Greenwood biographies

"This readable biography of Lance Armstrong surveys his legendary cycling career as well as the details of his life outside of cycling"-- "Please see the accompanying documentation"--

"Recent polls have consistently declared that J. R. R. Tolkien is "the most influential author of the century" and The Lord of the Rings is "the book of the century." In support of these claims, Tom Shippey, a prominent medievalist and scholar of fantasy, now presents us with a fascinating companion to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, focusing in particular on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.". "The core of the book consists of three chapters that examine The Lord of the Rings as a linguistic and cultural map, as a twisted web of story, and as a response to the meaning of myth. Shippey presents a unique argument to explain the nature of evil and gives readers a compelling insight into the complicated interweaving of the many strands of the story. Other chapters examine The Hobbit, explaining the hobbits' anachronistic relationship to the heroic world of Middle-earth; show the fundamental importance of The Silmarillion to Tolkien's canon; and take an illuminating look at Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, and other lesser-known works in connection with Tolkien's life."--BOOK JACKET.

In this stunning and richly textured new biography, Susan Quinn presents us with a far more complicated picture of the woman we thought we knew. Drawing on family documents, Quinn sheds new light on the tragic losses and patriotic passion that infused Marie Sklodowska Curie's early years in Poland. And through access to Marie Curie's journal, closed to researchers until 1990, we hear in her own words of the intimacy and joy of her marriage to Pierre Curie and the depth of her despair at his premature death. The image of Marie Curie as the grieving widow, attired always in black, is familiar to many of us. Much less well known is the affair with a married colleague that helped her recover from her loss. The testimonials of friends, hitherto unavailable, lend this love story a sometimes painful immediacy. Marie Curie's public triumphs are well known: she was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and one of the few people, to date, to receive a second. Unknown or barely known are the defeats she suffered: her rejection by the French Academy and her public humiliation at the hands of the French press over her love affair. As a scientist, Marie Curie has always been associated with the discovery of radium and polonium. But in fact more important than her work in isolating new elements was her idea that radioactivity was "an atomic process." Susan Quinn's biography provides a closer look at Marie Curie's work, and at the discoveries that led up to it and flowed from it. We come away understanding that Marie Curie was important but not singular: one of a small group of brilliant scientists whose combined efforts brought us to our current understanding of the material universe.

"Carrying W.E.B. Du Bois from his birth in Massachusetts in 1868 to his death in Ghana in 1963, this concise encyclopedia covers all of the highlights of his life--his studying at Fisk, Harvard, and Berlin, his tiff with Booker T. Washington, his role with the NAACP and Pan-Africanism, his writings, his globe trotting, and his exile in Ghana. With contributions by leading scholars and a foreword by David Levering Lewis, the book provides a complete overview of Du Bois's life. Featuring the highlights of his life, the events and personalities that influenced him, his intellectual contributions, and his activism, this book provides a complete understanding of this highly influential intellectual activist. With the conclusion of the Cold War, there is the opportunity to obtain a fuller, more complete understanding of Du Bois' entire life. Providing full coverage of his latter crucial years--often ignored in earlier works--this book provides the latest scholarly insights, including a major entry by prizewinning scholar Brenda Gayle Plummer."--Publisher's website.

"In reading the original sources, Brooks D. Simpson became convinced that Grant was neither a bumbling idiot who was the darling of fortune nor a flawless general who could do no wrong. Rather, he was a tangle of opposing qualities - a relentless warrior but a generous victor, a commander who drew upon uncommon common sense in drafting campaign plans and in winning battles, a soldier so sensitive to suffering that he could not stand to see the bloody hides at his father's tannery, a man who made mistakes and sometimes learned from them. Even as he waged war, he realized the broader political implications of the struggle; he came to believe that the preservation of the Union depended upon the destruction of slavery. In the first of two volumes, Brooks Simpson brings Grant's story to life in an account that is readable, balanced, compelling, and definitive."--BOOK JACKET.