Viewing 27 posts - 41 through 67 (of 67 total)
  • Reccomend me a really good read autobiography.
  • sputnik
    Free Member

    Charlie Chaplin’s life story is most engaging .

    sputnik
    Free Member

    A silent comedy star whose legendary slapstick routines are recognisable to this day, Charles ‘Charlie’ Chaplin’s My Autobiography is an incomparably vivid account of the life of one of the greatest filmmakers and comedians, with an introduction by David Robinson

    As a child, Charlie Chaplin was awed and inspired by the sight of glamorous vaudeville stars passing his home, and from then on he never lost his ambition to become an actor. Chaplin’s film career as the Little Tramp adored by the whole world is the stuff of legend, but this frank autobiography shows another side. Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin’s father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity. From a childhood of grinding poverty in the south London slums, Chaplin found an escape in his early debut on the music hall stage, followed by his lucky break in America, the founding of United Artists with D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks, the struggle to maintain artistic control over his work, the string of failed marriages, and his eventual exile from Hollywood after personal scandals and persecution for his left-wing politics during the McCarthy Era.

    Hans Rudel’s Stuka Pilot

    Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions claiming a total of 2,000 targets destroyed; including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery pieces, 70 landing craft, nine aircraft, four armored trains, several bridges, a destroyer, two cruisers, and the Soviet battleship Marat.”

    Apart from the incredible first hand accounts of dive bombing tanks, I found it interesting to see how someone who was so clearly on the wrong side of what we see as right and wrong these days, could see himself as in the right.
    He does put forward a good case for they Nazis being the good guys by saving Europe from Russian invasion.

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Even after all these years, and despite them being “kids” books, it’s hard to beat Boy and Going Solo by Ronald Dahl

    cleanerbybike
    Free Member

    My Wicked, Wicked Ways – Errol Flynn: From the copra plantations of PNG to Hollywood, a dissolute philandering swashbuckler!

    dannyh
    Free Member

    He does put forward a good case for they Nazis being the good guys by saving Europe from Russian invasion.

    Except that ultimately they actually facilitated it………

    Mind you, if you read anything about what the Russians got up to in eastern Germany in particular in early 1945….

    Duffer
    Free Member

    Thanks for the ‘Stuka Pilot’ recommendation. That’s gone in my reading queue.

    I can second the recommendations for ‘First Light’ and anything by Ranulph Feinnes, particularly ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’.

    Also, if you’re up for a bit of adventure, try ‘Walking the Amazon’ by Ed Stafford.

    ThurmanMerman
    Free Member

    Wilfred Thesiger – The Life of My Choice.

    Explorer type in the 30s and 40s who spent much of his time in the then pretty-much unknown Middle East. Stunningly good read. Annoyingly, he glosses over the two best bits in his life so I also recommend his Arabian Sands and The Marsh Arabs.

    They don’t make British chaps like him any more.

    uselesshippy
    Free Member

    I can’t believe no one has sugested Mr nice, by Howard marks.
    I can’t remember what is called, but nick kent, an Mme journalists autobiography is a good read.

    joolsburger
    Free Member

    Stuart Lee

    It’s hard work being a good stand up.

    tang
    Free Member

    Also Spike Miligan’s war time memoirs are brilliant. I think there are 7 all together.

    DrJ
    Full Member

    I saw an interesting article about Tim Howards autobiography – even if you aren’t into football, how he overcame OCD to become a top goalkeeper.

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/06/everton-tim-howard-goalkeeper-tourette-syndrome-ocd-autobiography-the-keeper

    choppersquad
    Free Member

    I might be wrong, but has no one mentioned that GUY BLOODY MARTIN has one out?!
    Half price in Waterstones or WH Smith I think?

    eddiebaby
    Free Member

    G Gordon Liddy: Will

    T1000
    Free Member

    The ghost runner

    holdsteady
    Full Member

    Terrible band but hilarious autobiography – Motley Crue – “The Dirt”

    brooess
    Free Member

    +1 for Tyler Hamilton plus David Millar’s if you want some cycling reading. Both are eye openers whatever you feel about them as individuals.
    +1 for Spike Milligan’s series too – you’ll cry with laughter.
    The Villain is good too.
    I love Morrissey as a songwriter and his books gives you a good insight into the points he makes with his songs but it’s not the best read ever tbh

    Duggan
    Full Member

    Not strictly an autobiography but Donnie Brasco is a great read. About the FBI legend who first went deep undercover in the Mafia.

    bobbym
    Free Member

    Jah Wobble memoirs of a geezer and from the other side of the tracks but equally dealing with addiction, Clarissa Dickson-Wright.

    langylad
    Free Member

    Kicked into Touch by Fred Eyre. Wonderfully funny little book about a life of rejection in lower league football.

    Disappointingly, Billy Bragg’s The Progressive Patriot didn’t do it for me. I sooo wanted to love that book

    BillMC
    Full Member

    Gorky My Childhood
    Trotsky My Life

    mick_r
    Full Member

    Not an autobiography but it does cover a good few years of her life:- “Just A Little Run Around The World” by Rosie Swale-Pope is a pretty epic adventure.

    YoKaiser
    Free Member

    Second the Ranulph Fiennes recommendations, top drawer!

    I’ll add Chuck Yeager’s bio, excellent life story. For a slightly more gripping read though I’d say Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. Not a bio per se but near enough.

    ampthill
    Full Member

    “The Moons a Balloon” by David Niven

    quite saucy and I think i borrowed my mums copy

    (just realised thats a +1)

    +1 Spike Milligan

    I enjoyed Elan Mcarthurs books if your into sailing

    backofthepack
    Free Member

    ‘Legionaire’ – Simon Murray and ‘Wings on my sleeve’ – Capt Eric Brown are both excellent reads.

    wysiwyg
    Free Member

    If you like crack, hookers, racism and the 70s. Cupcake Brown – a Piece of Cake

    matthewjb
    Free Member

    If you are at all interested in space then An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield is great.

    A mix of biography and guide to how to be an astronaut. A very talented and modest man.

Viewing 27 posts - 41 through 67 (of 67 total)

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