Charles Owen

Honoré de Balzac worked himself to death at fifty-one, producing ninety-plus novels documenting nineteenth-century French society. He earned enormous sums yet died deeply in debt. He observed human psychology with unprecedented accuracy yet was blind...

The most haunting memoir of the twentieth century—written in exile, published after death.Stefan Zweig was born into the golden age of European civilization—a world that believed in progress, treasured culture over nationalism, and thought peace...