Popular European Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (154)
1.
A Confession by Leo Tolstoy EN
RussiaDescription:
"A Confession" -- an essay by Leo Tolstoy on his religious thoughts -- shows the great author in process of looking for answers to profound questions that trouble all who take them on: "What will come of my life?" and "What is the meaning of life?": these are questions whose answers were an absolute requirement for Tolstoy. In the course of the essay, Tolstoy shows different attempts to find answers on the examples of science, philosophy, eastern wisdom and the opinions of his fellow novelists. . . . finding no workable solution in any of these, Tolstoy recognizes the deep religious conviction... continue
2.
A Cup of Coffee with My Interrogator : The Prague Chronicles of Ludvík Vaculík by Ludvík Vaculík EN
Country: Europe / 
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Description:
Analytische annotatie: Verhalen.
3.
A Death in Malta : An assassination and a family’s quest for justice by Paul Caruana Galizia EN
MaltaDescription:
A FINANCIAL TIMES, PROSPECT MAGAZINE and GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 An Irish Times Best Book of 2023, as chosen by Sally Hayden and Mia Levitin 'A murdered mother's fight for truth and justice lives on through the words of her youngest son' Angelina Jolie 'Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of democracy' Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Twilight of Democracy and Red Famine 'An unforgettable profile in courage . . . Riveting and inspiring' Bill Browder, bestselling author of Freezing Order When Paul Caruana Galizia was at work in London, his e... continue
4.
A Guest of the Reich : The Story of American Heiress Gertrude Legendre's Dramatic Captivity and Escape from Nazi Germany by Peter Finn EN
IrelandDescription:
Gertrude "Gertie" Legendre was a society heiress from South Carolina who lived a charmed life during the 1920s and 1930s. But the attack on Pearl Harbor gave her a different focus and she joined the OSS (the predecessor to the CIA). First in Washington and then in London, some of the most closely-held government secrets passed through her hands. As the Allies advanced into France in September 1944, she was ordered to Paris. Headstrong and eager "to smell the fighting," she fell into Nazi hands. Subjected to repeated interrogations, including by the SS, she held to the fiction that she was mere... continue
5.
A Woman of No Importance : The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell EN
EnglandDescription:
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Chosen as a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by NPR, the New York Public Library, Amazon, the Seattle Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, PopSugar, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, BookBrowse, the Spectator, and the Times of London Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography “Excellent…This book is as riveting as any thriller, and as hard to put down.” -- The New York Times Book Review "A compelling biography of a masterful spy, and a reminder of what can be done with a few brave people -- and a little resistance." - NPR "A meticiulous history that reads like a... continue
6.
A Woman's Story by Annie Ernaux EN
FranceDescription:
WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE A New York Times Notable Book "A deeply affecting account of mothers and daughters, youth and age, and dreams and reality" (Kirkus Reviews) Upon her mother’s death from Alzheimer’s, Ernaux embarks on a daunting journey back through time, as she seeks to "capture the real woman, the one who existed independently from me, born on the outskirts of a small Normandy town, and who died in the geriatric ward of a hospital in the suburbs of Paris." She explores the bond between mother and daughter, tenuous and unshakable at once, the alienating worlds that ... continue
7.
American Mother by Colum McCann, Diane Foley EN
Description:
"In late 2021, Diane Foley - mother of the murdered American journalist Jim Foley - sat at a table across from her son's killer, Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as "The Beatles," who had pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son seven years before. Kotey was about to go serve life imprisonment and this was Diane's one and only chance to talk to the man who had been involved with brutally taking her son's last breath. What would she say to the killer? What name could she give him? How to look him in the eye? What would he reveal to her? Might she even be ... continue
8.
An Apartment on Uranus : Chronicles of the Crossing by Paul B. Preciado EN
SpainDescription:
A “dissident of the gender-sex binary system” reflects on gender transitioning and political and cultural transitions in technoscientific capitalism. Uranus, the frozen giant, is the coldest planet in the solar system as well as a deity in Greek mythology. It is also the inspiration for uranism, a concept coined by the writer Karl Heinrich Ulrich in 1864 to define the “third sex” and the rights of those who “love differently.” Following Ulrich, Paul B. Preciado dreams of an apartment on Uranus where he might live beyond existing power, gender and racial strictures invented by modernity. “My tr... continue
9.
An Interrupted Life: The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum 1941-43 by Etty Hillesum EN
Country: Europe / 
Netherlands
Netherlands
Description:
A collection of the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum (1914-43) who lived in Amsterdam that were composed in the shadow of the Holocaust, but their interest lies in the light-filled mind that pervades them and in the internal journey they chart.
10.
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Elliott, Jason EN
Description:
"Aware of the risks involved, but determined to explore what he could of the Afghan people and culture, Elliot leaves the relative security of the capital, Kabul.