Reviews
Condoleezza Rice: An American Life
by Elisabeth Bumiller
Random House; 400 pages; $27.95
Condoleezza Rice, one of most powerful and controversial women in the world, has until now remained a mystery behind an elegant, cool veneer. In this stunning new biography, New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller peels back the layers and presents a revelatory portrait of the first black female secretary of state and President George W. Bush’s national security adviser on September 11, 2001. The book relates in more intimate detail than ever before the personal voyage of a young black woman out of the segregated American South and also tells the sweeping story of a tumultuous half-century in the nation’s history….With great insight, Bumiller explores Rice’s effectiveness as national security adviser and secretary of state, her attempts to revive classic American diplomacy, her longtime political ambitions, and her future on the world stage.
“[M]easured, insightful and comprehensive”—Jacob Heilbrunn, The New York Times Book Review
“[S]crupulously fair…[shows] an ambitious woman whose achievements and shortcomings speak for themselves”—Robert Dallek, The New York Times