Kate Brower

The first authorised biography of eternal legend Elizabeth Taylor. Known for her glamorous beauty, soap-opera personal life and magnetic screen presence, Elizabeth Taylor was the twentieth century's most famous film star. Including unseen photographs and unread private reflections, this authorised biography is a fascinating and complete portrait worthy of the legend and her legacy. Elizabeth Taylor captures this intelligent, empathetic, tenacious, volatile and complex woman as never before, from her rise to massive fame at the age of twelve in National Velvet to becoming the first actor to negotiate a million-dollar salary for a film, from her eight marriages and enduring love affair with Richard Burton to her lifelong battle with addiction and her courageous efforts as an AIDS activist. Using Elizabeth's unpublished letters, diary entries and off-the-record interview transcripts as well as interviews with 250 of her closest friends and family, Kate Andersen Brower tells the full, unvarnished story of the classic Hollywood star who continues to captivate audiences the world over.

Senki sem érti és ismeri úgy az Egyesült Államok elnökét és családját, mint azok a férfiak és nők, akik a Fehér Ház mindennapi üzemeltetéséről gondoskodnak. Történeteik, amelyek ötven évet, tíz adminisztrációt és számtalan kisebb-nagyobb válságot ölelnek fel, most először kerülnek nyilvánosságra ebben a kötetben. A komornyikokkal, a szobalányokkal, a főszakácsokkal, a virágkötőkkel, a portásokkal és más alkalmazottakkal, valamint egykori First Ladykkel és elnöki családtagokkal készített több száz órányi interjúból merítve Kate Andersen Brower a Fehér házhoz lojális, elhívatott szakemberek csoportját mutatja be. Ők azok, akik fényűző díszvacsorákat vezényelnek le, készenlétben állnak a külföldi méltóságok látogatásai alatt, gondoskodnak az elnöki család gyermekeiről, és teljesítik az elnöki pár minden kívánságát, legyen az bármilyen bonyolult vagy esetenként akár meghökkentő.

A remarkable history with elements of both In the President's Secret Service and The Butler, The Residence offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas. America's First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family. These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion's 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases, and prepare everything from hors d'oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level's basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love. Combining incredible first-person anecdotes from extensive interviews with scores of White House staff members-many speaking for the first time-with archival research, Kate Andersen Brower tells their story. She reveals the intimacy between the First Family and the people who serve them, as well as tension that has shaken the staff over the decades. From the housekeeper and engineer who fell in love while serving President Reagan to Jackie Kennedy's private moment of grief with a beloved staffer after her husband's assassination to the tumultuous days surrounding President Nixon's resignation and President Clinton's impeachment battle, The Residence is full of surprising and moving details that illuminate day-to-day life at the White House.