What is the difference between a Biography and an Autobiography?
A biography is an account of a person's life, written by someone else.
An autobiography is an account of a person's life, written by that person.
A memoir is a special type of autobiography in which the person writes about a specific part of their life.
This guide was designed to help you find both biographical and autobiographical information in many different formats through the CCBC libraries. Click on the tabs above to see books, databases, websites, and videos.
What is a Collective Biography or Autobiography?
A collective biography contains biographies about two or more people. It is often a large anthology, like Biographical Dictionary of Psychology, or Encyclopedia of Women's Autobiography. A biography or autobiography which covers the life of one person is an individual biography.
Videos
Source Code
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The origin story of one of the most influential and transformative business leaders and philanthropists of the modern age "A surprisingly candid memoir of the Microsoft mogul's early years...Reading this book feels like watching someone take a well-known black-and-white sketch, fill in the details, and paint it in vivid color." --GeekWire Everyone is programmed a little differently, and Bill Gates' unique insight led to business triumphs that are now widely known: the twenty-year-old who dropped out of Harvard to start a software company that became an industry giant and changed the way the world works and lives; the billionaire many times over who turned his attention to philanthropic pursuits to address climate change, global health, and U.S. education. Source Code is not about Microsoft or the Gates Foundation or the future of technology. It's the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today: his childhood, his early passions and pursuits. It's the story of his principled grandmother and ambitious parents, his first deep friendships and the sudden death of his best friend; of his struggles to fit in and his discovery of a world of coding and computers in the dawn of a new era; of embarking in his early teens on a path that took him from midnight escapades at a nearby computer center to his college dorm room, where he sparked a revolution that would change the world. Bill Gates tells this, his own story, for the first time: wise, warm, revealing, it's a fascinating portrait of an American life.
American Poison
From the national bestselling author of The Food Explorer comes the untold story of Alice Hamilton, a trailblazing doctor and public health activist who took on the booming auto industry--and the deadly invention of leaded gasoline, which would poison millions of people across America. At noon on October 27, 1924, a factory worker was admitted to a hospital in New York City, suffering from hallucinations and convulsions. Before breakfast the next day, he was dead. Alice Hamilton was determined to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. By the time of the accident, Hamilton had pioneered the field of industrial medicine in the United States. She specialized in workplace safety years before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created. She was the first female professor at Harvard. She spent decades inspecting factories and mines. But this time, she was up against a formidable new foe: America's relentless push for progress, regardless of the cost. The 1920s were an exciting decade. Industry was booming. Labor was flourishing. Automobiles were changing roads, cities, and nearly all parts of American life. And one day, an ambitious scientist named Thomas Midgley Jr. triumphantly found just the right chemical to ensure that this boom would continue. His discovery--tetraethyl leaded gasoline--set him up for great wealth and the sort of fame that would land his name in history books. Soon, Hamilton would be on a collision course with Midgley, fighting full force against his invention, which poisoned the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the basic structure of our brains. American Poison is the gripping story of Hamilton's unsung battle for a healthy planet--and the ramifications that continue to echo today.
Where Madness Lies
Beginning in 1953, when Leigh suffers a nervous breakdown, Where Madness Lies tells the moving story of the actress as she attempts to rebuild her life, salvage her career, and save her marriage. Vivien Leigh was one of the greatest film and theatrical stars of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Her Oscar-winning performances in Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire have cemented her status as an icon of Hollywood. From 1940 to 1960, Leigh was married to Sir Laurence Olivier, and together they were considered the royal couple of British theatre. Indeed, their romance and acting partnerships captured the imagination of the public around the world. Behind the scenes, however, Leigh's personal life was marred by manic depression that remained undiagnosed until 1953. Largely misunderstood and subjected to barbaric mistreatment at the hands of her doctors, she would also suffer the heartbreak of Olivier's infidelity. Contributing to her image as a tragic heroine, she would die at the age of fifty-three. Unlike previous biographies,Where Madness Lies begins in 1953 when Leigh suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized. The tragic story unfolds as she tries to rebuild her life, salvage her career, and save her marriage. Featuring a wealth of unpublished material--including private correspondence--Lyndsy Spence reveals how this Hollywood luminary tragically fell victim to the draconian medical practices of the era.
Edgar Allan Poe
A groundbreaking exploration of one of America's most iconic and misunderstood authors Edgar Allan Poe: A Life is the most comprehensive critical biography of Poe yet produced, exploring his fascinating life, his extraordinary work, and the vital relationship between the two. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre found in such works as "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "The Tell-Tale Heart," this legendary American author continues to intrigue and enthrall his devoted readers. Written by one of the world's leading Poe experts, this biography is a rich and rewarding study for the general reader as well as for the seasoned scholar. Richard Kopley combines a biographical narrative of Poe's enduring challenges--including his difficult foster father, his personal losses, his great struggles with depression and alcoholism, and the poverty that dogged his existence--with close readings of his work that focus not only on plot, character, and theme but also on language, allusion, and structure in a way that enhances our understanding of both. While incorporating past Poe scholarship, this volume also relates unknown stories of Poe culled from privately held letters unavailable to previous biographers, presenting a range of groundbreaking archival discoveries that illuminate the man and his oeuvre in ways never before possible.
Stomp off, Let's Go
The revelatory origin story of one of America's most beloved musicians, Louis ArmstrongHow did Louis Armstrong become Louis Armstrong?In Stomp Off, Let's Go, author and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi tells the enthralling story of the iconic trumpeter's meteoric rise to fame. Beginning with Armstrong's youth in New Orleans, Riccardi transports readers through Armstrong's musical and personal development, including his initial trip to Chicago to join Joe "King" Oliver's band, his first to New York to meet Fletcher Henderson, and his eventual return to Chicago, where he changed the course of music with the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. While this period of Armstrong's life is perhaps more familiar than others, Riccardi enriches extant narratives with recently unearthed archival materials, including a rare draft of pianist, composer, and Armstrong's second wife Lillian "Lil" Hardin Armstrong's autobiography. Riccardi similarly tackles the perceived notion of Armstrong as a "sell-out" during his later years, highlighting the many ways in which Armstrong's musical style and personal values in fact remained steady throughout his career. By foregrounding the voices of Armstrong and his contemporaries, Stomp Off, Let's Go offers a more intimate exploration of Armstrong's personal and professional relationships, in turn providing essential insights into how Armstrong evolved into one of America's most beloved icons.
Finding Biographies and Autobiographies
In CCBC libraries, there is no specific section for Biographies and Autobiographies. The books are shelved with other books on the topic with which the person being written about is identified. For instance, a biography of Bill Gates will be found with books about the computer industry. A biography of Nelson Mandela will be classed with books about South African politics.
