Dorothy Herrmann's biography of Helen Keller takes us through Helen's long, eventful life, a life that would have crushed a woman less stoic and adaptable - and less protected. She was either venerated as a saint or damned as a fraud. And one of the most persistent controversies surrounding her had to do with her relationship to the fiercely devoted Annie, through whom she largely expressed herself. Dorothy Herrmann explores these questions: Was Annie...

As I walked away from New Buildings, I found the man that Lewis had called "Tollers" sitting on one of the stone steps in front of the arcade. "How did you get on?" he asked. "I think rather well. I think he will be a most interesting tutor to have." "Interesting? Yes, he's certainly that," said the man, who I later learned was J. R. R. Tolkien. "You'll never get to the bottom of him." Over the next twenty-nine years, author George Sayer's first impression...

Sojourner Truth: ex-slave and fiery abolitionist, figure of imposing physique, riveting preacher and spellbinding singer who dazzled listeners with her wit and originality. Straight talking and unsentimental, Truth became a national symbol for strong black women - indeed, for all strong women. Like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, she is regarded as a radical of immense and enduring influence; yet unlike them, what is remembered of her consists...

When today's world leaders need inspiration and strength in times of crisis, they often turn to Winston Churchill, quoting him and citing his heroic example. The son of a member of Parliament, Churchill, a poor academic student, wanted to be a soldier early in life. But after he escaped from a South African prison camp, his national fame catapulted him into a life of politics. In this Penguin life, the eminent historian John Keegan charts Churchill's...

"Tough and Cheerful is a story about the world's tallest mountain, the evolution of Nepal, and a man who has been part of the staggering transformation of both. As the last living member of the 1953 first summit of Mount Everest, with Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, Kanchha's history is one never to be forgotten...Kanchha's personal story takes us through time and mountain ranges, from scarcity to abundance, from challenge to conquest, from personal...