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cgfunmathguy
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« Reply #15 on: October 14, 2009, 08:48:12 PM » |
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A biography of Theodore Roosevelt during the White House years. I don't think it was Theodore Rex that I read (it's been over a year and a half since I read it), but it might have been.
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Alas, greatness and meaning are rarely coterminous with popular familiarity.
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astronomygal
Tough but fair
Senior member
Posts: 823
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« Reply #16 on: January 31, 2010, 10:28:51 PM » |
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I'm looking for some good biographies to read.
Does anyone have anything else to add to this list? It could include biographies of more recent figures as well.
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"If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy." - Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy
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alstein
New member
Posts: 4
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« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2010, 08:52:15 PM » |
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Catherine de Medici, by Ivan Cloulas
Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian Goldsworthy
Churchill: A Study in Greatness, by Geoffrey Best
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(Mark Twain) - A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval ... |
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 22,200
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #18 on: February 06, 2010, 08:54:03 PM » |
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The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance by Paul Strathern.
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Because, you know, that stuff on the syllabus is like, in writing, and there are so many ways you can, like, read that, but when the guys who sit by you in class, like, you know, must know what's really going on, right? -- AmLitHist, channelling student
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casvelyn
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« Reply #19 on: February 07, 2010, 08:14:48 AM » |
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The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance by Paul Strathern.
^^Such a very good book - and they made it into an equally interesting documentary that aired on PBS a few years back. Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for the Soul of Renaissance Florence (Lauro Martines) American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin) I'm not normally a fan of biographies, because I've been forced through some incredibly dull ones, but these two are especially good, I think. |
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"I have no idea what's going on here, so I'm going into the kitchen, where everything makes sense."
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philrels108
New member
Posts: 49
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« Reply #20 on: February 07, 2010, 10:41:23 AM » |
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I'm in the middle of Anthony Everitt's Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor and quite enjoying it.
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larryc
Hu hatin'
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 17,568
Eschew the hu.
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« Reply #21 on: February 07, 2010, 11:50:32 AM » |
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Jesse James by TJ Stiles is a model of historical biography on every level. It is deeply researched, beautifully written, and original in its insights.
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llanfair
Village idiot and Very
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 22,200
Whither Canada?
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« Reply #22 on: February 07, 2010, 08:25:28 PM » |
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That one on Savonarola looks great, Casvelyn. Thanks!
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Because, you know, that stuff on the syllabus is like, in writing, and there are so many ways you can, like, read that, but when the guys who sit by you in class, like, you know, must know what's really going on, right? -- AmLitHist, channelling student
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history_grrrl
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« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2010, 01:12:32 AM » |
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I really enjoyed Nick Salvatore's biography of Eugene V. Debs. Can't think of the name of it, but the author does an excellent job of contextualizing Debs' life and work. I just finished a biography of a U.S. senator for an article I'm revising, and I'd forgotten that many of these bios are just a laundry list of the person's activities. Not the Debs book.
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[R]eality sometimes has a left-wing bias.
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astronomygal
Tough but fair
Senior member
Posts: 823
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« Reply #24 on: February 09, 2010, 11:10:38 AM » |
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I had been considering the Oppenheimer one and the Medici biographies sound interesting. Thanks for the suggestions.
I ordered the David McCullough biography on John Adams and a Benjamin Franklin autobiography from Half.com.
I also wanted to get Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, even though it is more of a memoir than a biography.
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"If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy." - Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy
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