Resultados Editorial "Charles River Editors" en Biografías y memorias

Contrary to how the libidinous legend is often seen through the rose-tinted lenses of Hollywood, the real Giacomo Casanova did not have Heath Ledger's strong, chiseled jaw or the piercing, lagoon-blue eyes of Richard Chamberlain. Rather, portraits of the actual Casanova show a plain, somewhat forgettable face, with a doughy jaw, a prominent, faintly crooked nose, and close-set, protruding eyes. In essence, while he was certainly not unattractive, he was far from someone who would be envisioned as synonymous with womanizing. Nonetheless, Casanova engaged in hundreds of trysts, and whatever the man lacked in aesthetic appeal, he indisputably made up for in charm, mystique, and raw, animal magnetism. He was also quite matter of fact about it all: "Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for it lies in mere fantasy."

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ British Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of Great Britain’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. In 19th century England, few families were as accomplished as the Huxley family, which included prominent figures in the arts, sciences, and literature, but the most famous of them all would come of age in the early 20th century. Aldous Huxley was one of the most unique intellectuals of his age, but he was also one of the greatest. While he was controversial for dabbling with mysticism, a belief in parapsychology and the supernatural, and for advocating the use of psychedelic drugs, nobody could deny his abilities. Having grown up among the Huxley family, Aldous was well-versed in everything from botany to zoology, which helped him write one of the seminal futuristic science fiction novels, Brave New World, which he claimed sprang forth from him because of his experience in "an ordered universe in a world of planless incoherence".

Any work about the mercurial Aleister Crowley is better off being labeled a “story” than a “biography” thanks to the impossibility of being sure that anything one reads about him is true. The basic recorded facts, including birth date, educational records, and published works, are reliable indicators that can be likened to stars guiding a lost desert traveler if the sky is clear. For the rest, one is wandering in the wilderness.

Like many pop cultural icons (and rock icons in particular), Freddie Mercury is one of the most recognizable figures of the 20th century and yet one of the more enigmatic personalities as well. To be sure, anyone who was alive during the reign of Queen is well aware of who Mercury was and the sound of his music (even those who despise rock music are familiar with the blasting, deliriously over-the-top rhythms of songs like "We Are the Champions").

When one hears the term "Victorian," many images come to mind. For some, the term conjures up visions of lace and gloves and delicate fans. Others think of tight corsets and even tighter morals. Others, swayed perhaps by one too many British costume dramas, envision gentle elegance and long lost beauty. Naturally, few people think of multiple dead bodies cast about in the streets or dark bedrooms, most mutilated to a shocking degree.

For most people, Ted Bundy is the quintessential serial killer - a good-looking, highly intelligent man who used his charm to lure an untold number of women to their deaths. In fact, as the judge announced his death sentence, he noted Bundy's intellect and mused that he would have enjoyed hearing Bundy try a case before him had he remained simply the genius law student he had once been.

Discover the the life and accomplishments of Max Planck, theoretical physicist whose revolutionary discovery of energy quanta and formulation of fundamental quantum theory allowed for countless others to expand on the knowledge of atomic processes.

In an age where even the motives of Gandhi and Mother Teresa are questioned by the cynical and they are at times vilified as “frauds,” one would be hard-pressed to find a rational argument against the untouchable character of Mister Rogers. When one does happen upon such an abnormality, the public is quick to defend the gentle soul. “It takes a special kind of scum to hate Mister Rogers,” reads the top comment on the aforementioned video, posted by user Sergei Ivanovich Mosin. The video has been picked apart by multiple journalists from the likes of Huffington Post.

When he died in 1820, King George III had presided over the longest reign by a monarch in England’s history and ruled the British Empire during one of its most turbulent and important periods, but he was remembered by the unappealing sobriquets "The Mad King” and ”The King Who Lost America".

It may seem paradoxical that the man behind the world’s most famous peace prizes was the same one who invented dynamite, yet this is exactly the case. Alfred Nobel: The Life and Legacy of the Famous Scientist and the Nobel Prizes examines the life and work that made Nobel one of history’s most important scientists. You will learn about Nobel like never before.

Like many writers of her day, Emily Dickinson was a virtual unknown during her lifetime. After her death, however, when people discovered the incredible amount of poetry that she had written, Dickinson became celebrated as one of America’s greatest poets. Emily Dickinson looks at the reclusive life and remarkable work of the poet.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir stands alongside Claude Monet at the very peak of Impressionist painting, and though neither of them can be credited with founding the movement (that honor likely goes to Edouard Manet or Edgar Degas), Renoir and Monet remain inextricably tied to the key characteristics of Impressionism: loose brushwork; outdoor painting; an emphasis on capturing natural light and shadow; and a focus on remaining in Paris and the surrounding countryside.

Apart from Jesus, there is no character more vividly presented in the gospels than Peter. To talk of Saint Peter is to talk about a man of action. There is a good reason why he is the apostle with the most mentions in the Gospels, and the most referred to in the New Testament (a total of 195 times). In comparison, John, the next most popular disciple, barely reaches 29 references. It is at decisive moments which require a categorical reaction where the leader of the Twelve shines.

It's still difficult for people today to conceive of someone being born bad, even as more and more studies are coming out each year that point to the significant effects of DNA on human behavior. But of course, it is also rare that a child born to parents carrying the genes for mental illness or antisocial behavior grows up in a happy, stable home where the parents are equipped to provide a living, nurturing life.

The story sounds like something out of a mini-series. The police are called to the home of an elderly woman who has been raped and strangled. She's a socialite and popular in among the Boston upper-crust. As the grizzled detective stand over her body, wondering who would do something like this, someone mentions that there was a similar case recently, except that time the victim was a lower-middle class immigrant woman.

Although Du Bois’ name is still (and inexplicably) less well-known than that of Washington, his prolific writings serve as a bedrock to the modern social engines at work in the pursuit of racial equality in America. In his life and experience of nearly a century, he spanned the administrations of Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Baines Johnson, dying only one day before King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. W. E. B. Du Bois: The Life and Legacy of Early 20th Century America’s Most Famous Civil Rights Activist chronicles the life and work of one of America’s most influential men.

Walt Whitman, the great American poet, is also in many ways a great American enigma compared to other famous men from the 19th century in US history. On the one hand, he was the product of something of an all-American family, the sort of salt of the earth people he would later describe so vividly in his work. On the other, he was a complete bohemian and profligate, given to vanity in the way he dressed and lived. He started out his career as a school teacher and was later a newspaper man, but he left both those types of work for a job as a government bureaucrat.

It is common for a culture to create intricate mythologies around its combat arts champions, but those fighters who have produced enough accomplishments to merit such adulation are limited to a few in each generation. In the second half of the 20th century, boxer Muhammad Ali commanded such reverence, and in the martial arts, two stars have primarily reestablished the combat genre for the international movie-going population. In terms of raw popularity, Chuck Norris represents the West.

The Hollywood culture of the 1940s served as a symbol of fantasy for a country at war. The American population, steeped in a dark global reality, lived vicariously through the film industry's fantasy offerings on the big screen, and eagerly embraced the advent of television in the latter part of the decade. On the stage, images of idealized feminine beauty thrived in the Ziegfeld Follies tradition, Radio City Music Hall, Las Vegas, and the fantastical world created by Earl Carroll in his Hollywood theater.

Most Americans old enough to follow the news during the 1990s are instantly familiar with the Unabomber, a name given to the man behind a series of bombs that were periodically mailed or delivered to university professors and airlines, which led to the FBI giving the investigation the codename "UNABOM", an acronym for "University and Airline Bomber". Over nearly 20 years, the Unabomber, as he was dubbed by the media, would kill three and wound dozens with his homemade bombs.