Political veteran Thomas Blood takes us behind the scenes, providing a rare look at Madeleine Albright the role model, the mother, and the tough-as-nails diplomat.

Navigating difficult terrain as few can, Blood provides exclusive interviews with, and revealing anecdotes from, politicians and power brokers, longtime friends, adversaries, and colleagues, including former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Senators Leahy, Mikulski, Kerrey, Helms, Reid, and Rockefeller, and House Minority leader Dick Gephardt.

With clarity and credibility, this unique biography reveals the dramatic story of the first woman U.S. Secretary of State. Rather than providing a simple chronology, Blood focuses on the defining moments in Madeleine Albright's life, identifying the periods that best open a window on the Secretary of State's uncanny ability to triumph over adversity, her unparalleled success in politics, and her meteoric rise to dominance in the world of foreign policy.