Simply Charly: 11 books

Simply Darwin tells the story of Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) and his theory of evolution through natural selection. On one level, the book portrays a dedicated scientist who, through careful observation and brilliant insight, became convinced that organisms were the end product of a long,...

From Dial M for Murder and Vertigo to North by Northwest, Psycho and The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) made some of the most memorable thrillers in the history of cinema. Acclaimed for both his daring artistic innovations and his irrepressible showmanship, Hitchcock blended suspense,...

Kurt Gödel (1906–1978) was born in Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) and grew up in an ethnic German family. As a student, he excelled in languages and mathematics, mastering university-level math while still in high school. He received his doctorate from the University of Vienna at the...

Born in Vienna into an extremely wealthy and highly cultured family, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) grew up surrounded by art, music, and a disturbing amount of dysfunctional behavior. After studying mechanical engineering and developing an interest in aeronautics, he became obsessed with mathematics...

The first emperor of France and one of the shrewdest military leaders of all time, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) eventually came to control much of Europe. In Simply Napoleon, authors J. David Markham and **Matthew Zarzeczny **tell Napoleon’s story, from his birth on the island of Corsica...

Generally considered one of the greatest modern writers, James Joyce (1882–1941) grew up in Dublin, Ireland, but spent his adult life in the European cities of Trieste, Zurich, and Paris. Yet, while he left his native country behind, he never stopped writing about it. He published his well-known...

Nobel Laureate and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner William Faulkner (1897–1962) was one of America’s greatest and most celebrated writers, whose work reflects and, at the same time, questions the South's most deeply held values. His novel The Sound and the Fury is frequently cited as one...

Oliver Twist. A Christmas Carol. David Copperfield. Bleak House. A Tale of Two Cities. Great Expectations. The novels of Charles Dickens (1812–1870) read like a “Who’s Who” of canonical works. Yet, less well known is the fact that Dickens himself was something of a created character,...

Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born at Yasnaya Polyana, his ancestral estate located about 120 miles from Moscow. While he would live and travel in other places over the years, he always considered this family residence in the Russian heartland as his home. His lifelong quest for truth and meaning...

One of the most beloved novelists of all time, Jane Austen (1775—1817) is also one of the most scrutinized. Since the early 20th century, she has been a favorite topic of academic researchers and scholars; at the same time, the popularity of her books has continued to grow. Why are Austen’s...

Paul Dirac (1902–1984) was a brilliant mathematician and a 1933 Nobel laureate whose work ranks alongside that of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. Although not as well known as his famous contemporaries Werner Heisenberg and Richard Feynman, his influence on the course of physics was immense....