CONDOLEEZZA RICE An American Life

Kimberly Farr gives an evenhanded, clear, and unemotional reading of Rice's biography. From her upbringing in segregated Alabama (a friend was killed in the 1963 church bombing) to her present post of secretary of state, Rice has been focused, hardworking, and committed. Her mentors have included her parents, her international relations professor at the University of Denver (ironically, Madeleine Albright's father), and, of course, the second President Bush. Farr navigates nimbly through the details of recent foreign entanglements--Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, South Korea--as well as Rice's testy relationships with Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. Little is said of her adult personal life, but through quotes and interviews one senses both her humorous and prickly sides. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 08]