Biography
Here are biographies I have enjoyed over the years.
Women
- I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatamela by Rigoberta Menchu. Read about this remarkable Guatemalan peasant woman and the terrible injustices suffered by her family. At times the book is difficult to read because events are so horrific. She has received the Nobel Peace Prize for dedicating her life to publizing the plight of Guatamela’s indigenous people.
- Desert Queen by Gertrude Bell. This is one biography that should be on the top of everyone’s must read list. Gertrude Bell explored Arabia at a time when it was unconventional for British females to go anywhere in Britain unchaperoned. But once in the Middle East she explored by camel and horse, alone at times, became a confidante to kings and helped draw the boundaries in the Middle East after World War I.
- Passionate Nomad. The Life of Freya Stark by Jane Fletcher Geniesse. The story of Freya Stark, one of the most famous 20th century travelers, reads like fiction. She was fearless, brave, smart and difficult. She traveled widely through the Middle East, often with only a donkey and a guide, testing the accuracy of British maps. In the end she was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and honored by the Royal Geographic Society.
- Leap of Faith. Memories of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor. Lisa Halaby, an Arab-American woman from a privileged family, met King Hussein in Jordan while visiting her father a few years after graduating from Princeton. She ended up becoming the King’s second wife, after his first wife died tragically. The Queen gives a candid account of her struggles to balance her private family life with that as the wife of a world statesman. Eventually she creates another role for herself – that of a humaitarian activist.
- Sisters in the Wilderness. The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Trail by Charlotte Gray
- O’Keefe: The Life of an American Legend by Jeffrey Hogrefe
- The Mapmaker’s Wife by Robert Whitaker. This is an amazing account of the mostly unknown Isobel Godin, the first woman to travel the length of the Amazon …in 1735.
Men
- Reluctant Genius. The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell by Charlotte Gray
- A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. An unforgettable story about the life of a child soldier.
- Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. This book needs no introduction. It’s a fascinating read that takes you from his childhood to his inauguration.
- A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier: Explorer, Naturalist and Buccaneer by Diana Preston and Michael Preston
- Mr. Darwin’s Shooter by Roger McDonald
- Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Adventurer who Discovered the Fate of Franklin by Ken McGoogan. Arctic history comes alive in the telling of this story.
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