Accessibility helpSkip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footer

Cookies on FT Sites

We use cookies for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our Sites are used.

Accept & continue
Manage cookies
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
Open side navigation menuOpen search bar
Financial Times
myFT
  • Home
  • World
    Sections
    • World Home
    • Global Economy
    • UK
    • US
    • China
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Emerging Markets
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Middle East and North Africa
    Most Read
    • Covid vaccines show few serious side-effects after millions of jabs
    • Rishi Sunak delivers spend now, tax later Budget to kickstart UK economy
    • Tempers fray over France’s vaccine strategy
    • Budget to give £20bn extension to UK Covid support until September
    • Inside ultra-Orthodox Jews’ battle with the virus and the Israeli state
  • US
    Sections
    • US Home
    • US Economy
    • US Companies
    • US Politics & Policy
    Most Read
    • Yuval Noah Harari: Lessons from a year of Covid | Free to read
    • Biden says US will have enough jabs to vaccinate all adults by end of May
    • US Treasury bond wobble heightens concerns over health of $21tn market
    • Insurer Oscar Health falls in Wall Street debut after $1.4bn IPO
    • Biden’s $1.9tn stimulus bill risks turbulent landing in Senate
  • Companies
    Sections
    • Companies Home
    • Energy
    • Financials
    • Health
    • Industrials
    • Media
    • Professional Services
    • Retail & Consumer
    • Tech Sector
    • Telecoms
    • Transport
    Most Read
    • Greensill Capital prepares to file for insolvency
    • German regulator steps in as Greensill warns of threat to 50,000 jobs
    • Biden says US will have enough jabs to vaccinate all adults by end of May
    • Greensill and supply-chain finance: how a contentious funding tool works
    • German regulator files criminal complaint against Greensill Bank
  • Tech
  • Markets
    Sections
    • Markets Home
    • Alphaville
    • Markets Data
    • Capital Markets
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Equities
    • Fund Management
    • Trading
    • Moral Money
    • ETF Hub
    Most Read
    • US Treasury bond wobble heightens concerns over health of $21tn market
    • Will ‘copycat economics’ in emerging markets have to end?
    • Lebanese currency plunges to new low fuelling nationwide protests
    • Bond ETFs might have short changed market makers during 2020 panic
    • Why it is usually a mistake for investors to take profits
  • Climate
  • Opinion
    Sections
    • Opinion Home
    • Columnists
    • The FT View
    • The Big Read
    • Lex
    • Obituaries
    • Letters
    Most Read
    • The many chart crimes of *that* Citi bitcoin report
    • What central banks ought to target
    • Bitcoin 1.0: the ancient stone money of Yap
    • The curious appeal of Birkenstocks
    • Joe Biden’s popular stimulus reveals a changed America
  • Work & Careers
    Sections
    • Work & Careers Home
    • Business School Rankings
    • Business Education
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Recruitment
    • Business Books
    • Business Travel
    Most Read
    • Should I reveal I have a difficult boss when interviewing for jobs?
    • The scourge of work email is far worse than you think
    • Negotiation skills prove their real-world worth
    • The unsettling internal threat to McKinsey’s next leader
    • How do I develop professionally while on maternity leave?
  • Life & Arts
    Sections
    • Life & Arts Home
    • Arts
    • Books
    • Food & Drink
    • FT Magazine
    • House & Home
    • Style
    • Travel
    • FT Globetrotter
    Most Read
    • Yuval Noah Harari: Lessons from a year of Covid | Free to read
    • Budget 2021: What it means for your money
    • Roll back the gears: Japanese classic motorcycles zoom back into focus
    • Bitcoin 1.0: the ancient stone money of Yap
    • The curious appeal of Birkenstocks
  • How to Spend It
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
MenuSearch
  • Home
  • World
  • US
  • Companies
  • Tech
  • Markets
  • Climate
  • Opinion
  • Work & Careers
  • Life & Arts
  • How to Spend It
Financial Times
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe

Biography and memoir

Add to myFT Digest

Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox

  • Tuesday, 16 February, 2021
    ReviewBooks
    Undressing the troubled male mind

    Are modern men facing a crisis of masculinity?

  • Friday, 12 February, 2021
    Review
    What Does Jeremy Think? — at the helm of Britain’s ship of state

    In her biography of the late Jeremy Heywood, his widow Suzanne captures his legacy as an outstanding cabinet secretary

  • Wednesday, 10 February, 2021
    Review
    The Happy Traitor, by Simon Kuper — George Blake, an imperfect spy

    The cold war double agent refused to recognise the deadly consequences of his betrayal

  • Tuesday, 2 February, 2021
    Review
    Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell — death and intrigue, 30 years on

    John Preston’s timely book revisits the extraordinary fate and fortunes of a larger-than-life media mogul

  • Thursday, 28 January, 2021
    Review
    Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires — the dangerous world of Patricia Highsmith

    Richard Bradford’s biography of the crime writer aims to ‘get behind the words’ but glosses over what made her writing so compelling

  • Thursday, 21 January, 2021
    Review
    The enigma of Francis Bacon

    Two new books present vivid and contrasting accounts of the British artist’s flamboyant life and final days

  • Tuesday, 12 January, 2021
    Review
    Wollstonecraft by Sylvana Tomaselli — forensic and fascinating

    Despite biographical gaps, the intellectual seriousness and extraordinary resilience of the 18th-century philosopher shines through

  • Wednesday, 30 December, 2020
    Books
    Look to the future — what to read in 2021

    From post-pandemic recovery to the love life of robots, here are some of the best reads

  • Wednesday, 9 December, 2020
    Review
    Kiss Myself Goodbye — a tale of family secrets, money and lies

    Ferdinand Mount pursues the truth about his glamorous aunt and the source of her wealth

  • Promoted Content
  • Friday, 27 November, 2020
    Review
    The Lost Homestead — a story of colonialism and India’s identity

    Marina Wheeler charts her mother’s journey from the final days of the Raj to the early days of Indian independence

  • Saturday, 21 November, 2020
    ReviewNon-Fiction
    Best books of 2020: Pop music

    Ludovic Hunter-Tilney selects his must-read titles

  • Friday, 20 November, 2020
    FT SeriesBest Books of the Year 2020
    Best books of 2020: Literary non-fiction

    Carl Wilkinson selects his must-read titles

  • Friday, 13 November, 2020
    Review
    The ‘definitive account’ of Sylvia Plath

    Heather Clark’s biography, Red Comet, frees the poet of decades of mythmaking and cultural baggage

  • Saturday, 7 November, 2020
    Review
    Stephen Hawking: A Memoir — humane and intimate portrait of ‘a granite spirit’

    Biography captures the thrill of scientific discovery, as well as the trials of daily living

  • Thursday, 5 November, 2020
    Review
    Lionel Barber’s chronicle of his time as FT editor

    The Powerful and the Damned gives an up-close view of the challenges of editing in our age of disruption

  • Wednesday, 28 October, 2020
    Review
    I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke — mouthing off

    From the Sex Pistols to establishment success: a sardonic memoir from the bard of Salford

  • Wednesday, 28 October, 2020
    Review
    The Man Who Ran Washington — an enthralling biography of James Baker

    A well-sourced life of the ‘Velvet Hammer’ recalls a lost style of US government

  • Friday, 23 October, 2020
    Review
    On Seamus Heaney — of poetry and Ireland’s history

    RF Foster’s enjoyable biography comes into its own on the poet’s navigation through the Troubles

  • Friday, 16 October, 2020
    Review
    To the End of the World — a Wilde ride with Rupert Everett

    The actor brilliantly channels his hero in a memoir of making a film of ‘The Happy Prince’

  • Thursday, 15 October, 2020
    Review
    Boris Johnson: The Gambler — a sympathetic portrait

    The prime minister’s flaws are treated kindly in Tom Bower’s new biography exploring the impact of a miserable childhood

  • Tuesday, 13 October, 2020
    The FT ViewThe editorial board
    Samuel Brittan made a unique contribution

    A passionate believer in freedom and true intellectual, he transformed economic journalism in the UK and beyond

  • Friday, 9 October, 2020
    Review
    Morozov by Natalya Semenova — the Moscow art collector

    Beguiling biography of a textile man who shaped the Russian avant-garde during dark historical dramas

  • Thursday, 1 October, 2020
    Review
    Tom Stoppard by Hermione Lee — the real thing

    This authorised biography is a flattering but essential portrait of one of the great playwrights of our age

  • Friday, 25 September, 2020
    FT Books Essay
    Beethoven: the real-life artist and the Romantic myth

    Two biographies look beyond the composer’s reputation as a tragic genius to explore a story of patrons, lovers, hard work and luck

  • Thursday, 24 September, 2020
    Review
    The Lives of Lucian Freud by William Feaver — lust for life

    The painter’s most creative and flamboyant years are brilliantly captured in the final part of this landmark biography

Previous You are on page 1 Next

Useful links

Support

View Site TipsHelp CentreContact UsAbout UsAccessibilitymyFT TourCareers

Legal & Privacy

Terms & ConditionsPrivacy PolicyCookiesCopyrightSlavery Statement & Policies

Services

FT LiveShare News Tips SecurelyIndividual SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsRepublishingContracts & Tenders
Executive Job SearchAdvertise with the FTFollow the FT on TwitterFT TransactSecondary Schools

Tools

PortfolioToday's Newspaper (ePaper)Alerts HubBusiness School Rankings
Enterprise ToolsNews feedNewslettersCurrency Converter
More from the FT Group
Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2021. FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice.
Financial Times

International Edition

  • Switch to UK Edition
  • Top sections
  • Home
  • World
    • Global Economy
    • UK
    • US
    • China
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Emerging Markets
    • Europe
    • Americas
    • Middle East and North Africa
  • US
    • US Economy
    • US Companies
    • US Politics & Policy
  • Companies
    • Energy
    • Financials
    • Health
    • Industrials
    • Media
    • Professional Services
    • Retail & Consumer
    • Tech Sector
    • Telecoms
    • Transport
  • Tech
  • Markets
    • Alphaville
    • Markets Data
    • Capital Markets
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
    • Equities
    • Fund Management
    • Trading
    • Moral Money
    • ETF Hub
  • Climate
  • Opinion
    • Columnists
    • The FT View
    • The Big Read
    • Lex
    • Obituaries
    • Letters
  • Work & Careers
    • Business School Rankings
    • Business Education
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Recruitment
    • Business Books
    • Business Travel
  • Life & Arts
    • Arts
    • Books
    • Food & Drink
    • FT Magazine
    • House & Home
    • Style
    • Travel
    • FT Globetrotter
  • Personal Finance
    • Property & Mortgages
    • Investments
    • Pensions
    • Tax
    • Banking & Savings
    • Advice & Comment
    • Next Act
  • How to Spend It
  • Special Reports
  • FT recommends
  • Graphics
  • Lex
  • Alphaville
  • Lunch with the FT
  • FT Globetrotter
  • #techAsia
  • Moral Money
  • FTfm
  • Newsletters
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • News feed
  • myFT
  • Portfolio
  • Today's Newspaper (ePaper)
  • Crossword
  • Our Apps
  • Help Centre
  • Subscribe
  • Sign In