Biography Books > C Biography Books > H

Advantages: Colourful and sympathetic
Disadvantages: None

King George III has been much misunderstood throughout the years, and this life by one of our most respected biographers is thoroughly recommended. All the main themes of his long life are covered in a sympathetic and readable fashion - relations with his family (fifteen children, especially a troublesome eldest son and that son's even more insufferable daughter), his ministers, the crisis in foreign affairs which resulted in the American war of ...
...'The madness of King George', it does present quite a revealing insight into the King's first illness, but it only gives you a very small part of the story. Hibbert gives you the full picture, and despite its considerable length, this is not just a book for the specialist. ... Read review

Advantages: The first major biography in English of an often-overlooked figure
Disadvantages: None

In the last few years there have been seemingly endless biographies about Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Empress Alexandra, Rasputin, and often combinations of the lot. Often overlooked is the woman condemned to watch the whole catastrophe as a helpless spectator, and survive it all - Empress Marie Feodorovna, Nicholas's mother, described affectionately at the time as the 'Little Mother of Russia'. Born Princess Dagmar of Denmark in 1847, she was the ...
...Danish ruling house who by various strokes of good fortune became King in 1863. Of Dagmar's siblings, one brother was chosen as King of Greece, and her favourite sister Alexandra married the future King Edward VII of England. In 1864 she was betrothed to Nicholas, Tsarevich of Russia, but he was a sickly young man and died a few months later. Dutifully she was engaged to and married the new heir to the throne, Alexander, who became Tsar Alexander ... Read review

Advantages: Hmmm, not sure, female insight I guess
Disadvantages: There's only so much you can read before it is boring!

The Sexual Life of Catherine M - Catherine Millet Muffin has always banged on about Anais Nin to me, and someone else had once mentioned that 'The Sexual Life of Catherine M' was also shocking and explicit if not more so than that of Anais. So when I saw it in Fopp's £3 book section I thought 'oh stuff it… shock me.' 'The Sexual Life of Catherine M' is Catherine Millet's (now a famous publisher and art critic) autobiography of not her life, but ...
...they do with some blockbusters. The writing is sometimes blunt but mainly very clear concise and expressed daringly from a womans honest open point of view. Sadly, having hardly any plot and having quite a repetitive sex life it all becomes a little dull… there's only so much you can read about before you start wandering off to thinking "when did I last feed the cats" or "maybe the washing is dry by now". Overall not the best or actually the most ... Read review

Advantages: Informative, Brings a remote war to life
Disadvantages: Harrowing

...who lied to their children when they asked “When’s Pa coming home?” Yet a lot of people were in denial, up until the point where a news channel shows footage of human skulls resting on top of one another. My sister visited the Killing Fields last year, and was shown around with a guide and she vividly described to me the pain which showed in his eyes. She also took those very shots which were first released in the news in the early 1980’s. They begged ...
...only four years of age when the Viet Cong invaded Cambodia. Her parents, who had 10 children, had married young. Despite early challenges, were successful in what they did, by the still relatively young age of 25. Her father worked for the government in Phnom Penh and was quite an entrepreneur on the side. What strikes you about this account, even in the first few pages, is how the minds of a young child are so astute. Chanrithy talks about being ... 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