Traces the life of the French general and statesman who was instrumental in persuading France to aid the colonists in the American Revolution and then returned to participate in the political scene in his own country.
Setting / LocationFrance
Story EraModern Era
Protagonist / CoreMarquis de Lafayette Lead Character
This is a fascinating history. We witness the early years and rise of Napoleon (to the year 1805) while having a front-row seat for the Reign of Terror and its implosion and not-so-slow return to a (forever changed) monarchy. One wonders how in the world Napoleon learned to be the great general he was. Was it really just his voracious reading of history? A great irony is Napoleon's mastery of land war coupled with his ineffectiveness in coaxing his admirals to do anything on water. Imagine the outcome if Fate had given France both Napoleon for land and Nelson for the sea.
The lives of these two saints with similar names could hardly be more contrasting. St. Teresa, reformer of the Carmelites, 'busy woman and great saint', endured the religious mania of sixteenth-century Spain and lived in a state of near perpetual ecstasy. Thérèse, on the other hand, lived the quiet life of a nun in late-nineteenth-century France, was meek, devout and perhaps rather dim. She became a saint of the common people, largely because of the ordinariness of her life (excepting the odd vision).
As cofounder of the internationally-known, highly-controversial radical political troupe, The Living Theater, author Judith Malina is one of the leading female countercultural figures of the 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. In Full moon stages: personal notes from 50 years of The Living Theatre, she creates an intimate memoir in a unique format with a collection of personal notes written on every full moon for 50 years from 1964 to 2014. These never-before-published entries reveal Malina's most private thoughts and inform the reader on what The Living Theatre was performing as they wound their way from New York City to Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Brazil in a nomadic series of notable performances of such underground classics as The Brig, The Connection, and Paradise Now. Malina is relentless in her commitment to the full moon schedule, writing regardless of her current life circumstance. Notes issue forth from hotels, trains--even prison, offering a light on the consequences of holding true to her code of the theatrical expression of her pacifist-anarchist principles.
Kurt Weill--the famed composer of The Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Knickerbocker Holiday, One Touch of Venus, Lost in the Stars, and many other musical works--led a life as rich and complex as the music for which he is so justly acclaimed. This engaging and lavishly illustrated book draws on a wealth of previously unexplored written and pictorial material to present a biography of Weill that is the most up to date and balanced ever written. Jurgen Schebera explores the many phases of Weill's life, from his childhood as the son of a cantor in the Jewish section of Dessau, Germany, to his renunciation of Germany in 1933, his emigration to America in 1935, and his premature death there in 1950. Schebera describes Weill's rise to prominence during the Weimar Republic, when he created brilliant orchestral and chamber music and became a leading operatic innovator; his marriage, divorce, and remarriage to the famed actress Lotte Lenya; his escape from Nazi Germany, exile in France, and move to America; his collaboration with such famed writers and lyricists as Georg Kaiser, Bertolt Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Moss Hart, Ira Gershwin, S.J. Perelman, and Ogden Nash; and his efforts in the United States to aid the mobilization for war. He presents fascinating information about Weill's musical creations: an anti-war musical (Johnny Johnson); a biblical drama (The Eternal Road); his first American song "hit," "September Song"; a Kiddush for cantor, chorus, and organ; a new genre of Broadway opera (Street Scene); a musical tragedy (Lost in the Stars); and many other musical ventures in New York and Hollywood. Schebera contends that it is pointless to argue the relative merits of Weill's music from his European and American periods, as many critics have done. As Weill himself said, "I have never acknowledged the difference between 'serious' music and 'light' music. There is only good music and bad music." And, in fact, the current international renaissance of Kurt Weill's works attests to the beauty, originality, and variety of the music he composed throughout his career. First published in Germany to enthusiastic reviews, this English edition adds new information and illustrations to the earlier work.
Marquis de Lafayette by Pierre Horn | Literally Just Books
