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Catherine de Medici: A Biography

by Leonie Frieda

The bestselling revisionist biography of one of the great women of the 16th centuryOrphaned in infancy, Catherine de Medici was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune. Married at fourteen to the future Henri II of France, she was constantly humiliated by his influential mistress Diane de Poitiers. When her husband died as a result of a duelling accident in Paris, Catherine was made queen regent during the short reign of her eldest son (married to Mary Queen of Scots and like many of her children he died young). When her second son became king she was the power behind the throne.She nursed dynastic ambitions, but was continually drawn into political and religious intrigues between Catholics and Protestants that plagued France for much of the later part of her life. It had always been said that she was implicated in the notorious Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre, together with the king and her third son who succeeded to the throne in 1574, but was murdered. Her political influence waned, but she survived long enough to ensure the succession of her son-in-law who had married her daughter Margaret.

Catherine & Diderot: The Empress, the Philosopher, and the Fate of the Enlightenment

by Robert Zaretsky

In a dual biography crafted around the famous encounter between the French philosopher who wrote about power and the Russian empress who wielded it with great aplomb, Robert Zaretsky invites us to reflect on the fraught relationship between politics and philosophy, and between a man of thought and a woman of action.

Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge

by Fiona Munro

This special Ladybird ebook edition celebrates the fairy tale story of Kate Middleton, the classic girl next door, as she married her prince and became Her Royal Highness, Catherine The Duchess of Cambridge. With plenty of photographs and packed full of information, find out all about the Duchess. Since her marriage to Prince William, the nation has taken Catherine to their hearts, and this child-friendly book explores her life in fascinating, easy-to-read detail, from her childhood achievements to her royal engagement and wedding, her royal duties and her life with Prince William.

Catherine The Great: Portrait of a Woman (Great Lives)

by Robert K. Massie

The story of one of the truly great female rulers in history by an award winning historian. The daughter of an impoverished aristocrat, Catherine was married aged 16 to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne of all the Russias, a feckless teenager with a weakness for drink. Catherine was only able to give him an heir by passing off her lover's son as his own. In 1762, Catherine rode out of St Petersburg at the head of an army to arrest her husband. Three months later she became sole empress of the largest empire on earth. She was 33 years old. She ruled Russia as a benevolent autocrat for 34 years,fighting the Turks abroad and rebellion at home, and shepherding her people through the upheavals of the French Revolution. She took on many lovers but gave her heart to General Potemkin, the foremost statesman of her time. She died in 1796 aged 67, revered by her people as 'our mother', praised by Voltaire as a philosopher, reviled by her enemies as the Messalina of the North and remembered in history as Catherine the Great. From this extraordinary life of great events, fabulous splendour and barbaric cruelty, Robert K. Massie has woven a thrilling narrative based on impeccable scholarship and a cinematic eye for detail.

Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen

by Giles Tremlett

The image of Catherine of Aragon has always suffered in comparison to the heir-providing Jane Seymour or the vivacious eroticism of Anne Boleyn. But when Henry VIII married Catherine, she was an auburn-haired beauty in her twenties with a passion she had inherited from her parents, Isabella and Ferdinand, the joint-rulers of Spain who had driven the Moors from their country.This daughter of conquistadors showed the same steel and sense of command when organising the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Flodden and Henry was to learn, to his cost, that he had not met a tougher opponent on or off the battlefield when he tried to divorce her.Henry VIII introduced four remarkable women into the tumultuous flow of England's history: Catherine of Aragon and her daughter 'Bloody' Queen Mary; and Anne Boleyn and her daughter, the Virgin Queen Elizabeth. 'From this contest, between two mothers and two daughters, was born the religious passion and violence that inflamed England for centuries,' says David Starkey. Reformation, revolution and Tudor history would all have been vastly different without Catherine of Aragon.Giles Tremlett's new biography is the first in more than four decades to be dedicated entirely and uniquely to the tenacious woman whose marriage lasted twice as long as those of Henry's five other wives put together. It draws on fresh material from Spain to trace the dramatic events of her life through Catherine of Aragon's own eyes.'Enthralling biography . . . this lively and richly detailed book . . . describing the queen's fierce battle to retain her crown, Tremlett brilliantly breathes life into the shadowy figure of a stubborn and finally heroic woman.'Daily Telegraph

Catherine the Great: Life and Legend

by John T. Alexander

One of the most colorful characters in modern history, Catherine II of Russia began her life as a minor German princess, until the childless Empress Elizabeth and Catherine's own scheming mother married her off to the Grand Duke Peter of Russia at age sixteen. By thirty-three, she had overthrown her husband in a bloodless coup and established herself as Empress of the multinational Russian Empire, the largest territorial political unit in modern history. Portrayed both as a political genius who restored to Russia the glory it had known in the days of Peter the Great and as a despotic foreign adventuress who usurped the Russian throne, murdered her rivals, and tyrannized her subjects, she was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman. Catherine the Great, the first popular biography of the empress based on contemporary scholarship, provides a vivid portrait of Catherine as a mother, a lover, and, above all, an extremely savvy ruler. Concentrating on her long reign (1762-96), John Alexander examines all aspects of Catherine's life and career: the brilliant political strategies by which she won the acceptance of a nationalistic elite; her expansive foreign policy; the domestic reforms with which she revamped the Russian military, political structure, and economy; and, of course, her infamous love life. Beginning with an account of the dramatic palace revolt by which Catherine unseated her husband and a background chapter describing the circumstances of her early childhood and marriage, Alexander then proceeds chronologically through the thirty-four years of her reign. Presenting Catherine in more human terms than previous biographers have, Alexander includes numerous quotations from her reminiscences and notes. We learn, for instance, not only the names and number of her lovers, but her understanding of what many considered a shocking licentiousness. "The trouble is," she wrote, "that my heart would not willingly remain one hour without love." The result of twenty years' research by one of America's leading narrative historians of modern Russia, this truly impressive work offers a much-needed, balanced reappraisal of one of history's most scandal-ridden figures.

Catherine the Great: Life and Legend

by John T. Alexander

One of the most colorful characters in modern history, Catherine II of Russia began her life as a minor German princess, until the childless Empress Elizabeth and Catherine's own scheming mother married her off to the Grand Duke Peter of Russia at age sixteen. By thirty-three, she had overthrown her husband in a bloodless coup and established herself as Empress of the multinational Russian Empire, the largest territorial political unit in modern history. Portrayed both as a political genius who restored to Russia the glory it had known in the days of Peter the Great and as a despotic foreign adventuress who usurped the Russian throne, murdered her rivals, and tyrannized her subjects, she was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman. Catherine the Great, the first popular biography of the empress based on contemporary scholarship, provides a vivid portrait of Catherine as a mother, a lover, and, above all, an extremely savvy ruler. Concentrating on her long reign (1762-96), John Alexander examines all aspects of Catherine's life and career: the brilliant political strategies by which she won the acceptance of a nationalistic elite; her expansive foreign policy; the domestic reforms with which she revamped the Russian military, political structure, and economy; and, of course, her infamous love life. Beginning with an account of the dramatic palace revolt by which Catherine unseated her husband and a background chapter describing the circumstances of her early childhood and marriage, Alexander then proceeds chronologically through the thirty-four years of her reign. Presenting Catherine in more human terms than previous biographers have, Alexander includes numerous quotations from her reminiscences and notes. We learn, for instance, not only the names and number of her lovers, but her understanding of what many considered a shocking licentiousness. "The trouble is," she wrote, "that my heart would not willingly remain one hour without love." The result of twenty years' research by one of America's leading narrative historians of modern Russia, this truly impressive work offers a much-needed, balanced reappraisal of one of history's most scandal-ridden figures.

Catherine the Great and Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair (Master Bridge Ser.)

by Simon Sebag Montefiore

The epic bestselling biography of Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin, her outrageous lover and co-ruler - by a bestselling historian

A Catholic in the White House?: Religion, Politics, and John F. Kennedy's Presidential Campaign (PDF)

by Thomas J. Carty

According to numerous scholars and pundits, JFK's victory in 1960 symbolized America's evolution from a politically Protestant nation to a pluralistic one. The anti-Catholic prejudice that many blamed for presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith's crushing defeat in 1928 at last seemed to have been overcome. However, if the presidential election of 1960 was indeed a turning point for American Catholics, how do we explain the failure of any Catholic--in over forty years--to repeat Kennedy's accomplishment? In this exhaustively researched study that fuses political, cultural, social, and intellectual history, Thomas Carty challenges the assumption that JFK's successful campaign for the presidency ended decades, if not centuries, of religious and political tensions between American Catholics and Protestants.

Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World

by null Kathryn Hughes

'Remarkable' Literary Review 'Startlingly original' Amanda Foreman Some called it a craze. To others it was a cult. Join prize-winning historian Kathryn Hughes to discover how Britain fell in love with cats and ushered in a new era. ‘He invented a whole cat world’ declared H. G. Wells of Louis Wain, the Edwardian artist whose anthropomorphic kittens made him a household name. His drawings were irresistible but Catland was more than the creation of one eccentric imagination. It was an attitude – a way of being in society while discreetly refusing to follow its rules. As cat capitalism boomed in the spectacular Edwardian age, prized animals changed hands for hundreds of pounds and a new industry sprung up to cater for their every need. Cats were no longer basement-dwelling pest-controllers, but stylish cultural subversives, more likely to flaunt a magnificent ruff and a pedigree from Persia. Wherever you found old conventions breaking down, there was a cat at the centre of the storm. Whether they were flying aeroplanes, sipping champagne or arguing about politics, Wain’s feline cast offered a sly take on the restless and risky culture of the post-Victorian world. No-one experienced these uncertainties more acutely than Wain himself, confined to a mental asylum while creating his most iconic work. Catland is a fascinating and fabulous unravelling of our obsession with cats, and the man dedicated to chronicling them. 'If a Louis Wain cat were reading this book, he would raise his topper in tribute’ The Times 'Brilliantly researched and unforgettable' Miranda Seymour 'Consistently fascinating … A tremendous literary feat in which we learn about Victorian sociology through the work of a remarkably unique artist' Kirkus, starred review

Cats in Heaven: Heartwarming Stories Of Animals From The Other Side (HarperTrue Fate – A Short Read)

by Jacky Newcomb

Amazing and inspirational stories from Jacky Newcomb show us that our beloved pets can communicate with us from the other side.

The Cats of Moon Cottage

by Marilyn Edwards

'My all-time favourite cat book' Jacqueline WilsonIndependent Septi is very much his own cat, established as lord of his domain within Moon Cottage. When Otto, a tiny delicate tortoiseshell kitten, joins the household, she must set out to win Septi over - in her own unique way. Written with unending humour and warmth, Marilyn Edwards' Moon Cottage cat memoirs perfectly capture the highs and lows of living with cats, and pay a touching tribute to the joyous and loving relationship we share with our feline companions. The books are also beautifully illustrated throughout by Peter Warner, the designer of the world-famous Whiskas cat.**Fully illustrated throughout**'At once engaging and uplifting - a colourful series that celebrates the many ways animals enrich our relationships and our lives' Karin Slaughter'Cat lovers will adore this book . . . A tender story of love between the author and her cats' Celia Haddon'All the many delights and a few of the heartaches of a life with cats are told with charm and wit. A vivid, honest, observant and involving book' Desmond Morris

The Cats on Hutton Roof

by Marilyn Edwards

'A colourful series that celebrates the many ways animals enrich our relationships and our lives' Karin SlaughterMarilyn and husband Michael have known many happy years at Moon Cottage, with their cats Fannie, Titus and Pushkin. However, the time has come to make a dream come true, and for the family to move to beautiful Cumbria.However, as all cat-lovers will know, the feline companions in our lives do not always share our dreams, and getting Fannie, Titus and Pushkin on board with the change will be its very own challenge. . .Capturing the highs and the lows which come with living with cats, The Moon Cottage cat series is a testimony and a tribute to that unique and rewarding relationship which exists between humans and their feline companions in which cats, in their splendid complexity, remain among us, but not of us.**Fully illustrated throughout**Praise for the Moon Cottage cat series:'My all-time favourite cat book' Jacqueline Wilson'Cat lovers will adore this book . . . A tender story of love between the author and her cats' Celia Haddon'All the many delights and a few of the heartaches of a life with cats are told with charm and wit. A vivid, honest, observant and involving book' Desmond Morris

Catullus’ Bedspread: The Life Of Rome's Most Erotic Poet

by Daisy Dunn

A biography of Gaius Valerius Catullus, Rome’s first great poet, a dandy who fell in love with another man’s wife and made it known to the world through his verse. This superb book gives a rare portrait of life during one of the most critical moments in world history through the eyes of one of Rome’s greatest writers.

The Cavern Club: The Rise of The Beatles and Merseybeat

by Spencer Leigh.

This is the story of the Cavern Club - the most famous club in the world. The Cavern saw the birth of the Beatles and Merseybeat, and more. Respected author, music journalist and Merseybeat historian Spencer Leigh - with a little help from Sir Paul McCartney, who provides the Foreword - tells the Cavern's history by talking to the owners, hundreds of musicians who played at the club, the backroom staff and fans. Spencer paints a vivid picture of the Cavern, from its days as a jazz club, through the Beatles years to the present

Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic

by Cecilia de Mille Presley Mark A. Vieira

Colossal. Stupendous. Epic. These adjectives, used by movie companies to hawk their wares, became clichés long ago. When used to describe the films of one director, they are accurate. More than any filmmaker in the history of the medium, Cecil B. DeMille mastered the art of the spectacle. In the process, he became a filmland founder. One hundred years ago, he made the first feature film ever shot in Hollywood and went on to become the most commercially successful producer-director in history.DeMille told his cinematic tales with painterly, extravagant images. The parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments was only one of these. There were train wrecks (The Greatest Show on Earth); orgies (Manslaughter); battles (The Buccaneer); Ancient Rome (The Sign of the Cross); Ancient Egypt (Cleopatra); and the Holy Land (The Crusades). The best of these images are showcased here, in Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic.This lavish volume opens the King Tut's tomb of cinematic treasures that is the Cecil B. DeMille Archives, presenting storyboard art, concept paintings, and an array of photographic imagery. Historian Mark A. Vieira writes an illuminating text to accompany these scenes. Cecilia de Mille Presley relates her grandfather's thoughts on his various films, and recalls her visits to his sets, including the Egyptian expedition to film The Ten Commandments.Like the director's works, Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic is a panorama of magnificence-celebrating a legendary filmmaker and the remarkable history of Hollywood.

Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic

by Cecilia de Mille Presley Mark A. Vieira

Colossal. Stupendous. Epic. These adjectives, used by movie companies to hawk their wares, became clichélong ago. When used to describe the films of one director, they are accurate. More than any filmmaker in the history of the medium, Cecil B. DeMille mastered the art of the spectacle. In the process, he became a filmland founder. One hundred years ago, he made the first feature film ever shot in Hollywood and went on to become the most commercially successful producer-director in history. DeMille told his cinematic tales with painterly, extravagant images. The parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments was only one of these. There were train wrecks (The Greatest Show on Earth); orgies (Manslaughter); battles (The Buccaneer); Ancient Rome (The Sign of the Cross); Ancient Egypt (Cleopatra); and the Holy Land (The Crusades). The best of these images are showcased here, in Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic. This lavish volume opens the King Tut's tomb of cinematic treasures that is the Cecil B. DeMille Archives, presenting storyboard art, concept paintings, and an array of photographic imagery. Historian Mark A. Vieira writes an illuminating text to accompany these scenes. Cecilia de Mille Presley relates her grandfather's thoughts on his various films, and recalls her visits to his sets, including the Egyptian expedition to film The Ten Commandments. Like the director's works, Cecil B. DeMille: The Art of the Hollywood Epic is a panorama of magnificence-celebrating a legendary filmmaker and the remarkable history of Hollywood.

Cecil Beaton: The Authorised Biography (Phoenix Press Ser.)

by Hugo Vickers

Cecil Beaton was one of Britain's greatest cultural icons - not just as a photographer capturing some of the most celebrated portraits of the 20th century but also as designer of the iconic sets and costumes for the films My Fair Lady and Gigi. In 1980, Beaton personally chose Hugo Vickers to be his biographer, entrusting him with his diaries and the entire body of letters he had written - both personally and professionally - over the course of his life. Drawing on five years of intensive research and interviews with the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Truman Capote, Princess Grace of Monaco and Sir John Gielgud, Vickers' biography was an instant bestseller upon its publication in 1985. Exploring Beaton's metamorphosis from being the child of a staid middle-class family to an international figure mingling with the glittering stars of his age, the biography also details his great love for Greta Garbo and reveals his private sense of failure that the success he always wanted - as a playwright - eluded him. Republished in a new paperback edition in time for Bright Young Things, a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 2020, Cecil Beaton is the definitive and authorised biography of one of the world's most fascinating, famous and admired photographers.

Cecil Sharp: His Life and Work

by Dr. Maud Karpeles

Others came before and after him but no person is more strongly associated with the revival of English folk song and dance at the turn of the twentieth-century than Cecil Sharp (1859-1924). He collected about 5000 folk songs and nearly 500 dances. This prodigious achievement is told by someone who perhaps knew him better than anyone else. Maud Karpeles was his assistant for many years and accompanied him on his expeditions to the Southern Appalachian Mountains. This remains the definitive biography of the greatest figure in the English folk song and dance movement.

Cecily: An epic feminist retelling of the War of the Roses

by Annie Garthwaite

'A startling heroine' SARAH MOSS, author of Summerwater 'A vividly female perspective on the Wars of the Roses' IMOGEN HERMES GOWER, author of The Mermaid and Mr Hancock'Wolf Hall for the 2020s' MANDA SCOTT, author of Boudica 'Absorbing' TIMES __________________________________ 1431 is a dangerous time for a woman to be defiant. England has been fighting France for 100 years. At home, power-hungry men within a corrupt government manipulate a weak king - and name Cecily's husband, York's loyal duke, an enemy. As the king's grasp on sanity weakens, plots to destroy York take root... It will take all of Cecily's courage and cunning to save her family. But when the will to survive becomes ambition for a crown, will she risk treason to secure it? Inside closed bedchambers and upon bloody battlefields, CECILY portrays war as women fight it.TO CONTINUE CECILY'S STORY, PRE-ORDER THE KING'S MOTHER - OUT 11th JULY. __________________________________ ACCLAIM FOR CECILY - AN EPIC FEMINIST RETELLING OF THE WAR OF THE ROSES 'Has the new Hilary Mantel arrived?' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Masterful and majestic; England's unspoken history told by one brilliant woman through the life of another. This important novel blazes on every page from its brutal first scene to its glittering final act' CHRIS CLEAVE, author of Everyone Brave is Forgiven 'Entirely absorbing and utterly compelling. Fifteenth century England leaps from the page, with all its political turmoil and bloodshed. I loved it' CAROLINE LEA, author of The Glass Women 'Cecily stalks the corridors of power like a female Thomas Cromwell. A vividly female perspective on the Wars of the Roses - what a feat' IMOGEN HERMES GOWER, author of The Mermaid and Mr Hancock 'Masterfully written and wholly immersive, with characters that live and breathe. Cecily is a tour de force. I loved every sentence' JOANNE BURN, author of The Hemlock Cure 'Annie Garthwaite writes about the past with the sort of intimacy, immediacy and empathy that can only come from graft and craft' TOBY CLEMENTS, author of Kingmaker 'BLOODY GREAT. So modern, so political, it could almost be set in Downing Street' KATE SAWYER, author of The Stranding'Shines a light into a dark corner of our history and reclaims the voice and story of a powerful and forgotten woman' LIZ HYDER, author of The Gifts'An extraordinary achievement . . .I could touch and breathe Cecily's world as if I was walking in her shadow' CAROL MCGRATH, author of The Silken Rose 'Impeccably researched, written with style and shot through with energy, heart and power. A perfectly paced tale of intrigue, influence and victory wrenched from defeat. Cecily has been overlooked for centuries. Not anymore' A J WEST, author of The Spirit Engineer

Celebrating the Seasons with the Yorkshire Shepherdess: Farming, Family and Delicious Recipes to Share

by Amanda Owen

A stunning book from Amanda Owen - shepherdess, wife, mother of nine children, bestselling author and star of C5’s Our Yorkshire Farm - that brings her world to life in glorious colour.In Celebrating the Seasons, Amanda shares funny and charming stories about life with her family and their many four-legged charges and describes their activities at Ravenseat, from lambing and shearing to haymaking and feeding the flock in midwinter. Her gorgeous photographs showcase the famous Swaledale landscape she writes about, from the sweeping moors to rare wildflowers and the elusive hares glimpsed in the field.She lives in tune with nature and Amanda's attitude to food is the same. She believes in buying good, seasonal ingredients when it comes to feeding her family and includes her favourite recipes here, from wild garlic lamb with hasselback roast potatoes to rhubarb and custard crumble cake and Yorkshire curd tart. As inspirational as Amanda herself, this book is a beautiful keepsake that will delight everyone who has followed her adventures so far.

Celebrating the Seasons with the Yorkshire Shepherdess: Farming, Family and Delicious Recipes to Share

by Amanda Owen

The Sunday Times bestseller, now in paperback with new material covering another twelve months on the farm with the Yorkshire Shepherdess.In Celebrating the Seasons, Amanda Owen shares funny and charming stories about life with her family and their many four-legged charges and describes their activities at Ravenseat, from lambing and shearing in spring to haymaking in summer and feeding the flock in midwinter. She vividly evokes the famous Swaledale landscape, from the sweeping moors to rare wildflowers and elusive hares glimpsed in the field.Amanda lives in tune with nature, and her attitude to food is the same. She believes in using good, seasonal ingredients when it comes to feeding her family, and includes some of her favourite recipes here, from wild garlic lamb with hasselback potatoes to rhubarb and custard crumble cake and Yorkshire curd tart. The book also includes her Dalesman columns, published in book form for the first time and giving new insights into her life.As inspirational as Amanda herself, this book will delight everyone who has followed her adventures so far.

Celebrity Chefs (21st Century Lives #21)

by Neil Champion

21st Century Lives is a fresh and lively approach to the achievements of the most popular celebrity chefs.

Celebrity Culture (Opposing Viewpoints Ser.)

by Noah Berlatsky

"Opposing Viewpoints is the leading source for libraries and classrooms in need of current-issue materials. The viewpoints are selected from a wide range of highly respected sources and publications"--

Celebrity Culture

by Ellis Cashmore

In this fascinating and topical beginners guide, Ellis Cashmore explores the intriguing issue of celebrity culture: its origins, its meaning and its global influence. Covering such varied perspectives as fame addiction, the ‘celebrification’ of politics and celebrity fatigue, Cashmore analyzes the relationship celebrity has with commodification and the consumer society, and investigates the new media and the quest for self-perfection.

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