Biography Books > T Biography Books > J

Advantages: Keeps you interested the whole way through
Disadvantages: Upsetting, disturbing

...for quite a while now, the other day I decided it was time to make a proper start on the pile and this was at the top. I read almost all of this book in one day as I just couldn't put it down, I even got out of bed and went down stairs (so I didn't disturb hubby with the lights) so I could read more as I felt that I couldn't settle until I had finished the book. This book is the tale of Jane Elliott, who from the age of 4 to the age of 21 was abused ...
...files have been lost over the years. Unfortunately her mother finds a boyfriend and has a little boy so the authorities agree that Jane can go home and live with her family. The first thing you realise is that they are not interested in Jimmy who gets left at the foster home and not mentioned again within the family. Towards the end of the book Jane does mention what eventually happened to him. The story then goes on to detail most of the mental, ... Read review

Advantages: A wonderful and rare insight into life from someone who knew its true meaning
Disadvantages: It's a sad book.....

Jean Dominique-Bauby, the editor-in-chief of the French magazine Elle, was just 43 on the 8th of December 1995 when his life changed completely. Following a stoke, leaving him with damage to his brain stem, Bauby was left with a condition known as 'locked in syndrome'. Locked-in-syndrome is a thankfully incredibly rare condition which leaves the sufferer unable to move any part of his or her body, excepting the eyelids and unable to speak, whilst ...
...Jean Dominique-Bauby wrote The Diving-bell and the Butterfly after about 18 months into his life as a sufferer of locked-in-syndrome. He dictated the book to his nurse using just one eyelid. This nurse, to whom the book is dedicated, devised a system in which the French alphabet was re-arranged according to use. The nurse read this aloud and Bauby would blink when the letter he required was read aloud. And so, using this system Bauby slowly dictated ... Read review

Advantages: detailed
Disadvantages: slow going

This biography of Tony Blair is thorough. It charts his early years and upbringing followed by his time at Oxford when he focused his beliefs on socialism and Christianity. Then his political career is followed and we learn how he had to watch a football match to get his Sedgefield seat! The pictures in the middle of biographies are always good for a laugh and these are no exceptions. See the long haired Blair! This book is an interesting guide to ...
...and is helpful therefore in understanding why he holds some of the beliefs, and follows some of the policies, that he does today. A bit heavy going - but then life stories are always a bit dull - and it will take a dedicated reader to read every single word. Worth reading if you're interested in Labour or politics. ... Read review

Advantages: Very Detailed, nice prictures
Disadvantages: boring, long winded

...paperback copy of the Tommy Cooper biography 'Always Leave Them Laughing: The Definitive Biography of a Comedy Legend' by John Fisher. The book is quite lengthy at 464 pages and like most biographies has a few sections of photographs, in this case they cover the whole of Tommys life from his childhood through to the last weeks of his life. Tommy Copper, despite his outward stage presence, was a shy man but nine the less his life was very interesting ...
...as if cross referencing it so much so it feels like a text book. Yes it does give an insight into the great mans life, but I think the expectation is so high that you assume it will written in a Tommy Copper style and that, sadly it is not. ... Read review

Advantages: Good insight to every day life of the Royals
Disadvantages: Dimbleby's forelock tugging is annoying

...in my local library where the head librarian is a cross between a dragon and a witch. I apologise therefore if this seems to be a rather outdated review as I am aware this book was in fact written some considerable time ago and was widely advertised at the time. How did I find it......dreadful is the answer. I was never anti-royalty, but find myself becoming increasingly more so, especially as Prince William continues to hunt poor defenceless animals ...
...Anyway back to the book on Charles. What a mistake it was for him to allow this to be written. He comes across as wimpish, self pitying, selfish and totally uncaring of the opinions of others, including his own mother and father.Rather than gaining sympathy for Charles by detailing his supposedly frank and truthful memories, Jonathan Dimbleby's book would alienate even the most ardent royalist. Charles was apparently unhappy at school, well weren't ... Read review