Biographies

About Biographies

Book TV regularly covers author talks on biographies of prominent and historical figures. These can be searched by author name or subject and viewed here. IN this category, you will also find autobiographies.

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Coming Up on Book TV

Going Rogue: An American Life
Sarah Palin
Next air time: Sunday, February 14th at 7:15am (ET)

John Adams by David McCullough
David McCullough
Next air time: Tuesday, February 16th at 5:45am (ET)

Archived Programs

Programs shown in this archive cover the past year. To search for programs in earlier years, please use the search functionality above.

The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and the Birth of Modern China Hannah Pakula Last aired: February 7, 2010	Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges Byron Pitts Last aired: February 7, 2010
All Things at Once Mika Brzezinski Last aired: February 7, 2010	Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist Haynes Johnson Last aired: January 30, 2010
The Word of the Lord Is Upon Me: The Righteous Performance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jonathan Rieder Last aired: January 18, 2010	Abigail Adams Woody Holton Last aired: January 11, 2010
Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life Bill Minutaglio; W. Michael Smith Last aired: January 4, 2010	The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther Jeffrey Haas Last aired: January 3, 2010
Anne Heller, "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" and Jennifer Burns, "Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right" Jennifer Burns; Anne Heller Last aired: January 1, 2010	Going Rogue: An American Life Sarah Palin Last aired: December 28, 2009
Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States Herman Obermayer Last aired: December 20, 2009	Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women Harriet Reisen Last aired: December 14, 2009
Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits Linda Gordon Last aired: December 14, 2009	Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An American Life Lori Ginzberg Last aired: November 29, 2009
Call-in with Judy Shepard, author of "The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed" Judy Shepard Last aired: November 27, 2009	2009 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD NONFICTION WINNER - The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt T.J. Stiles Last aired: November 21, 2009
Brother West: Living and Loving Outloud, A Memoir Cornel West Last aired: November 8, 2009	Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife Francine Prose Last aired: November 1, 2009
Clara's War: One Girl's Story of Survival Clara Kramer Last aired: October 18, 2009	The Emperor's New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate to 9/11 Richard Ben-Veniste Last aired: October 5, 2009
The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed Judy Shepard Last aired: October 4, 2009	True Compass: A Memoir Edward Kennedy Last aired: September 21, 2009
American Radical: The Life and Times of I.F. Stone D.D. Guttenplan Last aired: September 13, 2009	Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas Paul McGeough Last aired: September 7, 2009
The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire Linda Himelstein Last aired: September 7, 2009	The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Pico Iyer Last aired: September 6, 2009
Peter Canellos and Team at the Boston Globe, "Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy" Team at The Boston Globe Last aired: August 30, 2009	War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier John Ross Last aired: August 29, 2009
Robert Novak author of "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington" Robert Novak Last aired: August 23, 2009	Illustrator & Political Cartoonist David Levine David Levine Last aired: August 23, 2009
Charles Darwin, Geologist Sandra Herbert Last aired: August 23, 2009	The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and The Age of Revolution Alex Storozynski Last aired: August 23, 2009
American Conversation with E.L. Doctorow and Allen Weinstein E.L. Doctorow Last aired: August 22, 2009	Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas Benson Bobrick Last aired: August 15, 2009
A Different Life: Growing Up Learning Disabled and Other Adventures Quinn Bradlee Last aired: August 10, 2009	Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin Norah Vincent Last aired: August 9, 2009
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life Gerald Martin Last aired: August 8, 2009	This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Last aired: August 1, 2009
Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang Zhao Ziyang Last aired: July 20, 2009	The Nixons: A Family Portrait Ed Nixon Last aired: July 19, 2009
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong James Hansen Last aired: July 18, 2009	Femme Fatale: Love, Lies, and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari Pat Shipman Last aired: July 4, 2009
Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln John Stauffer Last aired: July 4, 2009	Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918 Jeffrey Perry Last aired: July 4, 2009
Loon: A Marine Story Jack McLean Last aired: July 4, 2009	Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement Richard Brookhiser Last aired: July 4, 2009
Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America Geoffrey Canada; Paul Tough Last aired: July 3, 2009	The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One David Kilcullen Last aired: June 28, 2009
Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security Gen. Richard Myers Last aired: June 28, 2009	By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld Bradley Graham Last aired: June 28, 2009
The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience Kirstin Downey Last aired: June 14, 2009	Last Rites John Lukacs Last aired: June 13, 2009
Gringo: A Coming of Age in Latin America Chesa Boudin Last aired: June 1, 2009	Practicing Catholic James Carroll Last aired: May 31, 2009
Donald Worster, "A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir" and Philip Fradkin, "Wallace Stegner and the American West" Philip Fradkin; Donald Worster Last aired: May 24, 2009	Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde Jeff Guinn Last aired: May 24, 2009
A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy Thomas Buergenthal Last aired: May 24, 2009	David Hackett Souter: Traditional Republican on the Rehnquist Court Tinsley Yarbrough Last aired: May 17, 2009
War By Other Means: An Insider's Account of the War on Terror John Yoo Last aired: May 9, 2009	The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University Kevin Roose Last aired: May 9, 2009
Life of William Grimes, The Runaway Slave William Andrews; Regina Mason Last aired: May 2, 2009	Book TV Civics Bus - Michael Largo, Genius and Heroin Michael Largo Last aired: April 26, 2009
Walter Isaacson, "Einstein: His Life and Universe" Walter Isaacson Last aired: April 25, 2009	Stand for the Best: What I Learned After Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter School Thomas Bloch Last aired: April 19, 2009
Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People William Iggiagruk Hensley Last aired: April 5, 2009	2008 Miami Book Fair: Art of Biography Panel Nancy Milford; Stacy Schiff; Les Standiford; Edmund White Last aired: April 4, 2009
Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life Adam Gopnik Last aired: March 29, 2009	2006 National Book Festival: John Hope Franklin "Mirror to America" John Hope Franklin Last aired: March 28, 2009
Jay Allison, "This I Believe" Jay Allison Last aired: March 22, 2009	Nuclear Heuristics: Selected Writings of Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter Albert Wohlstetter; Roberta Wohlstetter Last aired: March 22, 2009
The Life and Times of the Shah Gholam Reza Afkhami Last aired: March 16, 2009	A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity Bill O'Reilly Last aired: March 15, 2009
"The Reagan I Knew" William F. Buckley Last aired: March 8, 2009	Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War T.J. Stiles Last aired: March 7, 2009
John Maynard Keynes: 1883-1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman Robert Skidelsky Last aired: March 1, 2009	Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk - BOOK PARTY Ben Carson Last aired: March 1, 2009
Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington Robert Norrell Last aired: February 28, 2009	My Private War: Liberated Body, Captive Mind - A World War II POW's Journey Norman Bussel Last aired: February 21, 2009
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance Barack Obama Last aired: February 17, 2009	Memorial for Studs Terkel Multiple Speakers Last aired: February 15, 2009

This Weekend's TV Schedule

Beginning Saturdays at 8am (ET)

Highlights

The Selling of the American Economy: How Foreign Companies Are Remaking the American Dream
Micheline Maynard
Next air time: Saturday, February 13th, at 7pm (ET)
Approx. 44 min.

On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
Henry Paulson
Next air time: Saturday, February 13th, at 9pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.

After Words: Garry Wills, "Bomb Power" interviewed by Tom Blanton
Next air time: Saturday, February 13th, at 10pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.

Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda
Michael Steele
Next air time: Sunday, February 14th, at 1pm (ET)
Approx. 54 min.

Yalta: The Price of Peace
S.M. Plokhy
Next air time: Sunday, February 14th, at 7pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 41 min.

The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons from Nixon to Obama
Len Colodny; Tom Shachtman
Next air time: Monday, February 15th, at 1am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 25 min.

Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech That Ended the Cold War
Romesh Ratnesar
Next air time: Saturday, February 13th, at 1pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.

Panel on the American Presidency with Gary May, "John Tyler," William Leuchtenburg, "Herbert Hoover," and Timothy Naftali, "George H.W. Bush"
William Leuchtenburg; Gary May; Timothy Naftali
Next air time: Monday, February 15th, at 4:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 13 min.

What Obama Means for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future
Jabari Asim
Next air time: Monday, February 15th, at 12:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 33 min.

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness
Harlow Unger
Next air time: Tuesday, February 16th, at 7am (ET)
Approx. 50 min.

Also Airing...

Saturday, February 13th

8am (ET)
Approx. 48 min.
Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients
Danielle Ofri

9am (ET)
Approx. 2 hr. 58 min.
In Depth: Paul Johnson

12pm (ET)
Approx. 49 min.
2009 Miami Book Fair: Gwen Ifill, "The Break-Through"
Gwen Ifill

1pm (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech That Ended the Cold War
Romesh Ratnesar

2pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
The Great Depression: A Diary
James Ledbetter; Daniel Roth

3pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 35 min.
The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution 1980-1989
Steven Hayward

4:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 31 min.
Darwin's Universe: Evolution from A to Z
Richard Milner

6pm (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
Encore Booknotes: "PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness is Corrupting Medicine"
Sally Satel

7pm (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
The Selling of the American Economy: How Foreign Companies Are Remaking the American Dream
Micheline Maynard

8pm (ET)
Approx. 56 min.
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Atul Gawande

9pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
Henry Paulson

10pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
After Words: Garry Wills, "Bomb Power" interviewed by Tom Blanton

11pm (ET)
Approx. 48 min.
Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients
Danielle Ofri

Sunday, February 14th

1am (ET)
Approx. 51 min.
Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction
Barry Lynn

2am (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
The Selling of the American Economy: How Foreign Companies Are Remaking the American Dream
Micheline Maynard

2:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 6 min.
Reappraising the Right: The Past & Future of American Conservatism
George Nash

4am (ET)
Approx. 49 min.
2009 Miami Book Fair: Gwen Ifill, "The Break-Through"
Gwen Ifill

5am (ET)
Approx. 40 min.
Redcoats' Revenge: An Alternate History of the War of 1812
David Fitz-Enz

5:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 31 min.
Darwin's Universe: Evolution from A to Z
Richard Milner

7:15am (ET)
Approx. 42 min.
Going Rogue: An American Life
Sarah Palin

8am (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose - Doing Business By Respecting the Earth
Ray Anderson

9am (ET)
Approx. 51 min.
Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction
Barry Lynn

10am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
Henry Paulson

11am (ET)
Approx. 48 min.
Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche
Ethan Watters

12pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
After Words: Joseph Stiglitz, "Freefall" interviewed by Lori Wallach

1pm (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda
Michael Steele

2pm (ET)
Approx. 44 min.
The Selling of the American Economy: How Foreign Companies Are Remaking the American Dream
Micheline Maynard

2:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 21 min.
Ending the War in Afghanistan: A Primer
Phyllis Bennis

4:15pm (ET)
Approx. 42 min.
Going Rogue: An American Life
Sarah Palin

5pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
Henry Paulson

6pm (ET)
Approx. 55 min.
2009 Miami Book Fair: Norman Podhoretz, "Why Are Jews Liberals?"
Norman Podhoretz

7pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 41 min.
Yalta: The Price of Peace
S.M. Plokhy

9pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
After Words: Garry Wills, "Bomb Power" interviewed by Tom Blanton

11pm (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda
Michael Steele

Monday, February 15th

12am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
After Words: Garry Wills, "Bomb Power" interviewed by Tom Blanton

1am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 25 min.
The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons from Nixon to Obama
Len Colodny; Tom Shachtman

3am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr.
After Words: Garry Wills, "Bomb Power" interviewed by Tom Blanton

4am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 41 min.
Yalta: The Price of Peace
S.M. Plokhy

5:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 21 min.
Ending the War in Afghanistan: A Primer
Phyllis Bennis

7am (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda
Michael Steele

8:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 13 min.
Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
H.W. Brands

9:45am (ET)
Approx. 46 min.
In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemmings Sex Scandal
William Hyland Jr.

10:30am (ET)
Approx. 58 min.
Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech That Ended the Cold War
Romesh Ratnesar

11:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 12 min.
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams
Panel of Speakers

12:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 33 min.
What Obama Means for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future
Jabari Asim

2:30pm (ET)
Approx. 55 min.
1960 LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies
David Pietrusza

3:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 18 min.
Tell Me of Lincoln: Memories of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and Life in Old New York
William Styple

4:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 13 min.
Panel on the American Presidency with Gary May, "John Tyler," William Leuchtenburg, "Herbert Hoover," and Timothy Naftali, "George H.W. Bush"
William Leuchtenburg; Gary May; Timothy Naftali

6pm (ET)
Approx. 46 min.
In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemmings Sex Scandal
William Hyland Jr.

6:45pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 11 min.
Robert Dallek, author of "Harry S. Truman" and James Mann, author of "The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan"
Robert Dallek; James Mann

8:30pm (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 33 min.
What Obama Means for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future
Jabari Asim

10pm (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America
Craig Shirley

11pm (ET)
Approx. 55 min.
Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip
Matthew Algeo

Tuesday, February 16th

12am (ET)
Approx. 59 min.
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime
Mark Halperin; John Heilemann

1am (ET)
Approx. 55 min.
1960 LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon: The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies
David Pietrusza

2am (ET)
Approx. 54 min.
The Kennedy Assassination - 24 Hours After: Lyndon B. Johnson's Pivotal First Day as President
Steven Gillon

3am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 25 min.
The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons from Nixon to Obama
Len Colodny; Tom Shachtman

4:30am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 11 min.
Robert Dallek, author of "Harry S. Truman" and James Mann, author of "The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan"
Robert Dallek; James Mann

5:45am (ET)
Approx. 1 hr. 10 min.
John Adams by David McCullough
David McCullough

7am (ET)
Approx. 50 min.
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness
Harlow Unger

Print Schedule

View Schedule

Upcoming Programs

IN DEPTH

In Depth is Book TV's long form LIVE interview call-in program with one author discussing his or her body of work. It airs on the first Sunday of every month, beginning at Noon ET. You can watch previous episodes of In Depth online. In 2010 so far, Michelle Malkin and Paul Johnson have been our guests.

March--T.R. Reid

April--John Dean

Book Festivals

Book TV will be covering several book festivals this spring, including LIVE coverage of the Tucson Book Festival March 13-14, and the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville later in March. In April, plans for coverage include the Annapolis Book Festival as well as the Los Angeles Times Book Fair.