Ron Powers Livres

A Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings us the astonishing life story of Mark Twain - America's most influential and beloved author, and the man behind HUCKLEBERRY FINN.

In this remarkably powerful book, James Bradley takes as his starting point one of the most famous photographs of all time. In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima and into a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire from 22,000 Japanese. After climbing through a hellish landscape and on to the island's highest peak, six men were photographed raising the stars and stripes. One of those soldiers was the author's father, John Bradley. He never spoke to his family about the photograph or about the war, but after his death in 1994, they discovered closed boxes of letters and photos which James Bradley draws on to retrace the lives of his father and his five companions. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island - an island riddled with sixteen miles of tunnels and defended by Japanese soldiers determined to fight to the death. In the thirty-six days of fighting, almost fifty-thousand men lost their lives. Above all a human - and personal - story, few books have captured so brilliantly or so movingly the complexity of war and its aftermath and the true meaning of heroism.

Set during the waning days of the Civil War, the narrative follows the Confederate raider Shenandoah, tasked with crippling the U.S. economy. Led by the valiant Conway Whittle and the brooding Capt. James Waddell, the diverse crew embarks on a perilous 15,000-mile voyage, sinking Union ships and capturing prisoners. Their mission takes a dark turn when they learn the war has ended, and they are now viewed as pirates. The story explores themes of courage, nobility, and camaraderie in the face of overwhelming odds.

Focusing on the rural community of Grafton, N.Y., this book blends ethnographic research with personal insights to explore the essence of small-town life. It highlights the unique qualities of these communities that are increasingly threatened by urban expansion. By connecting small-town values to broader American culture, the work ignited discussions and debates during a transformative era in baby-boom America, capturing the tension between traditional lifestyles and modern development.

Ron Powers’s tour de force has been widely acclaimed as the best life and times, filled with Mark Twain’s voice, and as a great American story. Samuel Clemens, the man known as Mark Twain, invented the American voice and became one of our greatest celebrities. His life mirrored his country's, as he grew from a Mississippi River boyhood in the days of the frontier, to a Wild-West journalist during the Gold Rush, to become the king of the eastern establishment and a global celebrity as America became an international power. Along the way, Mark Twain keenly observed the characters and voices that filled the growing country, and left us our first authentically American literature. Ron Powers's magnificent biography offers the definitive life of the founding father of our culture.

New York Times-bestselling author Ron Powers' critically acclaimed narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons' battles with schizophrenia.