Are there any important biographies of nobodies?

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Are there any important biographies of nobodies?







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56















Biographies usually cover interesting people who said and did notable things. I'm curious about lives notable just for their contexts: the stories of unremarkable people in historically remarkable circumstances. Have any major works been written about nobodies that had unusual lives?



By unremarkable and nobody I mean people who attracted historiographical study solely because of their lived experiences. To identify them we need to exclude not just works about leaders (Theodore Rex) and those written by commissioned biographers (The Joseph Majors story), but also works of anthropology in which individuals proxy for their social group (The Children of Sánchez), works predicated on access to a single unusual source (Montaillou), works addressing events after the subject's death (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), and autobiographies, whose success establishes the author as a remarkable person (The Diary of a Young Girl).



Are there any well-known books about nobodies? Ishi in Two Worlds may be an example, but not having read it, I don't know whether Ishi's performative cultural testimony was central to the story.










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    – sempaiscuba
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56















Biographies usually cover interesting people who said and did notable things. I'm curious about lives notable just for their contexts: the stories of unremarkable people in historically remarkable circumstances. Have any major works been written about nobodies that had unusual lives?



By unremarkable and nobody I mean people who attracted historiographical study solely because of their lived experiences. To identify them we need to exclude not just works about leaders (Theodore Rex) and those written by commissioned biographers (The Joseph Majors story), but also works of anthropology in which individuals proxy for their social group (The Children of Sánchez), works predicated on access to a single unusual source (Montaillou), works addressing events after the subject's death (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), and autobiographies, whose success establishes the author as a remarkable person (The Diary of a Young Girl).



Are there any well-known books about nobodies? Ishi in Two Worlds may be an example, but not having read it, I don't know whether Ishi's performative cultural testimony was central to the story.










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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

    – sempaiscuba
    Jun 7 at 4:05













56












56








56


19






Biographies usually cover interesting people who said and did notable things. I'm curious about lives notable just for their contexts: the stories of unremarkable people in historically remarkable circumstances. Have any major works been written about nobodies that had unusual lives?



By unremarkable and nobody I mean people who attracted historiographical study solely because of their lived experiences. To identify them we need to exclude not just works about leaders (Theodore Rex) and those written by commissioned biographers (The Joseph Majors story), but also works of anthropology in which individuals proxy for their social group (The Children of Sánchez), works predicated on access to a single unusual source (Montaillou), works addressing events after the subject's death (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), and autobiographies, whose success establishes the author as a remarkable person (The Diary of a Young Girl).



Are there any well-known books about nobodies? Ishi in Two Worlds may be an example, but not having read it, I don't know whether Ishi's performative cultural testimony was central to the story.










share|improve this question














Biographies usually cover interesting people who said and did notable things. I'm curious about lives notable just for their contexts: the stories of unremarkable people in historically remarkable circumstances. Have any major works been written about nobodies that had unusual lives?



By unremarkable and nobody I mean people who attracted historiographical study solely because of their lived experiences. To identify them we need to exclude not just works about leaders (Theodore Rex) and those written by commissioned biographers (The Joseph Majors story), but also works of anthropology in which individuals proxy for their social group (The Children of Sánchez), works predicated on access to a single unusual source (Montaillou), works addressing events after the subject's death (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), and autobiographies, whose success establishes the author as a remarkable person (The Diary of a Young Girl).



Are there any well-known books about nobodies? Ishi in Two Worlds may be an example, but not having read it, I don't know whether Ishi's performative cultural testimony was central to the story.







historiography book literature writing biography






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asked Jun 4 at 2:12









Aaron BrickAaron Brick

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15 Answers
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109














Louis-François Pinagot



He was an illiterate shoemaker in western France in the 19th century. French historian Alain Corbin picked Pinagot at random on a town registry, and wrote his biography as a way to describe the social environment of 19th century France, collecting as much data as possible about Pinagot, his family, his village, etc.



The result was published in 2001 in Le monde retrouvé de Louis-François Pinagot, sur les traces d'un inconnu, 1798-1876, translated into English as The Life of an Unknown.



Reviews of this original and interesting (imho) work can be found here in French or there in English.






share|improve this answer




















  • 6





    According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

    – msh210
    Jun 5 at 14:35






  • 9





    @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

    – Evargalo
    Jun 5 at 14:47







  • 1





    This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

    – lly
    Jun 6 at 0:50







  • 2





    @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

    – Evargalo
    Jun 6 at 6:37



















29














I think you may look into biographies of war heroes. War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many.



For example, The story of a real man, a novel by Boris Polevoy, is a biography of Alexey Maresyev (Meresyev in the book), a Soviet pilot who was shot down behind the frontline, wounded in both legs, crawled back through the woods for 3 weeks, had both legs amputated and still returned to flying fighters and even had victories. Still, he still was a common frontline pilot, his actions did not have significant impact on war outcome, and he was not even the only one with similar life story.






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  • 1





    "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

    – Pedro Lobito
    Jun 6 at 9:05







  • 2





    @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

    – Caleb Mauer
    Jun 6 at 19:11


















29














The Merchant of Prato by Iris Origo (1957) is a biography of Francesco Datini a 14th-century merchant banker.



The only distinguishing factor of Datini is that by chance a huge stash of his written accounts and letters had been preserved and discovered in 1870.






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    23














    Not a book, but there is a long-running documentary film series in the UK following the lives of ordinary people with a film every seven years from the first when they were seven years old. The latest, '63 Up', has just shown.



    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)






    share|improve this answer


















    • 2





      There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

      – Jan
      Jun 6 at 17:55


















    12














    One of my favorite historical accounts is The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg (an Italian historian).



    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheese_and_the_Worms



    It's an account of the life and trial of a sixteenth century miller brought before the inquisition twice, tried, and eventually executed.



    Quite excellent.



    "The study examines the unique religious beliefs and cosmology of Menocchio (1532–1599), also known as Domenico Scandella, who was an Italian miller from the village of Montereale, twenty-five kilometers north of Pordenone. He was from the peasant class and not a learned aristocrat or man of letters, Ginzburg places him in the tradition of popular culture and pre-Chrisitan naturalistic peasant religions. His outspoken beliefs earned him the title of a heresiarch (heretic) during the Roman Inquisition."






    share|improve this answer






























      10














      The novelist Vikram Seth wrote Two Lives: A Memoir, which is a biography of his uncle and aunt.



      His uncle was a dentist, originally from India, who studied dentistry in Germany. His wife was Jewish, from Berlin. They left Germany and settled in England shortly before World War II.



      The part of the book that I remember best describes the effect of World War II and its aftermath, including the partition of Berlin, both on them and on their circle of friends (both Jewish and Gentile) who originally lived in Berlin.






      share|improve this answer
































        8














        You could try A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.



        Strictly speaking, it's not a biography, as much as a tour of the 14th century in France, with sections on all the important events of the day: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, peasant revolts, the papal schism, and such. But most of the narrative is structured around the life of a mostly unremarkable noble named Enguerrand VII de Coucy. He was a respectable but not particularly influential lord who didn't really play any significant role in shaping history, but took part in all, or nearly all, of the major events of the century. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, saw his estate decimated by the plague, put down some peasant revolts, got caught up in political intrigue due to having an English wife, and died fighting a far off crusade against the Ottomans.



        Tuchman chose his life to build her book around specifically because he was the most ordinary person she could find who took part in the events of the day. She wrote in the intro that she spent a while trying to find an even more ordinary person, like a peasant, but unsurprisingly none of them had any detailed enough records of their lives. So the Sire de Coucy it was.



        It's been a while since I read it, but I'm guessing that maybe half of the book deals with de Coucy in a biographical fashion, and the other half is more of a traditional narrative. So not exactly what you're looking for, but it might scratch that itch.






        share|improve this answer


















        • 4





          He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

          – Jan
          Jun 5 at 7:55











        • hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

          – krock
          Jun 5 at 14:37


















        8














        To ameliorate some of the western bias among these answers, there's an entire genre of



        Lei Feng



        Lei Feng



        biographies based on his purported diary and others' remembrances of him that have been read by far more people and been far more important to more people than any of the others mentioned here. A billion plus Chinese kids have been raised reading about him as a model citizen, despite his having never held any important post and despite his having been killed at 21 by a telephone pole knocked over by the truck whose movement he was directing.



        I'm sure the USSR and their satellites had similar selfless every(wo)men whose hagiographic stories were used to inspire dedication and self-sacrifice among the People. Speaking of which, given the current terms of the question, hagiographies in general fit the bill. Many saints were accomplished churchmen or generous rulers but plenty were simple folk whose personal stories (and legends) were passed down as part of the greater Christian narrative. Similarly the accounts of the Islamic walis, Buddhist arhats, Greek heroes, &c.






        share|improve this answer






























          4














          Christian Weston Chandler is an absolute nobody, yet has a complete wiki (https://sonichu.com/) that documents his whole life, pretty much every email or Facebook post he wrote, every piece of art, video and music he produced. There's also an extensive web of relationships with people he encountered, be they real or not.



          Mr Chandler is pretty much the most documented person on Earth, considering you don't get to read the emails from a political leader or movie celebrity.






          share|improve this answer






























            4














            Your criteria for exclusion seem quite flexible, so I am not sure if any of the following really count:



            There are several works by holocaust and WWII survivors who are more notable for their post-war lives, e.g. Imre Kertesz, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Inge Deutschkron. There are also works about victims of the war, e.g. about Tanya Savicheva.



            1587 Year of no Significance has several biographies of people who were part of the upper levels of the Chinese state at the time, but the author's focus is more on the circumstances of their lives rather than on the individuals.



            Wild Swans has a biography of the author's grandmother and her parents. The parents were not really nobodies, but not terribly important either (provincial CCP secretary or so, i.e. second tier after national leadership). But IIRC her grandmother had rather humble origins.



            Some more autobiographies: Josef Deifl, who fought in the Napoleonic wars, or Peter Hagendorf from the Thirty Years War.






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              2














              Not sure if you consider it biography exactly, but Steven Ozment's Magdalena and Balthasar is a lovely study of a 1500s mercantile couple from the Holy Roman Empire. It is principally translation and commentary on their correspondence, studying their relationship and milieu through the medium of those letters, though, rather than a true birth-to-childhood-to-adulthood-narrative biography.






              share|improve this answer






























                1














                The Minaguchi Inn is a book detailing the establishment in question, from its origins as the house of a samurai, to its transformation into an inn, and the family who lived there.






                share|improve this answer






























                  1














                  Not exactly a book, or a serious biography, but the song "The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams" might qualify.






                  share|improve this answer






























                    1














                    Europa Europa is a movie but could fit the bill of the story of a random person:




                    It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German
                    Jewish boy who escaped the Holocaust by masquerading as a "Nazi"
                    German.




                    While the story is understandably quite extraordinary, Solomon Perel was a standard boy who left no marks in History. The move gives an interesting insight view on the relationships between young Nazis, and their families.






                    share|improve this answer
































                      0














                      Biographies don't necessarily have to be written. Portraits and sculpture are often just as eloquent forms of testimony. And given your question, I'd point out the custom of memorialising the dead of a war through the tomb of the unknown soldier which arose from the end of the first world war as an eloquent form of biography.






                      share|improve this answer





















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                        15 Answers
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                        active

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                        active

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                        109














                        Louis-François Pinagot



                        He was an illiterate shoemaker in western France in the 19th century. French historian Alain Corbin picked Pinagot at random on a town registry, and wrote his biography as a way to describe the social environment of 19th century France, collecting as much data as possible about Pinagot, his family, his village, etc.



                        The result was published in 2001 in Le monde retrouvé de Louis-François Pinagot, sur les traces d'un inconnu, 1798-1876, translated into English as The Life of an Unknown.



                        Reviews of this original and interesting (imho) work can be found here in French or there in English.






                        share|improve this answer




















                        • 6





                          According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

                          – msh210
                          Jun 5 at 14:35






                        • 9





                          @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 5 at 14:47







                        • 1





                          This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

                          – lly
                          Jun 6 at 0:50







                        • 2





                          @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 6 at 6:37
















                        109














                        Louis-François Pinagot



                        He was an illiterate shoemaker in western France in the 19th century. French historian Alain Corbin picked Pinagot at random on a town registry, and wrote his biography as a way to describe the social environment of 19th century France, collecting as much data as possible about Pinagot, his family, his village, etc.



                        The result was published in 2001 in Le monde retrouvé de Louis-François Pinagot, sur les traces d'un inconnu, 1798-1876, translated into English as The Life of an Unknown.



                        Reviews of this original and interesting (imho) work can be found here in French or there in English.






                        share|improve this answer




















                        • 6





                          According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

                          – msh210
                          Jun 5 at 14:35






                        • 9





                          @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 5 at 14:47







                        • 1





                          This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

                          – lly
                          Jun 6 at 0:50







                        • 2





                          @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 6 at 6:37














                        109












                        109








                        109







                        Louis-François Pinagot



                        He was an illiterate shoemaker in western France in the 19th century. French historian Alain Corbin picked Pinagot at random on a town registry, and wrote his biography as a way to describe the social environment of 19th century France, collecting as much data as possible about Pinagot, his family, his village, etc.



                        The result was published in 2001 in Le monde retrouvé de Louis-François Pinagot, sur les traces d'un inconnu, 1798-1876, translated into English as The Life of an Unknown.



                        Reviews of this original and interesting (imho) work can be found here in French or there in English.






                        share|improve this answer















                        Louis-François Pinagot



                        He was an illiterate shoemaker in western France in the 19th century. French historian Alain Corbin picked Pinagot at random on a town registry, and wrote his biography as a way to describe the social environment of 19th century France, collecting as much data as possible about Pinagot, his family, his village, etc.



                        The result was published in 2001 in Le monde retrouvé de Louis-François Pinagot, sur les traces d'un inconnu, 1798-1876, translated into English as The Life of an Unknown.



                        Reviews of this original and interesting (imho) work can be found here in French or there in English.







                        share|improve this answer














                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer








                        edited Jun 4 at 16:11

























                        answered Jun 4 at 16:02









                        EvargaloEvargalo

                        3,20011124




                        3,20011124







                        • 6





                          According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

                          – msh210
                          Jun 5 at 14:35






                        • 9





                          @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 5 at 14:47







                        • 1





                          This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

                          – lly
                          Jun 6 at 0:50







                        • 2





                          @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 6 at 6:37













                        • 6





                          According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

                          – msh210
                          Jun 5 at 14:35






                        • 9





                          @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 5 at 14:47







                        • 1





                          This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

                          – lly
                          Jun 6 at 0:50







                        • 2





                          @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

                          – Evargalo
                          Jun 6 at 6:37








                        6




                        6





                        According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

                        – msh210
                        Jun 5 at 14:35





                        According to the English-language review you link to, this book covers what people of M. Pinagot's social stratum and generation and location did and thought, etc., and imposes them on M. Pinagot himself. That's not biography: it's historical fiction.

                        – msh210
                        Jun 5 at 14:35




                        9




                        9





                        @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

                        – Evargalo
                        Jun 5 at 14:47






                        @msh210 Conversely, the French review regrets that Corbin didn't invent more about Pinagot and sticked to what could be ascertained with enough evidence. I have not read the book myself, so I can hardly tell how much of it is facts or documented fiction. But the author is a renowned historian and I reckon this work was well received by academic circles.

                        – Evargalo
                        Jun 5 at 14:47





                        1




                        1





                        This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

                        – lly
                        Jun 6 at 0:50






                        This is the most upvoted answer but (a) is largely fictive and (b) seems to violate the set condition that the person is being addressed directly rather than as a representative of their class. Could any of the upvoters explain the reasoning?

                        – lly
                        Jun 6 at 0:50





                        2




                        2





                        @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

                        – Evargalo
                        Jun 6 at 6:37






                        @Ily : (a) I insist this book is not fictive. It is not meant to be and the excerpts I read are not. (b) I agree with you that Pinagot is studied as a proxy for rural France in his time. But I believe this caveat is inherent to the question and not to the answers: the motivation of an historian biographing a nobody will (always?) be to understand many nobodies, be they holocaust victims, Italian merchants (I upvoted Datini) or soldiers...

                        – Evargalo
                        Jun 6 at 6:37














                        29














                        I think you may look into biographies of war heroes. War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many.



                        For example, The story of a real man, a novel by Boris Polevoy, is a biography of Alexey Maresyev (Meresyev in the book), a Soviet pilot who was shot down behind the frontline, wounded in both legs, crawled back through the woods for 3 weeks, had both legs amputated and still returned to flying fighters and even had victories. Still, he still was a common frontline pilot, his actions did not have significant impact on war outcome, and he was not even the only one with similar life story.






                        share|improve this answer


















                        • 1





                          "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

                          – Pedro Lobito
                          Jun 6 at 9:05







                        • 2





                          @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

                          – Caleb Mauer
                          Jun 6 at 19:11















                        29














                        I think you may look into biographies of war heroes. War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many.



                        For example, The story of a real man, a novel by Boris Polevoy, is a biography of Alexey Maresyev (Meresyev in the book), a Soviet pilot who was shot down behind the frontline, wounded in both legs, crawled back through the woods for 3 weeks, had both legs amputated and still returned to flying fighters and even had victories. Still, he still was a common frontline pilot, his actions did not have significant impact on war outcome, and he was not even the only one with similar life story.






                        share|improve this answer


















                        • 1





                          "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

                          – Pedro Lobito
                          Jun 6 at 9:05







                        • 2





                          @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

                          – Caleb Mauer
                          Jun 6 at 19:11













                        29












                        29








                        29







                        I think you may look into biographies of war heroes. War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many.



                        For example, The story of a real man, a novel by Boris Polevoy, is a biography of Alexey Maresyev (Meresyev in the book), a Soviet pilot who was shot down behind the frontline, wounded in both legs, crawled back through the woods for 3 weeks, had both legs amputated and still returned to flying fighters and even had victories. Still, he still was a common frontline pilot, his actions did not have significant impact on war outcome, and he was not even the only one with similar life story.






                        share|improve this answer













                        I think you may look into biographies of war heroes. War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many.



                        For example, The story of a real man, a novel by Boris Polevoy, is a biography of Alexey Maresyev (Meresyev in the book), a Soviet pilot who was shot down behind the frontline, wounded in both legs, crawled back through the woods for 3 weeks, had both legs amputated and still returned to flying fighters and even had victories. Still, he still was a common frontline pilot, his actions did not have significant impact on war outcome, and he was not even the only one with similar life story.







                        share|improve this answer












                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer










                        answered Jun 4 at 15:30









                        NeithNeith

                        74639




                        74639







                        • 1





                          "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

                          – Pedro Lobito
                          Jun 6 at 9:05







                        • 2





                          @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

                          – Caleb Mauer
                          Jun 6 at 19:11












                        • 1





                          "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

                          – Pedro Lobito
                          Jun 6 at 9:05







                        • 2





                          @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

                          – Caleb Mauer
                          Jun 6 at 19:11







                        1




                        1





                        "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

                        – Pedro Lobito
                        Jun 6 at 9:05






                        "War is an opportunity for a person to do something notable to attract biographers’ attention and still stay just one of the many", You talk about war has if it was a tv show.

                        – Pedro Lobito
                        Jun 6 at 9:05





                        2




                        2





                        @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

                        – Caleb Mauer
                        Jun 6 at 19:11





                        @PedroLobito He's just being factual. Impressive deeds in war can set a person apart and make them heroes. And war has always been a source of entertaining stories (for those not directly involved).

                        – Caleb Mauer
                        Jun 6 at 19:11











                        29














                        The Merchant of Prato by Iris Origo (1957) is a biography of Francesco Datini a 14th-century merchant banker.



                        The only distinguishing factor of Datini is that by chance a huge stash of his written accounts and letters had been preserved and discovered in 1870.






                        share|improve this answer





























                          29














                          The Merchant of Prato by Iris Origo (1957) is a biography of Francesco Datini a 14th-century merchant banker.



                          The only distinguishing factor of Datini is that by chance a huge stash of his written accounts and letters had been preserved and discovered in 1870.






                          share|improve this answer



























                            29












                            29








                            29







                            The Merchant of Prato by Iris Origo (1957) is a biography of Francesco Datini a 14th-century merchant banker.



                            The only distinguishing factor of Datini is that by chance a huge stash of his written accounts and letters had been preserved and discovered in 1870.






                            share|improve this answer















                            The Merchant of Prato by Iris Origo (1957) is a biography of Francesco Datini a 14th-century merchant banker.



                            The only distinguishing factor of Datini is that by chance a huge stash of his written accounts and letters had been preserved and discovered in 1870.







                            share|improve this answer














                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer








                            edited Jun 5 at 11:46









                            Evargalo

                            3,20011124




                            3,20011124










                            answered Jun 5 at 9:35









                            Daniel DarabosDaniel Darabos

                            39114




                            39114





















                                23














                                Not a book, but there is a long-running documentary film series in the UK following the lives of ordinary people with a film every seven years from the first when they were seven years old. The latest, '63 Up', has just shown.



                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)






                                share|improve this answer


















                                • 2





                                  There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

                                  – Jan
                                  Jun 6 at 17:55















                                23














                                Not a book, but there is a long-running documentary film series in the UK following the lives of ordinary people with a film every seven years from the first when they were seven years old. The latest, '63 Up', has just shown.



                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)






                                share|improve this answer


















                                • 2





                                  There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

                                  – Jan
                                  Jun 6 at 17:55













                                23












                                23








                                23







                                Not a book, but there is a long-running documentary film series in the UK following the lives of ordinary people with a film every seven years from the first when they were seven years old. The latest, '63 Up', has just shown.



                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)






                                share|improve this answer













                                Not a book, but there is a long-running documentary film series in the UK following the lives of ordinary people with a film every seven years from the first when they were seven years old. The latest, '63 Up', has just shown.



                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)







                                share|improve this answer












                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer










                                answered Jun 5 at 8:23









                                cookie75cookie75

                                3312




                                3312







                                • 2





                                  There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

                                  – Jan
                                  Jun 6 at 17:55












                                • 2





                                  There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

                                  – Jan
                                  Jun 6 at 17:55







                                2




                                2





                                There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

                                – Jan
                                Jun 6 at 17:55





                                There was a similar project in Germany: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Golzow

                                – Jan
                                Jun 6 at 17:55











                                12














                                One of my favorite historical accounts is The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg (an Italian historian).



                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheese_and_the_Worms



                                It's an account of the life and trial of a sixteenth century miller brought before the inquisition twice, tried, and eventually executed.



                                Quite excellent.



                                "The study examines the unique religious beliefs and cosmology of Menocchio (1532–1599), also known as Domenico Scandella, who was an Italian miller from the village of Montereale, twenty-five kilometers north of Pordenone. He was from the peasant class and not a learned aristocrat or man of letters, Ginzburg places him in the tradition of popular culture and pre-Chrisitan naturalistic peasant religions. His outspoken beliefs earned him the title of a heresiarch (heretic) during the Roman Inquisition."






                                share|improve this answer



























                                  12














                                  One of my favorite historical accounts is The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg (an Italian historian).



                                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheese_and_the_Worms



                                  It's an account of the life and trial of a sixteenth century miller brought before the inquisition twice, tried, and eventually executed.



                                  Quite excellent.



                                  "The study examines the unique religious beliefs and cosmology of Menocchio (1532–1599), also known as Domenico Scandella, who was an Italian miller from the village of Montereale, twenty-five kilometers north of Pordenone. He was from the peasant class and not a learned aristocrat or man of letters, Ginzburg places him in the tradition of popular culture and pre-Chrisitan naturalistic peasant religions. His outspoken beliefs earned him the title of a heresiarch (heretic) during the Roman Inquisition."






                                  share|improve this answer

























                                    12












                                    12








                                    12







                                    One of my favorite historical accounts is The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg (an Italian historian).



                                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheese_and_the_Worms



                                    It's an account of the life and trial of a sixteenth century miller brought before the inquisition twice, tried, and eventually executed.



                                    Quite excellent.



                                    "The study examines the unique religious beliefs and cosmology of Menocchio (1532–1599), also known as Domenico Scandella, who was an Italian miller from the village of Montereale, twenty-five kilometers north of Pordenone. He was from the peasant class and not a learned aristocrat or man of letters, Ginzburg places him in the tradition of popular culture and pre-Chrisitan naturalistic peasant religions. His outspoken beliefs earned him the title of a heresiarch (heretic) during the Roman Inquisition."






                                    share|improve this answer













                                    One of my favorite historical accounts is The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg (an Italian historian).



                                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheese_and_the_Worms



                                    It's an account of the life and trial of a sixteenth century miller brought before the inquisition twice, tried, and eventually executed.



                                    Quite excellent.



                                    "The study examines the unique religious beliefs and cosmology of Menocchio (1532–1599), also known as Domenico Scandella, who was an Italian miller from the village of Montereale, twenty-five kilometers north of Pordenone. He was from the peasant class and not a learned aristocrat or man of letters, Ginzburg places him in the tradition of popular culture and pre-Chrisitan naturalistic peasant religions. His outspoken beliefs earned him the title of a heresiarch (heretic) during the Roman Inquisition."







                                    share|improve this answer












                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer










                                    answered Jun 5 at 12:51









                                    JamesIsInJamesIsIn

                                    1212




                                    1212





















                                        10














                                        The novelist Vikram Seth wrote Two Lives: A Memoir, which is a biography of his uncle and aunt.



                                        His uncle was a dentist, originally from India, who studied dentistry in Germany. His wife was Jewish, from Berlin. They left Germany and settled in England shortly before World War II.



                                        The part of the book that I remember best describes the effect of World War II and its aftermath, including the partition of Berlin, both on them and on their circle of friends (both Jewish and Gentile) who originally lived in Berlin.






                                        share|improve this answer





























                                          10














                                          The novelist Vikram Seth wrote Two Lives: A Memoir, which is a biography of his uncle and aunt.



                                          His uncle was a dentist, originally from India, who studied dentistry in Germany. His wife was Jewish, from Berlin. They left Germany and settled in England shortly before World War II.



                                          The part of the book that I remember best describes the effect of World War II and its aftermath, including the partition of Berlin, both on them and on their circle of friends (both Jewish and Gentile) who originally lived in Berlin.






                                          share|improve this answer



























                                            10












                                            10








                                            10







                                            The novelist Vikram Seth wrote Two Lives: A Memoir, which is a biography of his uncle and aunt.



                                            His uncle was a dentist, originally from India, who studied dentistry in Germany. His wife was Jewish, from Berlin. They left Germany and settled in England shortly before World War II.



                                            The part of the book that I remember best describes the effect of World War II and its aftermath, including the partition of Berlin, both on them and on their circle of friends (both Jewish and Gentile) who originally lived in Berlin.






                                            share|improve this answer















                                            The novelist Vikram Seth wrote Two Lives: A Memoir, which is a biography of his uncle and aunt.



                                            His uncle was a dentist, originally from India, who studied dentistry in Germany. His wife was Jewish, from Berlin. They left Germany and settled in England shortly before World War II.



                                            The part of the book that I remember best describes the effect of World War II and its aftermath, including the partition of Berlin, both on them and on their circle of friends (both Jewish and Gentile) who originally lived in Berlin.







                                            share|improve this answer














                                            share|improve this answer



                                            share|improve this answer








                                            edited Jun 6 at 13:06

























                                            answered Jun 5 at 10:32









                                            Peter ShorPeter Shor

                                            2376




                                            2376





















                                                8














                                                You could try A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.



                                                Strictly speaking, it's not a biography, as much as a tour of the 14th century in France, with sections on all the important events of the day: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, peasant revolts, the papal schism, and such. But most of the narrative is structured around the life of a mostly unremarkable noble named Enguerrand VII de Coucy. He was a respectable but not particularly influential lord who didn't really play any significant role in shaping history, but took part in all, or nearly all, of the major events of the century. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, saw his estate decimated by the plague, put down some peasant revolts, got caught up in political intrigue due to having an English wife, and died fighting a far off crusade against the Ottomans.



                                                Tuchman chose his life to build her book around specifically because he was the most ordinary person she could find who took part in the events of the day. She wrote in the intro that she spent a while trying to find an even more ordinary person, like a peasant, but unsurprisingly none of them had any detailed enough records of their lives. So the Sire de Coucy it was.



                                                It's been a while since I read it, but I'm guessing that maybe half of the book deals with de Coucy in a biographical fashion, and the other half is more of a traditional narrative. So not exactly what you're looking for, but it might scratch that itch.






                                                share|improve this answer


















                                                • 4





                                                  He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

                                                  – Jan
                                                  Jun 5 at 7:55











                                                • hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

                                                  – krock
                                                  Jun 5 at 14:37















                                                8














                                                You could try A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.



                                                Strictly speaking, it's not a biography, as much as a tour of the 14th century in France, with sections on all the important events of the day: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, peasant revolts, the papal schism, and such. But most of the narrative is structured around the life of a mostly unremarkable noble named Enguerrand VII de Coucy. He was a respectable but not particularly influential lord who didn't really play any significant role in shaping history, but took part in all, or nearly all, of the major events of the century. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, saw his estate decimated by the plague, put down some peasant revolts, got caught up in political intrigue due to having an English wife, and died fighting a far off crusade against the Ottomans.



                                                Tuchman chose his life to build her book around specifically because he was the most ordinary person she could find who took part in the events of the day. She wrote in the intro that she spent a while trying to find an even more ordinary person, like a peasant, but unsurprisingly none of them had any detailed enough records of their lives. So the Sire de Coucy it was.



                                                It's been a while since I read it, but I'm guessing that maybe half of the book deals with de Coucy in a biographical fashion, and the other half is more of a traditional narrative. So not exactly what you're looking for, but it might scratch that itch.






                                                share|improve this answer


















                                                • 4





                                                  He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

                                                  – Jan
                                                  Jun 5 at 7:55











                                                • hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

                                                  – krock
                                                  Jun 5 at 14:37













                                                8












                                                8








                                                8







                                                You could try A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.



                                                Strictly speaking, it's not a biography, as much as a tour of the 14th century in France, with sections on all the important events of the day: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, peasant revolts, the papal schism, and such. But most of the narrative is structured around the life of a mostly unremarkable noble named Enguerrand VII de Coucy. He was a respectable but not particularly influential lord who didn't really play any significant role in shaping history, but took part in all, or nearly all, of the major events of the century. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, saw his estate decimated by the plague, put down some peasant revolts, got caught up in political intrigue due to having an English wife, and died fighting a far off crusade against the Ottomans.



                                                Tuchman chose his life to build her book around specifically because he was the most ordinary person she could find who took part in the events of the day. She wrote in the intro that she spent a while trying to find an even more ordinary person, like a peasant, but unsurprisingly none of them had any detailed enough records of their lives. So the Sire de Coucy it was.



                                                It's been a while since I read it, but I'm guessing that maybe half of the book deals with de Coucy in a biographical fashion, and the other half is more of a traditional narrative. So not exactly what you're looking for, but it might scratch that itch.






                                                share|improve this answer













                                                You could try A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.



                                                Strictly speaking, it's not a biography, as much as a tour of the 14th century in France, with sections on all the important events of the day: the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, peasant revolts, the papal schism, and such. But most of the narrative is structured around the life of a mostly unremarkable noble named Enguerrand VII de Coucy. He was a respectable but not particularly influential lord who didn't really play any significant role in shaping history, but took part in all, or nearly all, of the major events of the century. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, saw his estate decimated by the plague, put down some peasant revolts, got caught up in political intrigue due to having an English wife, and died fighting a far off crusade against the Ottomans.



                                                Tuchman chose his life to build her book around specifically because he was the most ordinary person she could find who took part in the events of the day. She wrote in the intro that she spent a while trying to find an even more ordinary person, like a peasant, but unsurprisingly none of them had any detailed enough records of their lives. So the Sire de Coucy it was.



                                                It's been a while since I read it, but I'm guessing that maybe half of the book deals with de Coucy in a biographical fashion, and the other half is more of a traditional narrative. So not exactly what you're looking for, but it might scratch that itch.







                                                share|improve this answer












                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer










                                                answered Jun 4 at 21:57









                                                krockkrock

                                                891




                                                891







                                                • 4





                                                  He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

                                                  – Jan
                                                  Jun 5 at 7:55











                                                • hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

                                                  – krock
                                                  Jun 5 at 14:37












                                                • 4





                                                  He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

                                                  – Jan
                                                  Jun 5 at 7:55











                                                • hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

                                                  – krock
                                                  Jun 5 at 14:37







                                                4




                                                4





                                                He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

                                                – Jan
                                                Jun 5 at 7:55





                                                He was son-in-law of the king of England, so I would not be sure if unremakable and uninfluential is a correct description.

                                                – Jan
                                                Jun 5 at 7:55













                                                hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

                                                – krock
                                                Jun 5 at 14:37





                                                hmm fair enough, it's been a while so I guess I'm remembering him as much more of a nobody than he actually was

                                                – krock
                                                Jun 5 at 14:37











                                                8














                                                To ameliorate some of the western bias among these answers, there's an entire genre of



                                                Lei Feng



                                                Lei Feng



                                                biographies based on his purported diary and others' remembrances of him that have been read by far more people and been far more important to more people than any of the others mentioned here. A billion plus Chinese kids have been raised reading about him as a model citizen, despite his having never held any important post and despite his having been killed at 21 by a telephone pole knocked over by the truck whose movement he was directing.



                                                I'm sure the USSR and their satellites had similar selfless every(wo)men whose hagiographic stories were used to inspire dedication and self-sacrifice among the People. Speaking of which, given the current terms of the question, hagiographies in general fit the bill. Many saints were accomplished churchmen or generous rulers but plenty were simple folk whose personal stories (and legends) were passed down as part of the greater Christian narrative. Similarly the accounts of the Islamic walis, Buddhist arhats, Greek heroes, &c.






                                                share|improve this answer



























                                                  8














                                                  To ameliorate some of the western bias among these answers, there's an entire genre of



                                                  Lei Feng



                                                  Lei Feng



                                                  biographies based on his purported diary and others' remembrances of him that have been read by far more people and been far more important to more people than any of the others mentioned here. A billion plus Chinese kids have been raised reading about him as a model citizen, despite his having never held any important post and despite his having been killed at 21 by a telephone pole knocked over by the truck whose movement he was directing.



                                                  I'm sure the USSR and their satellites had similar selfless every(wo)men whose hagiographic stories were used to inspire dedication and self-sacrifice among the People. Speaking of which, given the current terms of the question, hagiographies in general fit the bill. Many saints were accomplished churchmen or generous rulers but plenty were simple folk whose personal stories (and legends) were passed down as part of the greater Christian narrative. Similarly the accounts of the Islamic walis, Buddhist arhats, Greek heroes, &c.






                                                  share|improve this answer

























                                                    8












                                                    8








                                                    8







                                                    To ameliorate some of the western bias among these answers, there's an entire genre of



                                                    Lei Feng



                                                    Lei Feng



                                                    biographies based on his purported diary and others' remembrances of him that have been read by far more people and been far more important to more people than any of the others mentioned here. A billion plus Chinese kids have been raised reading about him as a model citizen, despite his having never held any important post and despite his having been killed at 21 by a telephone pole knocked over by the truck whose movement he was directing.



                                                    I'm sure the USSR and their satellites had similar selfless every(wo)men whose hagiographic stories were used to inspire dedication and self-sacrifice among the People. Speaking of which, given the current terms of the question, hagiographies in general fit the bill. Many saints were accomplished churchmen or generous rulers but plenty were simple folk whose personal stories (and legends) were passed down as part of the greater Christian narrative. Similarly the accounts of the Islamic walis, Buddhist arhats, Greek heroes, &c.






                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                    To ameliorate some of the western bias among these answers, there's an entire genre of



                                                    Lei Feng



                                                    Lei Feng



                                                    biographies based on his purported diary and others' remembrances of him that have been read by far more people and been far more important to more people than any of the others mentioned here. A billion plus Chinese kids have been raised reading about him as a model citizen, despite his having never held any important post and despite his having been killed at 21 by a telephone pole knocked over by the truck whose movement he was directing.



                                                    I'm sure the USSR and their satellites had similar selfless every(wo)men whose hagiographic stories were used to inspire dedication and self-sacrifice among the People. Speaking of which, given the current terms of the question, hagiographies in general fit the bill. Many saints were accomplished churchmen or generous rulers but plenty were simple folk whose personal stories (and legends) were passed down as part of the greater Christian narrative. Similarly the accounts of the Islamic walis, Buddhist arhats, Greek heroes, &c.







                                                    share|improve this answer












                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                    answered Jun 6 at 3:11









                                                    llylly

                                                    1,271511




                                                    1,271511





















                                                        4














                                                        Christian Weston Chandler is an absolute nobody, yet has a complete wiki (https://sonichu.com/) that documents his whole life, pretty much every email or Facebook post he wrote, every piece of art, video and music he produced. There's also an extensive web of relationships with people he encountered, be they real or not.



                                                        Mr Chandler is pretty much the most documented person on Earth, considering you don't get to read the emails from a political leader or movie celebrity.






                                                        share|improve this answer



























                                                          4














                                                          Christian Weston Chandler is an absolute nobody, yet has a complete wiki (https://sonichu.com/) that documents his whole life, pretty much every email or Facebook post he wrote, every piece of art, video and music he produced. There's also an extensive web of relationships with people he encountered, be they real or not.



                                                          Mr Chandler is pretty much the most documented person on Earth, considering you don't get to read the emails from a political leader or movie celebrity.






                                                          share|improve this answer

























                                                            4












                                                            4








                                                            4







                                                            Christian Weston Chandler is an absolute nobody, yet has a complete wiki (https://sonichu.com/) that documents his whole life, pretty much every email or Facebook post he wrote, every piece of art, video and music he produced. There's also an extensive web of relationships with people he encountered, be they real or not.



                                                            Mr Chandler is pretty much the most documented person on Earth, considering you don't get to read the emails from a political leader or movie celebrity.






                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                            Christian Weston Chandler is an absolute nobody, yet has a complete wiki (https://sonichu.com/) that documents his whole life, pretty much every email or Facebook post he wrote, every piece of art, video and music he produced. There's also an extensive web of relationships with people he encountered, be they real or not.



                                                            Mr Chandler is pretty much the most documented person on Earth, considering you don't get to read the emails from a political leader or movie celebrity.







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                                                            answered Jun 5 at 11:57









                                                            Raton-LaveurRaton-Laveur

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                                                            412





















                                                                4














                                                                Your criteria for exclusion seem quite flexible, so I am not sure if any of the following really count:



                                                                There are several works by holocaust and WWII survivors who are more notable for their post-war lives, e.g. Imre Kertesz, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Inge Deutschkron. There are also works about victims of the war, e.g. about Tanya Savicheva.



                                                                1587 Year of no Significance has several biographies of people who were part of the upper levels of the Chinese state at the time, but the author's focus is more on the circumstances of their lives rather than on the individuals.



                                                                Wild Swans has a biography of the author's grandmother and her parents. The parents were not really nobodies, but not terribly important either (provincial CCP secretary or so, i.e. second tier after national leadership). But IIRC her grandmother had rather humble origins.



                                                                Some more autobiographies: Josef Deifl, who fought in the Napoleonic wars, or Peter Hagendorf from the Thirty Years War.






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                                                                  4














                                                                  Your criteria for exclusion seem quite flexible, so I am not sure if any of the following really count:



                                                                  There are several works by holocaust and WWII survivors who are more notable for their post-war lives, e.g. Imre Kertesz, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Inge Deutschkron. There are also works about victims of the war, e.g. about Tanya Savicheva.



                                                                  1587 Year of no Significance has several biographies of people who were part of the upper levels of the Chinese state at the time, but the author's focus is more on the circumstances of their lives rather than on the individuals.



                                                                  Wild Swans has a biography of the author's grandmother and her parents. The parents were not really nobodies, but not terribly important either (provincial CCP secretary or so, i.e. second tier after national leadership). But IIRC her grandmother had rather humble origins.



                                                                  Some more autobiographies: Josef Deifl, who fought in the Napoleonic wars, or Peter Hagendorf from the Thirty Years War.






                                                                  share|improve this answer



























                                                                    4












                                                                    4








                                                                    4







                                                                    Your criteria for exclusion seem quite flexible, so I am not sure if any of the following really count:



                                                                    There are several works by holocaust and WWII survivors who are more notable for their post-war lives, e.g. Imre Kertesz, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Inge Deutschkron. There are also works about victims of the war, e.g. about Tanya Savicheva.



                                                                    1587 Year of no Significance has several biographies of people who were part of the upper levels of the Chinese state at the time, but the author's focus is more on the circumstances of their lives rather than on the individuals.



                                                                    Wild Swans has a biography of the author's grandmother and her parents. The parents were not really nobodies, but not terribly important either (provincial CCP secretary or so, i.e. second tier after national leadership). But IIRC her grandmother had rather humble origins.



                                                                    Some more autobiographies: Josef Deifl, who fought in the Napoleonic wars, or Peter Hagendorf from the Thirty Years War.






                                                                    share|improve this answer















                                                                    Your criteria for exclusion seem quite flexible, so I am not sure if any of the following really count:



                                                                    There are several works by holocaust and WWII survivors who are more notable for their post-war lives, e.g. Imre Kertesz, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Inge Deutschkron. There are also works about victims of the war, e.g. about Tanya Savicheva.



                                                                    1587 Year of no Significance has several biographies of people who were part of the upper levels of the Chinese state at the time, but the author's focus is more on the circumstances of their lives rather than on the individuals.



                                                                    Wild Swans has a biography of the author's grandmother and her parents. The parents were not really nobodies, but not terribly important either (provincial CCP secretary or so, i.e. second tier after national leadership). But IIRC her grandmother had rather humble origins.



                                                                    Some more autobiographies: Josef Deifl, who fought in the Napoleonic wars, or Peter Hagendorf from the Thirty Years War.







                                                                    share|improve this answer














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                                                                    edited Jun 5 at 20:24

























                                                                    answered Jun 5 at 7:53









                                                                    JanJan

                                                                    1743




                                                                    1743





















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                                                                        Not sure if you consider it biography exactly, but Steven Ozment's Magdalena and Balthasar is a lovely study of a 1500s mercantile couple from the Holy Roman Empire. It is principally translation and commentary on their correspondence, studying their relationship and milieu through the medium of those letters, though, rather than a true birth-to-childhood-to-adulthood-narrative biography.






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                                                                          2














                                                                          Not sure if you consider it biography exactly, but Steven Ozment's Magdalena and Balthasar is a lovely study of a 1500s mercantile couple from the Holy Roman Empire. It is principally translation and commentary on their correspondence, studying their relationship and milieu through the medium of those letters, though, rather than a true birth-to-childhood-to-adulthood-narrative biography.






                                                                          share|improve this answer

























                                                                            2












                                                                            2








                                                                            2







                                                                            Not sure if you consider it biography exactly, but Steven Ozment's Magdalena and Balthasar is a lovely study of a 1500s mercantile couple from the Holy Roman Empire. It is principally translation and commentary on their correspondence, studying their relationship and milieu through the medium of those letters, though, rather than a true birth-to-childhood-to-adulthood-narrative biography.






                                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                                            Not sure if you consider it biography exactly, but Steven Ozment's Magdalena and Balthasar is a lovely study of a 1500s mercantile couple from the Holy Roman Empire. It is principally translation and commentary on their correspondence, studying their relationship and milieu through the medium of those letters, though, rather than a true birth-to-childhood-to-adulthood-narrative biography.







                                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                                            share|improve this answer



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                                                                            answered Jun 5 at 22:32









                                                                            TierceletTiercelet

                                                                            26114




                                                                            26114





















                                                                                1














                                                                                The Minaguchi Inn is a book detailing the establishment in question, from its origins as the house of a samurai, to its transformation into an inn, and the family who lived there.






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                                                                                  1














                                                                                  The Minaguchi Inn is a book detailing the establishment in question, from its origins as the house of a samurai, to its transformation into an inn, and the family who lived there.






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                                                                                    1












                                                                                    1








                                                                                    1







                                                                                    The Minaguchi Inn is a book detailing the establishment in question, from its origins as the house of a samurai, to its transformation into an inn, and the family who lived there.






                                                                                    share|improve this answer













                                                                                    The Minaguchi Inn is a book detailing the establishment in question, from its origins as the house of a samurai, to its transformation into an inn, and the family who lived there.







                                                                                    share|improve this answer












                                                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                                                    share|improve this answer










                                                                                    answered Jun 5 at 17:33









                                                                                    nijinekonijineko

                                                                                    1113




                                                                                    1113





















                                                                                        1














                                                                                        Not exactly a book, or a serious biography, but the song "The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams" might qualify.






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                                                                                          1














                                                                                          Not exactly a book, or a serious biography, but the song "The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams" might qualify.






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                                                                                            1












                                                                                            1








                                                                                            1







                                                                                            Not exactly a book, or a serious biography, but the song "The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams" might qualify.






                                                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                                                            Not exactly a book, or a serious biography, but the song "The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams" might qualify.







                                                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                                                            answered Jun 6 at 11:42









                                                                                            Bradley UffnerBradley Uffner

                                                                                            1284




                                                                                            1284





















                                                                                                1














                                                                                                Europa Europa is a movie but could fit the bill of the story of a random person:




                                                                                                It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German
                                                                                                Jewish boy who escaped the Holocaust by masquerading as a "Nazi"
                                                                                                German.




                                                                                                While the story is understandably quite extraordinary, Solomon Perel was a standard boy who left no marks in History. The move gives an interesting insight view on the relationships between young Nazis, and their families.






                                                                                                share|improve this answer





























                                                                                                  1














                                                                                                  Europa Europa is a movie but could fit the bill of the story of a random person:




                                                                                                  It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German
                                                                                                  Jewish boy who escaped the Holocaust by masquerading as a "Nazi"
                                                                                                  German.




                                                                                                  While the story is understandably quite extraordinary, Solomon Perel was a standard boy who left no marks in History. The move gives an interesting insight view on the relationships between young Nazis, and their families.






                                                                                                  share|improve this answer



























                                                                                                    1












                                                                                                    1








                                                                                                    1







                                                                                                    Europa Europa is a movie but could fit the bill of the story of a random person:




                                                                                                    It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German
                                                                                                    Jewish boy who escaped the Holocaust by masquerading as a "Nazi"
                                                                                                    German.




                                                                                                    While the story is understandably quite extraordinary, Solomon Perel was a standard boy who left no marks in History. The move gives an interesting insight view on the relationships between young Nazis, and their families.






                                                                                                    share|improve this answer















                                                                                                    Europa Europa is a movie but could fit the bill of the story of a random person:




                                                                                                    It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German
                                                                                                    Jewish boy who escaped the Holocaust by masquerading as a "Nazi"
                                                                                                    German.




                                                                                                    While the story is understandably quite extraordinary, Solomon Perel was a standard boy who left no marks in History. The move gives an interesting insight view on the relationships between young Nazis, and their families.







                                                                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                                                                    share|improve this answer








                                                                                                    edited Jun 7 at 12:45

























                                                                                                    answered Jun 6 at 12:55









                                                                                                    WoJWoJ

                                                                                                    377314




                                                                                                    377314





















                                                                                                        0














                                                                                                        Biographies don't necessarily have to be written. Portraits and sculpture are often just as eloquent forms of testimony. And given your question, I'd point out the custom of memorialising the dead of a war through the tomb of the unknown soldier which arose from the end of the first world war as an eloquent form of biography.






                                                                                                        share|improve this answer



























                                                                                                          0














                                                                                                          Biographies don't necessarily have to be written. Portraits and sculpture are often just as eloquent forms of testimony. And given your question, I'd point out the custom of memorialising the dead of a war through the tomb of the unknown soldier which arose from the end of the first world war as an eloquent form of biography.






                                                                                                          share|improve this answer

























                                                                                                            0












                                                                                                            0








                                                                                                            0







                                                                                                            Biographies don't necessarily have to be written. Portraits and sculpture are often just as eloquent forms of testimony. And given your question, I'd point out the custom of memorialising the dead of a war through the tomb of the unknown soldier which arose from the end of the first world war as an eloquent form of biography.






                                                                                                            share|improve this answer













                                                                                                            Biographies don't necessarily have to be written. Portraits and sculpture are often just as eloquent forms of testimony. And given your question, I'd point out the custom of memorialising the dead of a war through the tomb of the unknown soldier which arose from the end of the first world war as an eloquent form of biography.







                                                                                                            share|improve this answer












                                                                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                                                                            share|improve this answer










                                                                                                            answered Jun 8 at 7:23









                                                                                                            Mozibur UllahMozibur Ullah

                                                                                                            1,2661327




                                                                                                            1,2661327















                                                                                                                protected by Lars Bosteen Jun 6 at 0:09



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