America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Acclaimed biographer Sarah Bradford explores the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the woman who has captivated the public for more than five decades, in a definitive portrait that is both sympathetic and frank. With an extraordinary range of candid interviews—many with people who have never spoken in such depth on record before—Bradford offers new insights into the woman behind the public persona. She creates a coherent picture out of Jackie’s tumultuous and cosmopolitan life—from the aristocratic milieu of Newport and East Hampton to the Greek isles, from political Washington to New York’s publishing community. She probes Jackie’s privileged upbringing, her highly public marriages, and her roles as mother and respected editor, and includes rare photos from private collections to create the most complete account yet written of this legendary life.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has captivated the American public for more than five decades. From her introduction to the world as "debutante of the year" in 1947 to her untimely death in 1994, she has truly remained America's answer to royalty. In America's Queen, the acclaimed biographer of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Grace reveals the real Jackie in a sympathetic but frank portrait of an amazing woman who has dazzled us for years.

Using remarkable new sources - including in-depth interviews with Jackie's sister, Lee Radziwell - Sarah Bradford has written a timely celebration of a life that was more private than commonly supposed. Jackie's privileged upbringing instilled rigid self-control while her expedient marriage into the overwhelming Kennedy clan consolidated her determination. Revealing new testimony from many of the couple's friends shows the profound complexities both of this apparently very public relationship and of her controversial marriage to Aristotle Onassis.

Here is the private Jackie - neglected wife, vigilant mother, and working widow - whose contradictory and fascinating nature is illuminated by all that Bradford has discovered.

Washington Post - Charlotte Hays

[T]he book is probably the definitive one on the subject--providing, among other things, this entirely apt verdict on Jackie's character: "She had all the wrong standards, all the wrong standards," Demi Gates tells Bradford, "and yet she became something very special in spite of this."

Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. She is the bestselling author of several biographies, including Disraeli, selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; George VI; Princess Grace; and The New York Times bestseller Elizabeth. Married to the Viscount Bangor, she lives in London.