trivia Night at your local bar, The Ultimate Philadelphia Phillies Trivia Book is a grand slam.

The Best Graphic Book of 2021 by Publishers Weekly A New York Times Best Graphic Novel of 2021 A New York Times Notable Book An Autostraddle Best Queer Book of the Year A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A St. Louis Post Dispatch Best Book of the Year NPR, 12 Books NPR Staffers Loved Shelf Awareness Best Books of 2021

From the author of Fun Home, a profoundly affecting graphic memoir of Bechdel's lifelong love affair with exercise, set against a hilarious chronicle of fitness fads in our times

Comics and cultural superstar Alison Bechdel delivers a deeply layered story of her fascination, from childhood to adulthood, with every fitness craze to come down the pike: from Jack LaLanne in the 60s ("Outlandish jumpsuit! Cantaloupe-sized guns!") to the existential oddness of present-day spin class. Readers will see their athletic or semi-active pasts flash before their eyes through an ever-evolving panoply of running shoes, bicycles, skis, and sundry other gear. But the more Bechdel tries to improve herself, the more her self appears to be the thing in her way. She turns for enlightenment to Eastern philosophers and literary figures, including Beat writer Jack Kerouac, whose search for self-transcendence in the great outdoors appears in moving conversation with the author's own. This gifted artist and not-getting-any-younger exerciser comes to a soulful conclusion. The secret to superhuman strength lies not in six-pack abs, but in something much less clearly defined: facing her own non-transcendent but all-important interdependence with others.

A heartrendingly comic chronicle for our times.

"Daisy Doo" is a heartwarming book that takes readers on a journey through a child's perseverance in the face of hearing loss. Join the spirited Daisy Doo as she discovers the beauty of her favorite sounds once again, thanks to a cochlear implant! Through the pages of this tale, children and adults will learn to cherish the sound of life and embrace the magic of being uniquely themselves.

In a beautifully written, science-packed, and inspirational memoir, Egyptian-American astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance shares how she boldly carved out a place in the field of astrophysics, grounding herself in a lifelong love of the stars to face life's inevitable challenges and embrace the unknown.

As a child, Sarafina El-Badry Nance spent nearly every evening with her father gazing up at the flickering stars and pondering what secrets the night sky held. The daughter of an American father and Egyptian mother who both pushed her toward academic excellence, Sarafina dreamed of becoming an astronomer and untangling the mysteries of the stars overhead. But it wasn't long before she was told, both explicitly and implicitly, that girls just weren't cut out for math and science.

In Starstruck, Sarafina invites us to consider the cosmos through fascinating science lessons to open each chapter. But she also traces more earthbound obstacles--of misogyny and racism, abuse and intergenerational trauma, anxiety and self-doubt, cancer diagnoses and recovery--she faced along the way. As her career and passion for space brought her from UT Austin to UC Berkeley, and even to a Mars astronaut simulation in Hawai'i, Sarafina learned how to survive--and ultimately thrive--in a space that was seldom welcoming to women, and especially not to women of color.

Honest and empowering, Starstruck sits at the intersection of the study of our cosmos--itself constantly changing--and the transformative experience of embracing resilience to pursue one's passion.