Biography Books > M Biography Books > A

Advantages: Honest, heartfelt, self-lacerating, courageous
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit drawn out at times

...pretty funny sometimes. Memoirs of an unfit mother is probably not the most thrilling autobiography you'll ever read but it's certainly worth the read. It's a really touching story and if there's one thing that remains unchanged throughout Anne Robinson's life, it's the love she has for her daughter. The fact that her daughter didn't live with her for the vast majority of her childhood is something that can never be changed and something that I'm ...
...story and personally, I was left thinking I'd read a fairytale where thankfully it all came together in the end and finally Ms Robinson has everything she wants and is happy. Wouldn't it be nice if all stories ended like that! The retail price of this book is £6.99 but that's hardly worth mentioning seeing as though you can get it for ridiculous prices on amazon (I just saw a copy for 29p!) Definitely worth a read for anyone who has the slightest ... Read review

Advantages: Very readable, interesting, informative
Disadvantages: Sometimes lacking in detail, descriptions of executions

Marie Antoinette is a widely known historical personnage - infamous for her callousness towards the starving peasants ("Let them eat cake!") and for having her head chopped off during the French Revolution, a victim of the guillotine, yet few attempts have ever been made to go beyond the stereotypes and actually investigate the character of this celebrity queen. Noted historian Antonia Fraser aims to correct this, and has largely succeeded in a very ...
...reputed sexual insatiability (in truth Marie was quite sexually inexperienced even after marriage and quite pious as well, the allegations deeply upset and shocked her), and of her legendary arrogance, spending inordinate sums of money even as the people of France starved (while she did spend lavishly, even the Royal Family trimmed their expenses in the time of need!) My main criticism is that in its focus of Marie Antoinette alone, the book fails ... Read review

Advantages: Well Written, A Great Story of the Life of Marie Antoinette
Disadvantages: Can be Quiet Complex in Places, Gets Confusing with the Politics and Names

...have read many books on Marie Antoinette from her life, her fashion and even fictional interpretations of her, but this book has the facts, gory intimate details and makes sense of the many rumors that surrounded the teenage Queens life from her famous line "Let Them Eat Cake" to her wild love affairs within the French court. This book portrays the true aspects of the lonely life that Marie was subject to at Versailles, coming from Austria into a ...
...read and helped to increase my own knowledge of life and Versailles and the French Queen. This book was a great read, if you are interested in royalty, French history, fashion, politics, The French Revolution the palace of Versailles or Marie Antoinette then this book is a must read. ... Read review

Advantages: In English, Very Interesting
Disadvantages: A lot of hard work to read!

Mein Kampf - My Struggle, written by Adolf Hitler. I am lucky enough to own a first edition (in German obviously) and the english translation version by Jaico Publishing. Mein Kampf was first published in two volumes in 1925-1926 and sold between 8 and 9 million copies during Hitlers lifetime, as well as being widely translated. The contents are most evil, and being quite a chunky read, it takes some time to work through it, least of all because ...
...In Mein Kampf, Hitler uses the main thesis of "The Jewish peril", which speaks of an alleged Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. The narrative describes the process by which he became increasingly anti-Semitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna, Austria. Yet the deeper origins of his anti-semitism remain a mystery. He speaks of not having met a Jew until he arrived in Vienna, and that at first his attitude was liberal ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, fun and easy to read
Disadvantages: I want her life

I bought this book on a spur of the moment shopping trip, basically because I was interested to see how Coleen went from being a schoolgirl to a WAG in such a short space of time. I was amazed to read her story and see how down to earth she really was, even after being catapulted at amazing speed into the limelight. She was even thoughtful enough to come back to her book and update it with her wedding plans for the release of the paperback edition. ...
...quick life update, within which she includes girly pages with tips on make-up, fashion, nights out and quizzes, making it so much more like a diary. It is really easy to read and highly enjoyable to learn how down to earth she is and how she enjoys nothing more than snuggling on her sofa watching the soaps just like the rest of us. ... Read review