REPUBLIC OF VENICE AUTHOR · HISTORY · NONFICTION
Giacomo Casanova
Also known as: Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (Venecia; 2 de abril de 1725 - Dux, actual Duchcov, Bohemia; 4 de junio de 1798) fue un aventurero, libertino, historiador, escritor, diplomático, jurista, violonchelista, filósofo, matemático, bibliotecario y agente secreto italiano, hermano de los pintores Giovanni Battista Casanova (1730-1795) y Francesco Casanova (1727-1802). Se le conoce sobre todo como arquetipo del libertino seductor, del que se han contado 132 conquistas amorosas.1 Su obra principal fue una vasta autobiografía, la Histoire de ma vie, conocida también como Memorias de Casanova, escrita en francés porque entonces era el idioma más conocido y hablado en Europa, como acontece en el siglo XX con el inglés. (wikipedia)
IT may seem absurd that I should be sitting here trying to write about myself in an age when only a mystery story has any chance as a best-seller.
— from The story of my life
Most acclaimed
The story of my life
"Here, for the first time in print anywhere, is the complete story of the life of Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and Angelus Temple, Los Angeles, California. From her parents' farm in Canada to the Angelus Temple pulpit in Los Angeles, she pitched her tents, preached the gospel, and ministered to all who would hear. Her reputation traveled around the globe, and in this book she reveals her own impressions and recounts the facts that made her activities such a sensational media attraction. As a teenager Aimee Kennedy was converted under the preaching of a flaming young Irish evangelist, Robert Semple. Later, as his wife, she accompanied him to Hong Kong, where the two of them labored as missionaries to the Chinese. Robert sudden, untimely death preceded the birth of their daughter, Roberta, by only a month.^ What should a young, widowed mother, committed to serving the Lord on foreign soil, do under such circumstances? Convinced by her missionary colleagues that her first duty was to the baby entrusted by God to her care, Aimee Semple returned to the States. Within a few months, she joined her mother as a solicitor for the Salvation Army in New York City. Then during a visit to a former congregation in Chicago, she met and married Harold McPherson. Even after the birth of their son, Rob, however, she grew more convinced each day that her place was preaching the gospel. So with two young children in her arms, a patched-up tent, and a nearly worn-out car, she began the journey across America which ultimately led to the building of Angelus Temple and the founding of a fundamental religious movement. [This book] is Mrs. McPherson's own version of the victories, the sorrows, the achivements, and the disappointments of her life.^ She recounts how, though surrounded by the thousands who came to see her, she longed for the closeness and companionship of a loving marriage relationship. She also describes in her own words the events leading up to and including her kidnap from a California beach; how she was accused of planning the kidnapping for publicity purposes; how public clamor and outcry mounted; and how she was completely exonerated in a Los Angeles courtroom. The manuscript which forms the basis for this book lay unnoticed for more than two decades. When its presence was discovered and called to the attention of the Heritage Committee of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Dr. Raymond L. Cox was engaged to compile and complete it. The story as it appears here is Mrs. McPherson's story--in her very own words as much as possible. It was gleaned by Dr. Cox from Mrs.^ McPherson's sermons, articles, and documents, both published and unpublished, as well as accumulated reams of photocopies and clippings pertaining to her life. The facts are illustrated by actual photographs made during and after Mrs. McPherson's life. Aimee Semple McPherson did the seemingly impossible for a woman in the first half of the twentieth century. She refused to be daunted by obstacles, large or small, and held tenaciously to her faith in the reality of the unchanging Christ. The story of her life gives insight not only into the humanness of a woman who became a legend in her own lifetime, it also paints a portrait of an era in the religious history of America which today, thirty years after her death, continues to grow and expand throughout the world."--Dust jacket.
Spain
"An excellent, balanced discussion of important controversies."--Juan Linz, author of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. "Payne's revivalist presentation of a broad continuity of Spain's history, centered on its Castilian heartland, unfailingly maintains the standards of balance and objectivity that have always been the hallmark of his endeavor."--Robert A. Stradling, author of The Irish and the Spanish Civil War. "Concise, engaging, and above all scholarly, this volume offers a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of Spanish history."--Julius Ruiz, author of Franco's Justice. From bloodthirsty conquest to exotic romance, stereotypes of Spain abound. This new volume by distinguished historian Stanley G. Payne draws on his half century of experience to offer a broadly chronological survey of Spanish history from the Visigoths to the present. Who were the first "Spaniards"? Is Spain a fully Western country? Was Spanish liberalism a failure? Examining Spain's unique role in the larger history of Western Europe, Payne reinterprets key aspects of the country's history. Topics include Muslim culture in the peninsula, the Spanish monarchy, the empire, and the relationship between Spain and Portugal. Turning to the twentieth century, Payne discusses the Second Republic and the Spanish Civil War. The book's final chapters focus on the Franco regime, the nature of Spanish fascism, and the special role of the military. Analyzing the figure of Franco himself, Payne seeks to explain why some Spaniards still regard him with respect, while many others view the late dictator with profound loathing. Framed by reflections on the author's own formation as a Hispanist and his evaluation of the controversy about "historical memory" in contemporary Spain, this volume offers deeply informed insights into both the history and the historiography of a unique country. --Book Jacket.
Mémoires
2001
"The name of Giacomo Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt (1725-98), is now synonymous with amorous exploits, and there are plenty of these, vividly narrated, in his memoirs. But Casanova was not just an energetic lover. In his time he was a diplomat, businessman, trainee priest, traveler, prisoner, magician, confidence man, gambler, professional entertainer, and charlatan. He financed business projects, organized lotteries, wrote opera libretti, and dabbled in high politics. Above all he was an autobiographer of enduring brilliance and subtlety who left behind him what is probably the most remarkable confession ever written. Casanova explored to the full all the possibilities eighteenth-century Venice offered by way of love and profit before being imprisoned, escaping from jail, and fleeing from the city to begin travels that took him across Europe. In Moscow and London, Berlin and Constantinople, he met the famous men and women of his time--Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Louis XV, Rousseau--and recorded his encounters for the memoirs he wrote in retirement at the end of his life. History of My Life is by turns touching, thrilling, wonderfully comic, and quite irresistible. The present edition, which includes approximately one third of Casanova's enormous (and unfinished) book, contains all his major adventures and all his greatest affairs of the heart."--Publisher's description.