"When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me . . . [my mother] sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down the street the next day." Joe Biden In this, the first definitive biography of Vice President Joe Biden, renowned journalist Jules Witcover examines the fascinating life of a man who, with his tenacity, outspokenness, and charming smile, has shaped Washington politics for the past forty years and who now serves as the forty-seventh vice president of the United States.Raised in the working-class towns of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware, and with lackluster grades in school and no particular goals other than to play sports or, fleetingly, to become a priest, Biden shocked the nation in 1972 when he became one of the youngest elected senators in U.S. history. From that point forward, he carved a legacy for himself as one of the most respected legislators in the country. Biden's record in Congress was impressive. He chaired three Senate committees, confronted Slobodan Miloevic head-on as a war criminal, and conducted the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court justices. After voting for the 2002 Senate resolution to use force in Iraq, he later called for its repeal and became an outspoken critic of the conduct of the war.Yet for all of Biden's achievements in the Senate, his life has been filled with tragedy and countless challenges. Within two months of being elected in 1972, Biden lost his wife, Neilia, and his young daughter in a tragic accident a loss that brought him to the nadir of despair and shook his resolve to stay in politics. And even after Biden vowed to continue his career, his tenure was marked by two brain aneurysms and career-threatening verbal gaffes. Then, after being considered among the front-runners in the 1988 Democratic presidential primaries, Biden was accused of plagiarism for a speech he made at the Iowa State Fair. He dropped out of the race to the sounds of Washington pundits chattering that the presidency would never be his. Through it all, Biden survived and ran and eventually dropped out again in the 2008 primaries. But even with this defeat, Barack Obama recognized Biden's vast experience in domestic and foreign affairs, and selected him to be his running mate.Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption is based on exhaustive research by one of Washington's most prolific journalists. In drawing on numerous exclusive interviews with Biden's confidants and family members, as well as President Obama and Vice President Biden, Witcover has gone beyond conventional biography to track the forces that have shaped a man who, with his plainspoken style and inspiring life story, has resonated with millions of Americans and whose work is now influencing the Obama-Biden administration and shaping America.

What can chess masters teach us about how humans become expertsWhy can't race car drivers explain decisions they've made behind the wheel?What does predicting the winner of a soccer match say about our ability to make the right choiceWhen we talk about experts, we typically have bought into the idea that they have all the answers. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Gordon Rugg exposes the surprising ways in which all people tend to make the same sorts of mistakes, regardless of what field they are in, how smart they are, or even their level of expertise. Focusing on why and how we make decisions, Rugg offers insight into what motivates us, how we fail to find the answers we are looking for, how we can learn to ask the essential questions, and more. Rugg has devoted his life to learning how experts solve problems. He gained international attention after arguing persuasively that the famous Voynich Manu* is a hoax. Now, he demonstrates his techniques in the Verifier Method, which can be applied to any seemingly unsolvable problem.Drawing on his personal odyssey in the field of human expertise, Rugg makes astute and entertaining conclusions about how and why we inevitably fail, and explains how to make better mistakes, work backward, and reengineer the ways we pursue success.

The in-flight explosion of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, was one of the deadliest disasters in American history, spurring the most expensive airline investigation ever undertaken by the U.S. government. To this day the crash remains clouded in doubt and shadowed by suspicion of a government conspiracy.If there was any conspiracy to hide the truth about what really happened to Flight 800, it began long before the crash. Past crashes tell the story: What happened on Flight 800 has happened before and will again, unless drastic changes are made. Now veteran journalist Christine Negroni reveals what the commercial aviation industry has known for more than thirty-five years that during flight confined vapors in the fuel tanks can create a bomb like environment. It takes only a small energy source to ignite it.TWA Flight 800 was the fourteenth fuel tank explosion on a commercial airliner in thirty-five years. Yet each and every time, the airline industry persuaded regulators to deal with the symptoms of the problem and ignore the cause. When investigators could not immediately determine what happened, they were finally forced to look at the bigger picture. And, for the first time, this book exposes the hubris of aircraft manufacturers who knew all along, but dismissed as acceptable, the risk of fuel tank explosions.Deadly Departure shines a spotlight on the chaos behind the most massive crash investigation ever conducted, how the White House had to intervene between feuding investigators, and the surprising stories behind the missile theory conspiracies. It also tells the stories of the passengers and their families, the people of TWA and Boeing, the rescue and crisis workers, and the investigators and scientists involved illustrating the devastating effects on human lives. An impeccably researched, eye-opening examination of one of the great disasters of our time, Deadly Departure is a stunning exposé of how industry pressure continues to undermine regulatory policy, placing air travelers' lives at risk.

Dorothy and Otis Shepard are the groundbreaking heroes of North American visual culture. They were the first American graphic designers to work in multiple mediums and scales, but despite the brilliance of their work, their names are little known today. With 330 stunning, colorful images, Dorothy and Otis chronicles their story for the first time. It explores the Shepards' penchant for abstraction and modernism, and shows how the advent of billboard advertising inspired their creativity their large campaigns matched the grandeur of their lifestyle. Throughout, this book demonstrates how their work influenced all aspects of consumer culture, from the styling of Wrigley's Gum and the Chicago Cubs to the design of Catalina Island, which Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, and other celebrities frequented.As Dorothy and Otis brings these artists to life, it elevates them to their rightful place in popular culture and makes clear how their work shaped the American dream.With more than 330 full-color photographs throughout

The dancing girls of Lahore inhabit the Diamond Market in the shadow of a great mosque. The twenty-first century goes on outside the walls of this ancient quarter but scarcely registers within. Though their trade can be described with accuracy as prostitution, the dancing girls have an illustrious history: Beloved by emperors and nawabs, their sophisticated art encompassed the best of Mughal culture. The modern-day Bollywood aesthetic, with its love of gaudy spectacle, music, and dance, is their distant legacy. But the life of the pampered courtesan is not the one now being lived by Maha and her three girls. What they do is forbidden by Islam, though tolerated; but they are gandi, "unclean," and Maha's daughters, like her, are born into the business and will not leave it.Sociologist Louise Brown spent four years in the most intimate study of the family life of a Lahori dancing girl. With beautiful understatement, she turns a novelist's eye on a true story that beggars the imagination. Maha, a classically trained dancer of exquisite grace, had her virginity sold to a powerful Arab sheikh at the age of twelve; when her own daughter Nena comes of age and Maha cannot bring in the money she once did, she faces a terrible decision as the agents of the sheikh come calling once more.

If women ruled the world, politics would be more collegial, businesses would be more productive, and communities would be healthier. More women should lead not because they are the same as men, but precisely because they are different. Reflecting on her own tenure as White House press secretary and her work as a political analyst, media commentator, and former consultant to NBC's The West Wing, Dee Dee Myers blends memoir and social history with a call to action, as she assesses the crucial but long-ignored strengths that female leaders bring to the table. With intelligence, courage, candor, and wit, she looks at the obstacles women must overcome and the traps they must avoid on the path to success, and she challenges us to imagine a not-too-distant future with more women standing tall in the top ranks of politics, business, science, and academia.

One of Bobby Kennedy's first acts after JFK's assassination was to write a letter to his eldest son, reminding him of the obligations of his name. Bobby sent the letter to eleven-year-old Joe, but the message was meant for all his sons and nephews.Sons of Camelot is the compelling story of that message and how it shaped each Kennedy son and grandson in the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy's death. Based on five years of rigorous research and unprecedented cooperation from both the Kennedys and the Shrivers, Sons of Camelot examines the lives characterized by overwhelming drama -- from the most spectacular mishaps, excesses, and tragediesto the remarkable accomplishments that have led to better lives for Americans and others around the world.The third volume in Laurence Leamer's bestselling history of America's first family, Sons of Camelot chronicles the spellbinding journey of a message sent from a father to his son ... from a president to his people.

Sammy Davis, Jr. will forever be remembered as one of America's finest entertainers. An all–around performer who could sing, dance, and act, Davis broke racial barriers in the entertainment world and became the only non–white member of the Rat Pack. Only now, however, is Davis's talent as a photographer finally being recognized. In this previously unpublished collection of black and white photography, readers will be fascinated by Davis's portrayals of A–list performers, iconic world leaders, and scenes from everyday life. Davis's subjects include dozens of classic celebrities–such as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and James Dean–who are often photographed at their most casual and revealing moments. Accompanying the pictures is an assortment of remembrances by Burt Boyar, a longtime friend and traveling companion of Davis who collaborated with the entertainer on both of his autobiographies. Through a series of memorable anecdotes, Boyar reflects on Davis's many achievements as well as the private moments they shared as friends. Along with Davis's candid shots of ordinary life–from a group of children laughing to a baseball game at the Washington Monument–these stories reveal a side of the performer far removed from his Rat Pack persona. The release of this book will also coincide with the release of Burt Boyar's upcoming documentary, Sammy Speaks, created from his extensive archive of taped conversations with the star.

A brilliantly original and gripping new look at the sinking of the Titanic through the prism of the life and lost honor of J. Bruce Ismay, the ship's owner Books have been written and films have been made, we have raised the Titanic and watched her go down again on numerous occasions, but out of the wreckage Frances Wilson spins a new epic: when the ship hit the iceberg on April 14, 1912, and one thousand men, lighting their last cigarettes, prepared to die, J. Bruce Ismay, the ship's owner and inheritor of the White Star fortune, jumped into a lifeboat filled with women and children and rowed away to safety. Accused of cowardice and of dictating the Titanic's excessive speed, Ismay became, according to one headline, The Most Talked-of Man in the World.The first victim of a press hate campaign, he never recovered from the damage to his reputation, and while the other survivors pieced together their accounts of the night, Ismay never spoke of his beloved ship again. In the Titanic's mail room was a manu* by that great narrator of the sea, Joseph Conrad, the story of a man who impulsively betrays a code of honor and lives on under the strain of intolerable guilt. But it was Conrad's great novel Lord Jim, in which a sailor abandons a sinking ship, leaving behind hundreds of passengers in his charge, that uncannily predicted Ismay's fate. Conrad, the only major novelist to write about the Titanic, knew more than anyone what ships do to men, and it is with the help of his wisdom that Wilson unravels the reasons behind Ismay's jump and the afterlives of his actions.Using never-before-seen letters written by Ismay to the beautiful Marion Thayer, a first-class passenger with whom he had fallen in love during the voyage, Frances Wilson explores Ismay's desperate need to tell his story, to make sense of the horror of it all, and to find a way of living with the consciousness of lost honor. For those who survived the Titanic, the world was never the same. But as Wilson superbly demonstrates, we all have our own Titanics, and we all need to find ways of surviving them.

When Bill O'Reilly interviewed then-Senator Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential elections, the two had a lively debate about the nation's future. Since that time, America has changed rapidly some would even say seismically. And many believe these shifts are doing more than just rocking the political and social climate; they're rocking the American core.What are these changesWho, in addition to President Obama, have been the biggest forces behind themWhat exactly do they mean for you, the everyday American citizenHow are they affecting your money, health, safety, freedom, and standing in this nationWhich are Pinheaded moves and which are truly PatrioticIn his latest spirited book, O'Reilly prompts further debate with the President and the American people on the current state of the union. After five consecutive, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is megabestsellers, you can count on Bill to offer blunt and constructive political commentary. And as he did in his popular memoir, he offers some introspection too, looking back at his own actions and those of past Pinheads and Patriots who have inspired a code of conduct for such taxing times.As always, O'Reilly is fair, balanced, and uncompromisingly tough when guarding the American way. Only Pinheads would fail to fight for what they love most about this country or to embrace some measure of change to make it better. The rest of us Patriots will read this book to discover the difference between the two.

From New York Times bestselling author and groundbreaking politician Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison comes a history of the extraordinary women who shaped the state of Texas.The only woman ever to represent Texas in the United States Senate, Kay Bailey Hutchison has been a trailblazer in the Lone Star State. Nevertheless, Hutchison is just one of many women who, for two hundred years, have embodied what we've come to recognize as the spirit of Texas rugged independence, fierce loyalty, and an unflappable entrepreneurial streak. In Unflinching Courage, Senator Hutchison tells the dynamic history of her home state through the lives of some of these pioneering women and their remarkable achievements.Among the brave souls Senator Hutchison profiles are Jane Wilkinson Long, the Mother of Texas, and others who claimed a stake in the land when it struggled under Spanish and Mexican rule; Dilue Rose Harris, whose memoir of the Runaway Scrape exhibits the strength so many women were forced to call upon as the Texas Revolution drew able-bodied husbands, sons, and brothers to the battlefield; Margaret Houston and Emily Austin Bryan Perry, who stood behind the great leaders of a burgeoning republic and helped usher in a new era of statehood; Henrietta King, Molly Goodnight, Sarah Cockrell, and Oveta Culp Hobby, ranchers and entrepreneurs who have helped Texas thrive; and numerous others who valiantly held their ground in the face of raids and unimaginable violence. In Unflinching Courage, Senator Hutchison pays tribute to these extraordinary Texan women whose lives inspire us today and will continue to do so for generations to come.

A collection of thrilling new and beloved past work from one of America's most celebrated poets, Eileen Myles, a cult icon and modern favoriteEileen Myles's poetry and prose are known for their blend of reality and fiction, the sublime and the ephemeral, in which Myles not only lets her readers peer into existent places, like the East Village in her iconic Chelsea Girls, but also lifts them into dreams, imbuing the landscapes of her writing with the vividness and energy of fantasy.I Must Be Living Twice brings selections from the poet's previous work together with a set of bold new poems, through which Myles continues to refine her sardonic, unapologetic, and fiercely intellectual literary voice. Steeped in the culture of New York City, Myles's stomping grounds and the home of her most well-known work, she provides a wide-open lens into a radical life.

"It's amazing how much my mom did on my behalf. As a seventeen-year-old single mom with relatively little support and all the chips stacked against her, she was able to provide an incredible amount of support for me. Her lessons enriched my spirit, my emotions, and my relationship with God." When Lisa, a seventeen-year-old from Queens, New York, found out she was pregnant, she knew she only had one choice—to keep the child and give him the best life she could. That baby was Terrence Jenkins, better known to the world as Terrence J. From hosting gigs on BET's 106 and Park and E! News to roles in some of Hollywood's biggest movies, Terrence J is living a life he could have only imagined when he was a young boy. But it was the lessons he learned from his mother that helped make him a man—lessons about sacrifice, courage, loyalty, dreams, and perseverance. Through her words and her actions, Lisa showed Terrence the right path. From an early age Terrence's mother pushed him to succeed and led by example. Most important, she put her son first—even if it meant leaving behind the only life she had ever known in New York City in search of a safer environment for her son, having the drive to go back to school to learn a new skill, or having the courage to start her own business and build it from the ground up. Her drive eventually became Terrence's drive. Inspirational, funny, current, and down-to-earth, The Wealth of My Mother's Wisdom offers advice for a new generation. With stories, lessons, and advice from one of the top young names in Hollywood, along with input from some of his famous friends like Kevin Hart, Ludacris, T.I., Trey Songz, and Laz Alonso, Terrence J offers a positive, powerful message: with a strong family bond, the possibilities are endless.

In this explosive expose, bestselling author Kenneth Timmerman gives us the real story of what happened in Benghazi, and the lengths to which the Obama administration has gone to hide the truth from the American people.Forget what you've heard: the September 11, 2012, attack on U.S. Government Compounds in Benghazi, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including our ambassador, was not a spontaneous demonstration. Nor was it planned by local militias.It was a state-sponsored terrorist attack with Iranian fingerprints all over it.What's more, the Obama administration knew from the first minutes of the attack that the compound had been targeted by an organized, professionally trained terrorist group. But the administration made up a ridiculous cover story about a nonexistent demonstration over an Internet movie in an attempt to fool the American public on the eve of a national election. The Iran-Contra scandal consumed Ronald Reagan's second term and nearly destroyed his presidency. Yet as bad as that was, what happened in Benghazi is much worse. As Ken Timmerman reveals in Dark Forces, the Benghazi affair will go down as the deepest, darkest, dirtiest political scandal of recent American history. And for all the coverage it has received, the real story has still not been told. It's a story of clandestine arms deliveries to Libyan rebels that wound up in the hands of Islamist guerrillas allied with al Qaeda. It's a story of a romantic American diplomat who gets caught up in a whirlwind beyond his comprehension or control. It's a story of bald-faced lies, heroic acts, and the deepest corruption. Dark Forces is much more than a retelling of what happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. It puts those events into the larger context of the Obama administration's policy toward the Middle East from Iran to the Arab Spring. It examines the administration's record of systematically supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda affiliated groups in their efforts to overthrow pro-U.S. autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. It shows how this went along with the administration's outreach to the Islamist regime in Iran. It argues that President Obama's obsessive outreach to the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran led the Iranian regime to dismiss him as a weak, ineffective leader who would not fight back when hit. And it reveals why and how this deadly combination cost the lives of four Americans, and today endangers thousands more.Written with the breakneck pacing of a political thriller, and drawing on exclusive research and privileged sources, Dark Forces tells the full story of Benghazi as you have never heard it before.

Before long, and without intending it, I found that jewelry had become part of my personal diplomatic arsenal. Former president George H. W. Bush had been known for saying "Read my lips." I began urging colleagues and reporters to "Read my pins." It would never have happened if not for Saddam Hussein. When U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright criticized the dictator, his poet in residence responded by calling her "an unparalleled serpent." Shortly thereafter, while preparing to meet with Iraqi officials, Albright pondered: What to wearShe decided to make a diplomatic statement by choosing a snake pin. Although her method of communication was new, her message was as old as the American Revolution Don't Tread on Me.From that day forward, pins became part of Albright's diplomatic signature. International leaders were pleased to see her with a shimmering sun on her jacket or a cheerful ladybug; less so with a crab or a menacing wasp. Albright used pins to emphasize the importance of a negotiation, signify high hopes, protest the absence of progress, and show pride in representing America, among other purposes.Part illustrated memoir, part social history, Read My Pins provides an intimate look at Albright's life through the brooches she wore. Her collection is both international and democratic dime-store pins share pride of place with designer creations and family heirlooms. Included are the antique eagle purchased to celebrate Albright's appointment as secretary of state, the zebra pin she wore when meeting Nelson Mandela, and the Valentine's Day heart forged by Albright's five-year-old daughter. Read My Pins features more than 200 photographs, along with compelling and often humorous stories about jewelry, global politics, and the life of one of America's most accomplished and fascinating diplomats.

With It's My America Too, Ben Ferguson, the voice of America's youth and the host of The Ben Ferguson Show, one of the country's fastest-growing syndicated radio shows, delivers his views on all the issues, from politics to current affairs to popular culture. Everyone wants to know what Ferguson will say next and here's your chance.Ben Ferguson is a conservative who is also an independent thinker unafraid to take contrary positions. In It's My America Too, the twenty-two-year-old media star shoots from the hip and the lip on numerous topics. Ferguson tells us why he thinks the voting age should be lowered to sixteen; who the "New Minority" is the twenty-something men and women who are overworked, underpaid, overmarketed, and drastically underrepresented; why politicians talk about and at young adults, but never to them; how he feels about everything from homeschooling to sex, NASCAR, and George W. Bush; and much more.Ferguson's message is clear. He is not on a campaign to reform liberals and turn them into right-wing Republicans. He is presenting his views on American society and challenging those who do not agree with him to an open debate. Some will not agree with his political and religious views. What he hopes to accomplish, with both his radio show and this book, is to energize future generations about politics. The way to do this is through open communication. He is encouraging his generation (and even some in previous generations) to get involved and be heard.Hip and forthright, funny yet never pedantic, Ferguson offers a fresh viewpoint and insights on topics such as "What the Republican Party can learn from Bill Clinton"; "Why anti-Americanism is our problem"; and "Dubya: my favorite redneck." He reveals a positive outlook on the economy, offers his opinions on bias in the media, and also includes chapters on Donald Rumsfeld, affirmative action, and the values instilled in him by his mother and father.Ferguson's pride in his country, in his religious beliefs, and in his choices reflects his vision of the American dream. He is informed and determined to make a difference. Youthful as he is, he has a unique perspective not only on America and its history, but also on current events and issues. You may applaud his opinions or perhaps you will disagree with them. But for those of you who are angered by this book, Ferguson instructs: "Don't just get mad. Do something about it."

For more than twenty years, Writing Screenplays That Sell has been hailed as the most complete guide available on the art, craft, and business of writing for movies and television. Now fully revised and updated to reflect the latest trends and *s, Hollywood story expert and * consultant Michael Hauge walks readers through every step of writing and selling successful screenplays. If you read only one book on the screenwriter's craft, this must be the one.

With the help of friends who recognized her extraordinary talent, Althea Gibson rose from a childhood of playing stickball on Harlem streets to claim victory at Wimbledon. It is widely recognized that her sacrifices along the way paved the road for the successes of Venus and Serena Williams. But Althea's was a victory hard fought and painfully won.She had no idea the turn her life would take when she met Angela Buxton at the French Indoor Championships. Despite her athletic prowess, Althea was shunned by the other female players. Her failing was her skin color. Angela, the granddaughter of Russian Jews, was also shunned. Her failing was her religion. Finding themselves without doubles partners, the pair decided to join forces, and together they triumphed, going on to win the 1956 championship at Wimbledon. The two women would become lifelong friends, and Angela would prove to be among Althea's greatest supports during her darkest times.Gibson died in 2003, but her life and her contributions to tennis and race relations in the United States are well preserved in this valuable book. Bruce Schoenfeld delivers not only the true story of Gibson's life but also an inspiring account of two underdogs who refused to let bigotry win -- both on and off the courts.

On the morning of February 24, 1942, on the Black Sea near Istanbul, an explosion ripped through a decrepit former cattle barge filled with Jewish refugees. One man clung fiercely to a piece of deck, fighting to survive. Nearly eight hundred others -- among them, more than one hundred children -- perished.In Death on the Black Sea, the story of the Struma, its passengers, and the events that led to its destruction are investigated and fully revealed in two vivid, parallel accounts, set six decades apart. One chronicles the international diplomatic maneuvers and callousness that resulted in the largest maritime loss of civilian life during World War II. The other recounts a recent attempt to locate the Struma at the bottom of the Black Sea, an effort initiated and pursued by the grandson of two of the victims. A vivid reconstruction of a grim exodus aboard a doomed ship, Death on the Black Sea illuminates a forgotten episode of World War II and pays tribute to the heroes, past and present, who keep its memory alive.

James Watson, J. Craig Venter, Francis Collins, Cynthia Kenyon . . . you may not know them, but you should. They are the masterminds of genetics and biotechnology who want you to live to be 150 years old, to regenerate your heart and brain, to create synthetic life. For better or worse, they are about to alter life on earth forever.Award-winning journalist David Ewing Duncan tells the remarkable stories of cutting-edge bioscientists, revealing their quirky, uniquely fascinating, sometimes vaguely unsettling personas as a means to understand their science and the astonishing implications of their work. This book seamlessly combines myth, biography, scholarship, and wit that poses the all-important question: Can we actually trust these masterminds?

Born in the mountains above Venice in the late fifteenth century, Tiziano Vecellio or Titian was the greatest painter of the Venetian High Renaissance. A poetic visionary and a technical master of oils, he painted everything, from frescoes and grand altarpieces to mythological stories and portraits works described by his contemporaries as "mirrors of nature."Sheila Hale's rich biography is the first since 1877 to examine all contemporary accounts of Titian's life and work as well as recent art historical scholarship, some of it previously unpublished. Her book charts the extraordinary transformation of Titian's style: from the radiant, minutely realized masterpieces of his youth, to the more freely painted work of his middle years, to the dark, tragic, sometimes terrifying visions of his old age. Drawing on the latest scientific examinations of his paintings, Hale seeks to explain the evolution of his methods and his art. In doing so, she also gives many different voices from Titian's lifetime to today free reign to explore, praise, and sometimes doubt his genius.When Titian died in 1576, in his late eighties, he had spent the whole of his working life in Venice the most celebrated city in Europe traveling as little as possible despite the clamor for his presence at the great courts of the continent. He had witnessed wars, Ottoman invasions, and the rising Protestant threat to the Catholic Church. He had become the favored painter of both Charles V the most powerful man in the world and his son, Philip II of Spain, who became Titian's most important patron.Sheila Hale's masterly biography presents Titian through the lens of the turbulent times in which he lived and explores how this innovative sixteenth-century master conveyed in his paintings a kind of truth that few other artists have been able to communicate, which has fascinated Titian's admirers and followers ever since.