An Unsung 20th Century Power Player, Pamela Harriman
Event Details
Just days after publication, join CLS in partnership with the Royal Oak Foundation to welcome UK-based Sonia Purnell, bestselling author and journalist, for her latest book, Kingmaker, an electrifying re-examination and eye-popping tale of the money, politics, and fabulous clothes of Pamela Harriman, one of the 20th century’s greatest unsung power players. Known for her lively writing style and meticulous research on important historical figures, Purnell reveals a wealth of fresh research, interviews and newly discovered sources that unveil for the first time, the spectacular story and true legacy of Churchill’s beloved daughter-in-law and the indelible mark she left on the world today.
About the Book
From the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of A Woman of No Importance, an electrifying re-examination of one of the 20th century’s greatest unsung power players. When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were predictably scathing – and many were downright sexist. At the young age of 20 she became a “secret weapon” during World War II, strategically wining, dining, and seducing diplomats and generals to help win over American sentiment (and secrets) to the British cause against Hitler. After the war, she helped to transform Fiat heir Gianni Agnelli into Italy’s ‘uncrowned king’ on the international stage and after moving to the US brought a struggling Democratic party back to life, hand-picking Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulting him to the presidency. Picked as Ambassador to France, she deployed her legendary subtle powers to charm world leaders and help efforts to bring peace to Bosnia, playing her part in what was arguably the high-water mark of American global supremacy. There are few at any time who have operated as close to the center of power over five decades and two continents, and there is practically no one in 20th Century politics, culture, and fashion whose lives she did not touch, including the Kennedys, Truman Capote, Aly Khan, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem, Ed Murrow, and Frank Sinatra. Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigor that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, politics, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, Kingmaker re-asserts Harriman’s rightful place at the heart of history.
Date
October 8, 2024