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Browse our collection of the latest large print biographies. This list updates when we add new titles to our collection.
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"Tucci grew up in an Italian family that put great import on food: the quality of ingredients, the careful preparation, the passing on of family recipes and cultural culinary traditions. He has written cookbooks, become involved in food-related charities,...
"'Baggage' chronicles the actor's life in Hollywood and the ways in which work has repeatedly whisked him away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. Taking us through the highs and lows of his career, his struggle with mental ...
"In March 1942, twenty-five-year-old kindergarten teacher Magda Hellinger and nearly a thousand other young women were deported as some of the first Jews to be sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The SS soon discovered that by putting prisoners...
"Framed around one salacious trial in 1891 London, a fascinating and vividly told true-crime narrative about the hunt for one of the first known serial killers, whose poisoning spree in the US, Canada, and England coincided with the birth of forensic...
On Saturday 15th April 1989, Jenni Hicks, her husband Trevor, and their two daughters Sarah and Vicki went to watch a football match. It was to be their last day as a family. Sarah and Vicki didn't come home, and Jenni's world was changed forever. Since...
"In 1972 Mark May is eighteen. He is bright, beautiful and has a scholarship to study law. Ten years later he descends alone into remote gorge country in north-western New South Wales. He lives in rough camps and stays for thirty-five years. Then, on...
"Sonny Bill Williams is a once in a generation athlete – a player with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. In his remarkable career, he has won World Cups with the All Blacks in 2011 and 2015 and helped the Kiwis reach the...
"'When five words uttered by a German soldier determine whether you live or die, you spend your life trying to unravel all the what-ifs. What if I had not been born in Poland in 1939? What if those five words had not been said? What if I had grown up...
"A stunning and brutally honest memoir that shines a light on what happens when female desire conflicts with a culture of masculinity in crisis. In her midthirties and newly free from a terrible relationship, Tabitha Lasley quit her job at a London m...
"The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation, the women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII-in and out of uniform, for theirs is a ...
"A deeply beautiful, profound, profane and poetic biography of the formative years of the dark prince of rock 'n' roll, 'Boy on Fire' is Nick Cave's creation story, a portrait of the artist first as a boy, then as a young man. A deeply insightful work...
"Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother was called the 'most successful queen since Cleopatra' and the 'best queen consort ever'. Her personality was so captivating that even her arch-enemy the Duchess of Windsor wrote about 'her legendary charm' and when...
"Explores the last twenty years in the lives of Princes William and Harry and the evolution of their relationship as adults, with one brother the designated heir, and the other doomed to life as the spare. "Diana's Boys" revealed the iron-strong bond...
Ignited by a lightning strike in a remote forest, the Currowan fire was one of the most terrifying episodes of Australia's Black Summer. It burnt for seventy-four days, consuming nearly 5,000 square kilometres of land, destroying well over 500 homes,...
"Rock stars. Whatever those words mean to you, chances are, they owe a debt to Led Zeppelin. No one before or since has lived the dream quite like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. In Led Zeppelin, Bob Spitz takes their full...
While other children were devouring the works of Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter, Carla Valentine was poring through the pages of Agatha Christie novels. It was this early fascination that led to her job as a pathology technician, trained in forensics...
"Between the years 2012 and 2019, Sir Steve Hansen oversaw an era of such remarkable success that it would be almost impossible to repeat. His 15-year career in the All Blacks coaching team is the heaviest footprint in rugby history. Of the 210 tests...
"The awe-inspiring and gripping true story of the young man who survived not one, but three concentration camps, only - in the final days of the war - to be bombed while aboard a Nazi prison boat, 'The Last Survivor' is a compelling, life-affirming read...
"As lead singer of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, Shaun Ryder was the Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of his generation. A true rebel, who formed and led not one but two seminal bands, he's had number-one albums, headlined Glastonbury, toured the world...
"Royal insider Lady Colin Campbell was the first to predict the Waleses' separation and divorce, in her international bestseller, 'Diana in Private'. 'The Real Diana' contains startling new revelations about Diana which Lady Colin Campbell has unearthed...
"Valentino Rossi is an icon: the most successful and most loved motorcycle racer of all time, he has transcended MotoGP to become a symbol of courage, risk and daring. To race for twenty-three years at the very highest level of the world's most dangerous...
"They were the closest of sisters and the best of friends. But when, in a quixotic twist of fate, their uncle Edward VIII decided to abdicate the throne, the dynamic between Elizabeth and Margaret was dramatically altered. Forever more, Margaret would...
"'Sometimes my mind reaches back beyond the fear and the arid landscapes of war, to memories of childhood that fill me with happiness and laughter.' So begins this searingly honest memoir by Kailash Limbu, a serving Gurkha soldier who undertook five tours...
"The most familiar fate of Jews living in Hitler's Germany is either emigration or deportation to concentration camps. But there was another, much rarer, side to Jewish life at that time: denial of your origin to the point where you manage to erase almost...
"'Making It' is an inspirational memoir about beating the odds and turning things around even when it all seems hopeless. In this book, Jay shares the details of his life, from his childhood growing up sheltered and innocent on a council estate in Hackney,...
"One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are al...
"An open, honest and at times intensely personal memoir about race, fatherhood, marriage, masculinity, fitting in, and the things that shape our national character. Simon Bridges grew up as the son of a working-class Baptist preacher in Te Atatu, as ...
"Brave, explosive, and thought-provoking, this is a powerful memoir. 'It's material, make a story out of it,' was the mantra Charlotte Grimshaw grew up with in her literary family. But when her life suddenly turned upside-down, she needed to re-examine...
"Wendyl's mother suffered from Alzheimer's, and during her last days she told Wendyl the most amazing stories of her life. It was as if her failing memory was delving back into the past in one final desperate attempt for it to be remembered. Being adopted...
"Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed on 9 November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimag...
"Doctor Joan Louwrens has always been drawn to wild places, which are balm to her soul. When her husband died, leaving her alone with two small daughters to raise, she threw herself wholeheartedly into 'adventure medicine', seeking out the world's most...
"The Sackler name adorns the walls of many storied institutions – Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art – Oxford – the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations in the arts and the sciences. The source...
From the age of eight, Ryan Wilson dreamt of being a teacher. This is the inside story of his time at the chalkface, from fresh-faced trainee with grand ideals to exhausted assistant head battling ever-changing government demands. It is a tribute to ...
"Toni Street's easy on-air style and warm personality has made her a firm favourite with thousands of New Zealanders. But behind the bubbly persona, is a story of heartbreak and resilience. Toni and her twin brother Lance were the much-loved first children...
"Having to deal with the loss of loved ones is something that unites us all. Yet we rarely even talk about grief. Life After shares the raw, intimate and inspiring stories of how more than 60 ordinary and well-known Australians have recovered from...
"The wise, warm, defiant new book from literary legend Isabel Allende – a meditation on power, feminism and what it means to be a woman. "When I say that I was a feminist in kindergarten, I am not exaggerating." As a child, Isabel Allende watched her...
"A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making-from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy. In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his i...
"Cecily Strong had a special bond with her cousin Owen. And so she was devastated when, in early 2020, he passed away at age thirty from the brain cancer glioblastoma. Before Strong could attempt to process her grief, another tragedy struck: the coro...
"New York Times bestselling author Anne Sebba's moving biography of Ethel Rosenberg, the wife and mother whose execution for espionage-related crimes defined the Cold War and horrified the world. In June 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a couple with...
"Tim Heath taught for about 40 years, mostly in New Zealand but also in Samoa, in small country schools, in big city schools, at the Correspondence School, in primary schools and secondary schools. He's been a principal and a deputy principal. Teaching...
"Jess Quinn is, in her own words, quite literally a walking miracle. Her body has been completely restructured so that she could survive an aggressive cancer. Jess' leg was amputated when she was a young child, and she has worn a prosthetic leg ever ...
Once upon a time, a burnt-out Claire Dunn spent a year living off the grid in a wilderness survival program. Yet love and the possibilities of human connection drew her back to the city, where she soon found herself as overscheduled, addicted to her phone,...
"In January 1973, Richard Nixon was inaugurated after winning re-election in a historic landslide. But by April his presidency had fallen apart as the Watergate scandal metastasised into what White House counsel John Dean called 'a full-blown cancer'....
"On screen, Danny Trejo is the most recognisable anti-hero in Hollywood - killed at least a hundred times, he steals every scene he's in. But off screen, he is so much more. The ultimate hard-knock-lifer, and a true man of the world, he has all the s...
"The Nine follows the true story of the author's great aunt Helene Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris....
"There's no right way to keep a diary, but if there's an entertaining way, David Sedaris seems to have mastered it. If it's navel-gazing you're after, you've come to the wrong place; ditto treacly self-examination. Rather, his observations turn outward:...
Born in rural New South Wales in the 1940s, baby Dianne is immediately taken from her Indigenous parents and adopted by an Irish couple. Raised in the era of the 'White Australia' policy and widespread racism, she grows up believing Val is her birth ...
I'm a librarian. I serve the regulars, the crime enthusiasts, the bookworms, the homeless, the eccentrics, the jobless, the teenagers, the toddlers, the aged. I know my community well. The library is a sanctuary for some, a place for warmth for others...
"Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. She...
"An intimate, beautifully written coming-of-age memoir recounting a young girl's journey from war-torn Vietnam to Ridgewood, Queens, and her struggle to find her voice amid clashing cultural expectations. Ly Tran is just a toddler in 1993 when she and...
"Mataio (Matt) Faafetai Malietoa Brown offers the men in his barbershop a haircut with a difference: a safe space to be seen and heard without judgement. As the creator of My Fathers Barbers, Matt has inspired a new generation of New Zealand men to break...
"What will it take to follow your dream? On the outside, Rebekah Campbell has an enviable life. At thirty-five, she is founder of hot Sydney start-up Posse.com, she writes one of Australia's most popular blogs and she gives inspirational talks at con...
"At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, mainly Jewish women and girls, were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was...
"A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter uncovers the story of the shocking rise and fall of a decorated Navy SEAL accused of war crimes, the fellow SEALs who turned him in, and the court martial that captivated the nation. After nearly twenty years of mil...
"An intimate self-portrait encompassing the life, times, and career of one of the most transformative individuals -- let alone athletes -- of recent times. Journeying from a blue-collar childhood to shatter tennis's exclusive country-club culture, Billie...
"In this ... memoir, Hon. Sir Michael Cullen describes his lengthy political career, including his major economic policies. Among the many highlights are the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, also known as the Cullen Fund; KiwiSaver; and the Working f...
In 1841, Australia's first children's book was published, the anonymous writer known only as 'a lady long resident in New South Wales'. The identity of the author was one of the most puzzling literary mysteries until 1981, when she was finally given a...
"O’Reilly and co-author Martin Dugard trace the brutal history of 20th century organised crime in the United States, and expertly plumb the history of this nation’s most notorious serial robbers, conmen, murderers and especially, mob family bosses. C...
"Required to have a college education, speak two languages, and possess the political savvy of a Foreign Service officer, a jet-age stewardess serving on Pan Am between 1966 and 1975 also had to be between 5′3" and 5′9", between 105 and 140 pounds, and...
"A memoir of love and loss, of being in the right place at the right time, and of the mysterious ways a beloved pet can bring people together, from CBS Sunday Morning News correspondent and multi-Emmy-Award-winning Martha Teichner. There are true fairy...
"See the world. Then make it better. I am 94. I've had an extraordinary life. It's only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The...
"There is a voice of longing inside every woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good mothers, daughters, partners, employees, citizens, and friends. We believe all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck,....
"This is the story of how Jill built a family of her own: from seeking small moments of joy, to balancing the family's needs with her personal and professional goals, to forming traditions that helped carry them through tragedy - all with the support...
"Nadia Owusu grew up all over the world--from Rome and London to Dar-es-Salaam and Kampala. When her mother abandoned her when she was two years old, the rejection caused Nadia to be confused about her identity. Even after her father died when she was...
"Vince Granata remembers standing in front of his suburban home in Connecticut the day his mother and father returned from the hospital with his three new siblings in tow. He had just finished scrawling their names in orange chalk on the driveway: Ch...
"Emma Outteridge was born into the America's Cup world and spent her twenties running Louis Vuitton's international sailing hospitality program. While rubbing shoulders with celebrity athletes and billionaire sponsors had its charms, over time Emma c...
"With photographs and quotes from her many, hugely loved books, Patricia Grace begins with her grandparents and parents and takes us through her childhood, her education, marriage and up to the present day in this touching and self-deprecating story of...
"The human story has always been one of perseverance-often against remarkable odds. The most astonishing survival tale of all might be that of 16th-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew of sixteen, who ventured farther north than any Eu...
"By the time he was six, Stephen had been bombarded by the Luftwaffe and deported from occupied Guernsey, along with his family, to a prison camp in the heart of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. He had seen men die in front of him, walked with Jews straight...
"She was one of the most renowned actresses in the world-until a massive stroke cost her not only her health, but her career, family, fortune, and global fame. In The Beauty of Living Twice, Sharon Stone chronicles her efforts to rebuild her life, and...
"In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness – a...
"Wintering is a season in the cold. It is a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider. However it arrives, wintering is usually involuntary, lonely...
"Polly Gillespie walks the reader through some of the ups and downs of life, with advice and warnings. She has been on radio and in magazines continuously since 1991. With empathy, self-deprecation and experience, she hopes to make you feel better about...
"Julie Zarifeh shares her tragic story of the double whammy of her 27-year-old son Sam dying in a whitewater rafting accident just 16 days after her 60-year-old husband, Paul, died of pancreatic cancer. The loss of her beloved husband and son threw Julie...
"The vivid biography of two pioneering sisters who, together, became America's first female doctors and transformed New York's medical establishment by creating a hospital by and for women. Elizabeth Blackwell believed from an early age that she was ...
"The famous animal behaviourist and trainer who captured global attention with 'Dogs Who Drive Cars' and 'Dogs Who Fly Planes' is not just an animal maestro. He's a longtime Buddhist, who brings to his relationships with animals a true emotional bond,...
"Ralph Hotere (Te Aupouri and Te Rarawa; 1931-2013) was one of Aotearoa's most significant modern artists. Hotere invited the poet, novelist and biographer Vincent O'Sullivan to write his life story in 2005. Now, this book - the result of years of research...
"New Zealand's prime minister has been hailed as a leader for a new generation, tired of inaction in the face of issues such as climate change and far-right terrorism. Her grace and compassion following the Christchurch mosque shooting captured the w...
"Winning the Indianapolis 500, the greatest spectacle in motorsport, has been a quest for Australians and New Zealanders since the first race in 1911. Seventeen have tried and two have succeeded: Scott Dixon in 2008 and Will Power in 2018. Rupert Jef...
"It was winter. Lauren Keenan was separated from her husband, lonely, and miserable. Then came the Night of 27 Rejections of Doom: asking 27 people to hang out one Friday night, and every single person saying no. Her attempts to console herself by going...
"A dead body without a trace of trauma; alien parasites; worms of the brain; crocodile attacks; bizarre eating disorders and surgical puzzles. Pathologist, former medical officer and self-confessed death-aficionado Cynric Temple-Camp's compelling stories...
"Tall tales of New Zealand bushmen, tradies and back-country rogues. Mike Bellamy's father Barry is as tough as they come. Widely credited as the inspiration for Barry Crump's back-country character Sam Cash, Barry was a roving worker in rural North ...
"Despite his best intentions, Paul Henry has written his third book. It's a charming and eccentric ramble through the United States and back to New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are two weddings, an election, a new TV show and his love ...
"Discover the stories of remarkable lighthouse women through the ages, and the myths and legends that surround them. Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, from tending ancient altar flames or bonfires to modern-day lighthouse keeping....
"A story of the cut-throat world of promoting in New Zealand boxing, from the 1960s to the modern era, as told by legendary trainer and promoter Mike Edwards. 'Who would want to be a boxing promoter? It's like being on a treadmill you can't get off, as...
"Billy T James was a larger-than-life comedian who gave us some of our best belly laughs, creating enduring characters as he poked the borax at race relations in New Zealand. His characters were Kiwi through and through and we loved him for it. When he...
"Growing up in the 1950s, the three Doherty children were trained by their parents to memorise car number plates, to spot unusual behaviour on the street, and most important of all, to avoid drawing attention to themselves. The children became unwitting...
"There's very little that's conventional about Kamala Harris, yet her personal story also represents the best of America. Morain introduces us to the fast-rising prosecutor, who became the first Black female attorney general in California history. He...
"An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author's interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative. Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly...
"A collection of wide-ranging and endearingly personal columns by the celebrated author, newspaper columnist, and Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg, culled from his best-loved pieces in Southern Living and Garden & Gun. From his love of Tupperware ("My...
"The explosive true saga of the legendary figure, Daniel Boone, and the bloody struggle for America's frontier by two bestselling authors at the height of their writing power--Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. It is the mid-eighteenth century, and in the 13 ...
"When Aline Griffith was born in a quiet suburban New York hamlet, no one had any idea that she would go on to live a life of glamour and danger that Ingrid Bergman only played at in Notorious. As the US enters the Second World War, the young college...
"For over 70 years, Prince Philip has been the Queen's constant companion and support, but his vital role in the monarchy has too often gone largely unnoticed. Now, in Ingrid Seward's superb biography of the Duke of Edinburgh, we get the chance to read...
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