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books:

Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives) (rough edge)

10 reviews
Matt Ridley

Eminent Lives, 2006

The laughing giant
If anything typified Francis Crick's work style, it was his quest for cooperation. The "Watson-Crick" team has so dominated the literature of DNA research, that a view of Crick as an individual is a rare sight. Matt Ridley has admirably filled in that lack with this view of the Nobel Laureate's life. In a brief, but insightful, and superbly written account, the biographer has filled in many ...

George Washington: The Founding Father (Eminent Lives)

10 reviews
Paul Johnson

Eminent Lives, 2005

Great small book.
This is a great small book on Washington, things I didn,t know about him. Easy to read, too, in a short time.

Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero (Eminent Lives)

19 reviews
Michael Korda

Eminent Lives, 2004

First in war...but not in peace
This is one of two brief biographies of Grant (1822-1885) I recently read, the other written by Josiah Bunting III which is part of Times Books' "The American Presidents" series, with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. serving as general editor. Although both Korda and Bunting cover much of the same material, there are significant differences between their respective approaches to the18th president of the ...

Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power (Eminent Lives)

2 reviews
Ross King

Eminent Lives, 2007

A rigorous examination of Machiavelli's "numerous antinomies"
This is one of several volumes in the HarperCollins Eminent Lives series. Each offers a concise rather than comprehensive, much less definitive biography. However, just as Al Hirschfeld's illustrations of various celebrities capture their defining physical characteristics, the authors of books in this series focus on the defining influences and developments during the lives and careers of their ...

Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy's Guide (Eminent Lives)

3 reviews
Joseph Epstein

Eminent Lives, 2006

To understand 'Democracy in America', start with this book
'Democracy in America' was a smash hit in France when first published in 1835, an expression of their intense desire to create a democratic society based on the example of Americans. Americans still love the Tocqueville idea; it is the strongest proof by a European aristocrat that "democracy" was invented in America. Epstein writes, "Americans didn't have a history to rewrite. Setting out ...

Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time (Eminent Lives)

31 reviews
Karen Armstrong

Eminent Lives, 2006

A Much Needed Look at a Very Contemporary Man
Karen Armstrong's Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time directly addresses the central conflict of our times, "Some Muslim thinkers regard the jihad against Mecca as the climax of Muhammad's career and fail to note that he eventually abjured warfare and adopted a nonviolent policy. Western critics also persist in seeing the Prophet of Islam as a man of war, and fail to see that from the very first he ...

Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles (Eminent Lives)

12 reviews
Francine Prose

Eminent Lives, 2005

Great overview for the non Art-professional
A great little book that covers what is known about a true bad boy of art, a tormented genius that challenged the accepted art of his time and changed the direction of painting, not something lightly done in those times. For this he was applauded, sought out, paid very well; he respond with bad judgment and madness. This book hits all the highlights and story points a non-art professional would ...

Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)

38 reviews
Christopher Hitchens

Eminent Lives, 2005

History is a tragedy, not a morality tale
If you need an extremely well-written, concise, sympathetic, balanced and reasonably complete introduction to Thomas Jefferson, Hitchens has produced just the thing. Hitchens does particularly well where Thomas Jefferson's views mesh with his own - namely on religion and the disestablishment thereof. Hitchens does not hide Jefferson's many flaws but rather emphasises that first and foremost ...

American Presidents Eminent Lives Boxed Set: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant
Paul Johnson, Christopher Hitchens, ...

Eminent Lives, 2005

Eminent Lives In American Political History A perfect gift for your favorite history huff, or for your own collection, this set from the acclaimed Eminent Lives series is a must for anyone interested in the story of America. George Washington: The Founding Father Celebrated journalist and historian Paul Johnson paints a vivid portrait of George Washington as a young entrepreneur, masterly commander-in-chief, patient Constitution ...

Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives)

65 reviews
Bill Bryson

Eminent Lives, 2007

Who was Shakespeare?
This is a brief, but very enjoyable and elegant read by someone who obviously loves this subject and its environment. Bill Bryson gives this question of Shakespeare's identity a pretty good shot. There is apparently no definitive answer as to whether he was simply himself, someone else under a pseudo name, or several people under the same pseudo name. Even his portrait that we know him by ...

Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind

6 reviews
Peter D. Kramer

Eminent Lives, 2006

excellent expose'
Kramer's lucid writing style is refreshing.This small volume will give the reader a critical review of Freud's major writings. Highlights of Freud's biography add spice to the narrative. Kramer uses our contemporary knowledge in psychiatry to rediagnose some of Freud's patients.I got a deeper understanding of some of the famous cases like Anna O,Dora, the Wolf Man the Rat Man. Like many, Kramer ...

Freud: Inventor of the Modern Mind

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