5 Biographies eBooks

A. Lincoln: A Biography - Ronald C. White Jr.
William Schuman: A Bio-Bibliography (Bio-Bibliographies in Music) by K. Gary Adams
Princess Diana by Joanne Mattern
Charles Dupin (1784-1873) and His Influence on France: The Contributions of a Mathematician, Educator, Engineer, and Statesman by Margaret Bradley
Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division by Peter Hook

Abraham Lincoln: A Biography - Ronald C. White Jr.
English | 2010 | 816 Pages | ISBN: 0812975707 | PDF | 9.78 MB
Everyone wants to define the man who signed his name “A. Lincoln.” In his lifetime and ever since, friend and foe have taken it upon themselves to characterize Lincoln according to their own label or libel. In this magnificent book, Ronald C. White, Jr., offers a fresh and compelling definition of Lincoln as a man of integrity–what today’s commentators would call “authenticity”–whose moral compass holds the key to understanding his life.
Through meticulous research of the newly completed Lincoln Legal Papers, as well as of recently discovered letters and photographs, White provides a portrait of Lincoln’s personal, political, and moral evolution. White shows us Lincoln as a man who would leave a trail of thoughts in his wake, jotting ideas on scraps of paper and filing them in his top hat or the bottom drawer of his desk; a country lawyer who asked questions in order to figure out his own thinking on an issue, as much as to argue the case; a hands-on commander in chief who, as soldiers and sailors watched in amazement, commandeered a boat and ordered an attack on Confederate shore batteries at the tip of the Virginia peninsula; a man who struggled with the immorality of slavery and as president acted publicly and privately to outlaw it forever; and finally, a president involved in a religious odyssey who wrote, for his own eyes only, a profound meditation on “the will of God” in the Civil War that would become the basis of his finest address.
Most enlightening, the Abraham Lincoln who comes into focus in this stellar narrative is a person of intellectual curiosity, comfortable with ambiguity, unafraid to “think anew and act anew.”
A transcendent, sweeping, passionately written biography that greatly expands our knowledge and understanding of its subject, A. Lincoln will engage a whole new generation of Americans. It is poised to shed a profound light on our greatest president just as America commemorates the bicentennial of his birth.

William Schuman: A Bio-Bibliography (Bio-Bibliographies in Music) by K. Gary Adams
English | May 30, 1998 | ISBN: 0313273596 | 288 Pages | PDF | 12 MB
William Howard Schuman, a celebrated figure in 20th-century music, was a composer and a copious writer on music and music education. Early on, as a composer, he received the attention of several musicians and writers such as Nathan Broder, Elliott Carter, and Leonard Bernstein. He was the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the New York Music Critics Circle Award. After teaching at Sarah Lawrence College from 1935 to 1945 and serving as president of the Juilliard School from 1945 to 1962, Schuman assumed the presidency of Lincoln Center, where he successfully implemented that institution's artistic programs. Schuman, who composed in several genres, is perhaps best known for his orchestral compositions and choral music. This reference work provides a biography and a thorough catalog and guide to Schuman's writings and compositions and to the current research available on this gifted and multi-talented musician.
An invaluable resource to music scholars interested in William Schuman's career, five sections provide accessible detailed information: a biography, works and performances, discography, bibliography, and bibliography of writings by Schuman. The biography traces Schuman's life and career with an emphasis on illustrating his compositional activity. The bibliography includes books, dissertations, articles, and reviews that chronicle Schuman's activities from his days as a young composer to his death in 1992. An author index, index of compositions, and general index complete this in-depth reference on William Schuman.

Princess Diana by Joanne Mattern
English | 2006 | ISBN: 0756616131 | 128 pages | PDF | 50,5 MB
Learn all about the Queen of Hearts from her life in the media spotlight as wife of the future King of England to her amazing work for charities. Whether you need some extra help for a school project or just want to find out more, this book will tell you all you need to know about Princess Diana's incredible life.
- The only full-color biography on the market for children
- More than 100 full-color photographs and illustrations
- Includes detailed sidebars, handy vocabulary boxes and a visual timeline
About the author:
Joanne Mattern worked as a book editor for 10 years before becoming a full-time writer. She has now published more than 150 books for young readers. She lives with her husband and three daughters in the Hudson Valley of New York state

Charles Dupin (1784-1873) and His Influence on France: The Contributions of a Mathematician, Educator, Engineer, and Statesman by Margaret Bradley
English | 2012 | ISBN: 1604977515 | 392 pages | PDF | 1,3 MB
Charles Dupin was a multifaceted figure in the history of France, where his life spanned several regimes. He produced an enormous number of publications in mathematics, engineering, economics, and education. Long neglected by historians, he is at last beginning to receive attention. In his youth, he championed many causes, including the education of women, perhaps because of the influence of his dynamic and learned mother. He was already very ambitious as a youth and left behind the usual youthful desires in pursuit of his goals. Dupin began as a brilliant mathematician as a student at the Ecole polytechnique in Paris and proceeded to become a fine naval engineer, that is until visits to Britain inspired him to change his course of direction. As the French industry was undergoing expansion, Dupin saw in Britain that workers were more efficient and healthier if they were educated. He greatly admired the freedom he witnessed in Britain, and this did not endear him to the French government of the Restoration. Indeed, the high honours to which he so much aspired eluded him for a considerable time. He saw the British savings banks and regular saving by workers within industry as a system to be introduced in France and one that should be propagated. As an economist, he considered the welfare of French workers as vital to an efficient industry. He was particularly concerned with the protection of children in work and the education of workers. In fact, he might be considered the father of workers' education in France. This was a subject very close to his heart and, from his early years, he devoted himself to making public lectures available to all, including women. However, Dupin's popularity declined as the importance of a thriving economy began to take precedence over the workers' needs, with the workers focusing mainly on having a living wage. This is the first published study of Charles Dupin and his entire life's work. It illuminates his work and contribution in so many spheres, as well as his contacts with other scientists and educators. His mathematics have long interested scholars in the field, and he would have been an outstanding naval engineer. He was a linguist and highly cultured; with his aesthetic sense he might well have rivaled Sané, but because of his driving ambition he was a great man manqué. Against a background of tremendous changes in France, he made important contributions in many areas, as evidenced by the bibliography in this book. This work will be of interest to mathematicians, historians of science, sociologists, economists, engineers, and educators.

Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division by Peter Hook
English | 2012 | ISBN: 0857202162 | 256 Pages | EPUB | 2 MB
A roller-coaster, inside story of life, love, and loss with one of the cult seminal postpunk bands of the 1970s and 1980s, with rare photographs As cofounder of Joy Division, Peter Hook was the inspiration behind a band that would shape the course of popular music. He provided the propulsive bass guitar melodies of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," and was at the heart of the sound that came to define an era and inspire a generation. Here he tells the story of that time: of the music, the madness, the band members, and the other characters on the scene that made it the unforgettable, iconic time it was. He talks with eye-opening candor and reflection about the suicide of Ian Curtis—often seen as the "intellectual one—to Peter and the band he was just "one of the lads," and the burden of balancing his epilepsy and the demands of his domestic life only really emerged when it was too late. Peter covers the band's friendships and fallouts; their rehearsals and recording sessions; and the larger-than-life characters who formed a vital part of the Joy Division story.