Biography, autobiography, memoir and true story books are non-fiction books that are a great way to take a glimpse into the life and times of your favourite personality or historical character. From these books you can learn about the various important events in their lives, struggles, achievements and other highlights that are recorded in a book to serve as an example to inspire others.
Bookscape.com has a range of famous biography books, autobiography books and memoirs of artists, politicians, saints, sports personalities and even ordinary people with extraordinary contributions. When you research about your interests or you are curious about a certain person, you can search on Bookscape.com to see if there is a biography or autobiography book that you can read to learn more about them.
While the terms biography, autobiography and memoir are often used in the same vein, they have very different meanings. Biography books or bios are those that are authored by other people about a particular person, while autobiography books are an individual’s own account of their lives. They may include information such as the subject’s birthplace, education, work and relationships.
Memoir books are non-fiction narrative books that are written from the perspective of the author but is specific to a certain area or element of their lives like adventure, personal transformation or even a specific event like war. Usually, memoirs are conflated with autobiographies but the key difference between the two is that an autobiography book spans the entire life of an individual, but a memoir book will only be of a specific time or experience.
Head over to Bookscape to read interesting accounts of life like The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda and Wings of Fire by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
The genre of biography and autobiography books can be classified into many subgenres:
Long before emails and phones, people exchanged letters to communicate their thoughts and feelings. Letters could be informal between relations or could be informal or formal exchanged between heads of state. Read the infamous Jail Diary of Bhagat Singh by Bhagat Singh himself, Bridging East and West that is a chronicle of Rabindranath Tagore and Romain Rolland correspondence (1919-1940), Letters for a Nation: From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers 1947-1963 and The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh that sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and tortured man.
Diaries and journals are the most personal thoughts that a person writes to themselves and offers deep insight into their lives. Browse through diaries and journals written by famous people on Bookscape.com like Antarctic Journals of Reginald Skelton by Reginald William Skelton where he documents the perils and excitement of Antarctic exploration, The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys in which he provides eyewitness accounts of the Restoration, the Dutch War, the Great Plague and the Fire of London including his work at the Navy Board.
A true account book is packed with a detailed recounting of the subject of the book. This way, you can read about all the information about the character and happenings. True account books with true stories like Mossad: Israel’s Most Secret Service by Ronald Payne, Faster than Lightning My Story by Usain Bolt, Byculla to Bangkok by S. Hussain Zaidi, Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer and others. These true story books can be an excellent biography of a person, that throws light on their life and the lessons they have learnt in their lifetime.
Biography, autobiography and memoir story books are all non-fiction works that are a life story of/for the author, where the theme can be anything from religious to a personal account. An autobiography is written by the author themselves, often beginning in early childhood and chronologically detailing key events throughout the author’s life. Biography books are a third person account of someone’s life that presents information collected from the subject, their acquaintances or other sources. A personal account of a specific time or experience is a memoir, and it reflects on and explore the emotion of an experience.
If you have questions about great autobiography and biography books, Bookscape has you covered. With over a million titles from 700+ publishers and an ever-growing catalogue, you’re sure to find your next favourite memoir, true story, autobiography and biography book here. Bookscape is home to the greatest autobiography and biography books ever written and it should be your one-stop shop for buying books online at best prices. We can help you navigate through the wide world of autobiographies and biographies, be it diaries, journals, memoirs, true stories and more. Let us answer some popular questions in choosing the best autobiography and biography books:
Biographies can be very different from each other depending on the person being written about, and the kind of events being chronicled. However, all famous biography books have a few key features in common that serve as a good guide to choosing books you’ll enjoy:
These are the highlights that define the structure of a biography that ensure the most important information is captured and communicated.
Here are the similarities between a biography and autobiography below:
The most important difference between a biography and autobiography is the point-of-view and writing. An autobiography is written by the subject of the book themselves, but the biography is written by someone other than the subject of the book.
Autobiographies are personal accounts, and the authentic storytelling is peppered with small details and internal thoughts that could be missing if written by another person. Biographies are an objective account of someone else’s life and therefore may project a narrow and biased perspective to readers.
The purpose of a biography book is to introduce a person to readers and showcase their life and achievements while an autobiography is written to express, the life experiences and achievements of the author.
An autobiography is a book written by the author about their own life experiences. On the other hand, a biography is a book written by someone else about another person’s life experiences. This means that they are different in terms of perspective and authorship. Therefore, a biography and an autobiography are mutually exclusive, and a single book cannot be both.
Memoirs are autobiographical in nature but instead of the storyline starting in early life and progressing chronologically, it focuses on a single pivotal experience or point in time. The purpose of a memoir is retelling an interesting snippet of their life factually and truthfully to inform and inspire others.
Memoirs can be about a difficult illness, death of a beloved, childhood memories, wartime, adventure/travel and more that offers a detailed snapshot of the specific memory.
A biography is a book written about someone’s life experiences by another person. Finally, a memoir is an autobiographical book written about a specific time or event in the author’s life. These genres have different approaches to writing and reading. Biographies generally intend to provide a more objective view of a person’s life. Memoirs are a thematic deep dive into a specific period of time or event.
These are the autobiography and biography books you should add to your reading list when you wish to know more about a certain person, their life and the events that have shaped them:
You can find these books and more on Bookscape.com
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Bookscape | Biographies & Autobiographies