Recommendations based on "My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction"

Her words have become some of the most important in modern history: discover the incredible life story of Anne Frank, whose bravery has inspired so many.Her incredible story comes to life in this beautifully illustrated book, with narrative biography, timelines, facts and quotes.

Killing Thatcher is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and to wiping out the British Cabinet – an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot.In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 – an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 – for which the IRA took full responsibility – before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the ‘Troubles’ in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA – and the organisation swore revenge.Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt – with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libya’s Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers. An exciting narrative that blends true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.

By chance, John and Jean -- one English, the other French -- meet in a provincial railway station. Their resemblance to each other is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking - until at last John falls into a drunken stupor. It's to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes, Jean has stolen his identity and disappeared. So the Englishman steps into the Frenchman's shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles - as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing. Gripping and complex, The Scapegoat is a masterful exploration of doubling and identity, and of the dark side of the self. "A dazzlingly clever and immensely entertaining novel."-New York Times

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography Named one of the Best Books of the Year by: O Magazine, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Seattle Times The definitive portrait of one of the American Century’s most towering intellectuals: her writing and her radical thought, her public activism and her hidden private face No writer is as emblematic of the American twentieth century as Susan Sontag. Mythologized and misunderstood, lauded and loathed, a girl from the suburbs who became a proud symbol of cosmopolitanism, Sontag left a legacy of writing on art and politics, feminism and homosexuality, celebrity and style, medicine and drugs, radicalism and Fascism and Freudianism and Communism and Americanism, that forms an indispensable key to modern culture. She was there when the Cuban Revolution began, and when the Berlin Wall came down; in Vietnam under American bombardment, in wartime Israel, in besieged Sarajevo. She was in New York when artists tried to resist the tug of money—and when many gave in. No writer negotiated as many worlds; no serious writer had as many glamorous lovers. Sontag tells these stories and examines the work upon which her reputation was based. It explores the agonizing insecurity behind the formidable public face: the broken relationships, the struggles with her sexuality, that animated—and undermined—her writing. And it shows her attempts to respond to the cruelties and absurdities of a country that had lost its way, and her conviction that fidelity to high culture was an activism of its own.  Utilizing hundreds of interviews conducted from Maui to Stockholm and from London to Sarajevo—and featuring nearly one hundred images—Sontag is the first book based on the writer’s restricted archives, and on access to many people who have never before spoken about Sontag, including Annie Leibovitz. It is a definitive portrait—a great American novel in the form of a biography.

A Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2023 A Spectator Book of the Year 2023 The Irish Times No.1 Bestseller As taut as a fictional thriller Mail on Sunday Gripping, detailed and richly layered Guardian KILLING THATCHER is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and to wiping out the British Cabinet - an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot. In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 - an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 - for which the IRA took full responsibility - before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the Troubles in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA - and the organisation swore revenge. Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt - with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libyas Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers. An exciting narrative that blends true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.

For glamor, adventure and intrigue, this is as good as it gets, wrote Cosmopolitan of The Spy Went Dancing, Aline's bestselling successor to her memoir of World War II OSS adventures, The Spy Wore Red. An American beauty, Spanish socialite, devoted wife and mother, and spy, Aline lived a life of glamor and danger that Ingrid Bergman only played in Notorious.--Time magazine. Now, in her third book, Aline unveils a true story of royalty and murder on a mission into Morocco with future CIA chief William Casey.

Michelle Cooper completes her heart-stealing epic drama of history and romance with The FitzOsbornes at War. Sophie FitzOsborne and the royal family of Montmaray escaped their remote island home when the Nazis attacked. But as war breaks out in England and around the world, nowhere is safe. Sophie fills her journal with tales of a life during wartime. Blackouts and the Blitz. Dancing in nightclubs with soliders on leave. And endlessly waiting for news of her brother Toby, whose plane was shot down over enemy territory. But even as bombs rain down on London, hope springs up, and love blooms for this most endearing princess. And when the Allies begin to drive their way across Europe, the FitzOsbornes take heart--maybe, just maybe, there will be a way to liberate Montmaray as well.

"Niki's heart was thrumming as the taxi stopped with a jerk in front of the gray, stone building behind tall, black iron gates. On a metal plaque was engraved Les Soeurs de Merci. Niki thrust several franc notes staring through the rungs of the gate. Years ago another young woman-perhaps her mother- had stood in the same place, a baby in her arms, the child she was going to give up. What emotions had run through her heart?" Niki had come to France to seek her true identity and to experience the richness of her French heritage. But what begins as a romantic, carefree summer holiday for Niki, her stepbrother Luc Montrose, and their friend Paul Duval, ends with the outbreak of war, changing their lives forever. As World War II ravages Europe, Niki wants desperately to serve her native country in its time of need. She finds herself making dangerous decisions and facing dramatic challenges, aware of- but unable to do anything about- the impact the war is having on her loved ones back at Montclair. Caught up in the firestorm of world conflict, this courageous young woman with an unknown past faces an uncertain future, with only her newfound faith to sustain her.

The third volume in Dumas Malone's distinguished study of Thomas Jefferson and his time deals with one of the most fascinating and controversial periods of Jefferson's life. It includes the story of the final and most crucial phase of his secretaryship of state; his retirement to Monticello; his assuption of the leadership of the opposition party; and the crisis during the half-war with France when the existence of political opposition was threatened and the freedom of individuals imperiled.

In this historical fiction book by former educator Nancy Lesourd, young readers can experience American history through the letters of two girls witnessing the Civil War firsthand: Molly, who joins a spy ring against the Confederacy in Richmond supported by her Union-loyal aunt; and Emma, who disguised herself as a boy to help the Yankee cause, and who is based on the real-life Sarah Emma Edmunds. Filled with period-accurate information, this book brings history to life and is also perfect for classrooms or homeschool use. Within this novel in Liberty Letters series, late-elementary and middle school readers can explore the fictionalized story of two girls who find themselves in the middle of world-shaping events. Desperate to help the Union, Emma dresses herself as a boy and enlists as a Yankee soldier, and is soon fighting with her regiment on Virginia battlefields and spying for the Union. While in Richmond, her friend Molly discovers a spy ring against the Confederacy and finds herself aiding their cause. While the war tears the nation apart, both girls must find a way to keep their secrets safe and decide whether they will risk everything--including their lives and freedom--for what they believe. While reading Secrets of Civil War Spies, readers 8-12 will also encounter: Period-accurate historical details that help bring history to life in an entertaining and educational way--including information on the actual Sarah Emma Edmunds An exploration of the challenges and barriers women faced in that time period, including tests to their beliefs A chance to think through how they may have reacted in these important times ... and how they can act today as history continues to unfold around them. Secrets of Civil War Spies is: an ideal addition to homeschool or classroom history curriculums perfect for any young woman interested in history or what they can do to shape our world today based on the important lessons of the past a great gift for birthdays or holidays that will also empower and inspire the young girl in your life And if you enjoyed Secrets of Civil War Spies, don't forget to check out the other books in the Liberty Letters series: Adventures in Jamestown, Escape on the Underground Railroad, and Attack at Pearl Harbor