Biography

Step into the lives of remarkable people with our collection of biography and memoir books.

These books offer insight into real experiences, challenges, and achievements. Whether you're drawn to history, creativity, or human resilience, biographies and memoirs provide a powerful way to understand the world through lived experience.

At Harry Hartog Bookseller, we’ve curated a diverse range of true stories that inform, inspire, and stay with you long after reading.

Showing 778 products
Winter by Val McDermid - 9781399743136
$39.99
Winter
Val McDermid
'McDermid's most personal book to date' THE SCOTSMAN 'A warm hug of a book... like...
To Exist As I Am by Grace Spence Green - 9781800814486
$36.99
To Exist As I Am
Grace Spence Green
What do you do when the life you planned is dramatically interrupted? What does it...
Artists, Siblings, Visionaries
$29.99
Artists, Siblings, Visionaries
Judith Mackrell
'Outstanding' - The Guardian 'Judith Mackrell has done an incredible job in bringing to life...
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The Tower and the Ruin by Michael DC Drout - 9781324093886
$57.95
The Tower and the Ruin
Michael DC Drout
No writer has surpassed the epic achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien, who spent decades refining his...
Ruminations by Nicholas Hasluck - 9781923267572
$49.99
Ruminations
Nicholas Hasluck
A judge, novelist and arts adviser, Nicholas Hasluck's work includes acute appraisals of people he...
A Life in Letters by John Updike - 9780241707586
$95.00
A Life in Letters
John Updike
The arc of literary giant John Updike's life emerges in these luminous daily letters to...
The Boundless Deep by Richard Holmes - 9780007386932
$52.99
The Boundless Deep
Richard Holmes
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE POL ROGER DUFF COOPER PRIZE* A...
Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller - 9781805337614
$24.99
Why Fish Don't Exist
Lulu Miller
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025: the profound and life-affirming memoir about finding...
The Flame Trees Of Thika by Elspeth Huxley - 9780099577263
$14.99
The Flame Trees Of Thika
Elspeth Huxley
The extraordinary adventures of a childhood in Africa, recalled in rich and loving detail. When...
Crossing by Sabrin Hasbun - 9781804441527
$39.99
Crossing
Sabrin Hasbun
WINNER OF THE FOOTNOTE X COUNTERPOINTS WRITING PRIZE 2023-24 'Vivid, compassionate, captivating' Elif Shafak 'A...
The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley - 9780712674553
$39.99
The Mottled Lizard
Elspeth Huxley
'An accomplished story-teller, she weaves ancdotes, character sketches, political history together without losing her thread...
A Time of Living Graciously by Brigid Lowry - 9781760995133
$32.99
A Time of Living Graciously
Brigid Lowry
More than just a book, A Time of Living Graciously is a celebration of life's...
The Mountbattens by Andrew Lownie - 9781788702980
$24.99
The Mountbattens
Andrew Lownie
The Top Ten Sunday Times Bestseller 'Richly entertaining... impressively well-researched' - Daily Mail 'Incisive... strongly...
My Cursed Vagina by Lally Katz - 9781760111250
$34.99
My Cursed Vagina
Lally Katz
'In this memoir, Lally takes the reader on a drunken, dare-devil ride into the depths...
How to Dress for Old Age by David Carlin - 9781763733183
$32.99
How to Dress for Old Age
David Carlin
When adult children take up the labour of care for absent fathers and stoic mothers,...
Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik - 9781805463948
$24.99
Didion & Babitz
Lili Anolik
A TOP 12 BOOK OF THE YEAR PICK IN THE TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES THE...
The Life of the Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald by Thomas Fahy (Long Island University, NY) - 9781119913030
$41.95
The Life of the Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thomas Fahy (Long Island University, NY)
Explores how F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories reveal the full depth of his life and...
Sonny Boy by Al Pacino - 9781804946138
$26.99
Sonny Boy
Al Pacino
The long-awaited memoir of the legendary actor, for readers of Keith Richards' LIFE and Bruce...
Greyhound by Joanna Pocock - 9781804271384
$32.99
Greyhound
Joanna Pocock
In 2006, in the wake of several miscarriages, Joanna Pocock travelled by Greyhound bus across...
The Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza Griffiths - 9781399813983
$34.99
The Flower Bearers
Rachel Eliza Griffiths
'A beautiful and immensely powerful book about love, grief and finding a way to be...
Tilda Swinton by Tilda Swinton - 9780847860517
$149.99
Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
The first book by Tilda Swinton highlights her incredible transformations and iconic roles, tracing Swinton's...
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo - 9781526694010
$39.99
Three Women
Lisa Taddeo
The International No. 1 Bestseller A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick 'Cuts...
Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev by Maxim Gorky - 9781804271971
$32.99
Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev
Maxim Gorky
In 1920, Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press published Maxim Gorky's Reminiscences of Tolstoy and...
Mrs Kauffman and Madame Le Brun by Franny Moyle - 9781801107440
$69.99
Mrs Kauffman and Madame Le Brun
Franny Moyle
From the acclaimed author of The King's Painter, a vivid life-and-times biography of two unjustly...
Just Kids by Patti Smith - 9781526694492
$39.99
Just Kids
Patti Smith
Winner of the 2010 Non-Fiction National Book Award Patti Smith's definitive memoir is an evocative,...
Fire in Every Direction by Tareq Baconi - 9781399754040
$34.99
Fire in Every Direction
Tareq Baconi
'Moving and generous' Isabella Hammad, author of Enter Ghost 'Fire in Every Direction is a...
Strangers by Belle Burden - 9781529936124
$36.99
Strangers
Belle Burden
The must-read memoir of the end of a marriage and the start of a personal...
Strangeland by Tracey Emin - 9781399748391
$49.99
Strangeland
Tracey Emin
'Honest and extraordinary' GUARDIAN 'A remarkable book - and an original, beautiful mind' EVENING STANDARD...