Madeleine Albright

School Library Journal

Gr 8 UpOn January 23, 1997, Albright became the first woman to hold the office of Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman ever in the U.S. federal government. Before that, she had been an ambassador, an activist, a teacher, a journalist, a mother, a student, and a refugee. Burgan recounts these experiences and the historical events that shaped them. Much of the same material is found in Judy Hasdays Madeleine Albright (Chelsea, 1998), which has more photos and a livelier style. However, Burgans book goes into greater detail about his subjects life after assuming her cabinet post, particularly about the discovery, via an article in the Washington Post, that her parents were Jews who converted from Judaism to Catholicism when Albright was a child and the controversy that followed that account. The author also discusses the secretarys work for peace in the Middle East and her policy on relations with China. Black-and-white photos are scattered throughout the text.Rebecca OConnell, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.