21–30 of 66 posts
The last two are especially good as audiobook autobiographies read by the author.
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo
Born Standing Up (Steve Martin's autobiography)
All of the Walter Isaacson biographies are fantastic. To understand how modern digital ecosystem came to be I cannot think of a better combination than Isaacson's "Innovators" and "The Dream Machine" by Waldrop.
His Leonardo biography is mediocre at best. It may read smoothly but he lacks a good grasp of the subject matter. Instead, Leonardo is like an earlier Steve Jobs of some kind.
Could you recommend a better biography from that period?
Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
Kevin Mitnick - Ghost In The Wires
Kenneth Roman - The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising
Walter Isaacson - Steve Jobs
Alan Deutschman - The Second Coming of Steve Jobs
James Wallace - Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire
Alice Schroeder - The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity
All of the Walter Isaacson biographies are fantastic. To understand how modern digital ecosystem came to be I cannot think of a better combination than Isaacson's "Innovators" and "The Dream Machine" by Waldrop.
His Leonardo biography is mediocre at best. It may read smoothly but he lacks a good grasp of the subject matter. Instead, Leonardo is like an earlier Steve Jobs of some kind.
I think those biographies are more pop than his fans like to think and more academic than his detractors might imagine.
Left to Tell - Immaculée Ilibagiza's life, story of survival of the Rwandan Genocide and a tale of how to live on after such tragedy and how to forgive the unforgiveable.
Longitude - essentially a biography of John Harrison, the man who solved the longitude problem (and probably thereby made the success of the British Empire)
X, Y & Z - a brilliant biography of all the French, English and Polish codebreakers of WW2
Agent Zigzag - the story of the man who betrayed everyone and could possibly have killed Hitler if he was allowed
William Pitt the Younger (Robin Reilly) - possibly one of the most difficult periods in British History saw one of the best British Prime Ministers to date
Kukuczka - the story of how he became one of the world's most impressive climbers despite communist oppression
The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History - a highly interesting book that brings the necessary documents to the table to help understand a topic that is often treated in a very facile way
Ivan III and the Unification of Russia - a great book for understanding the basis on which Russia was built
Xenophon's Anabasis - what a load of fun. How to lead a failed army back home and gorge on mad honey
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
My Life and Work by Henry Ford
My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla by Ben Johnston and Nikola Tesla
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin