Author of “The Last Romantic,” an historical biography of Queen Marie of Romania, called by Graham Greene the best biography and one of the three best books of the year, and “An Uncommon Woman,” a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, Pakula has also written for magazines including Vanity Fair and book reviews for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.
An historical biography of one of the greatest women of the twentieth century, “The Last Empress” tells the story of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the leader of China, who represented her country to the outside world, garnering vast sums of money for its military force and great acclaim for herself during World War II. A beautiful, sexy woman, regarded as an icon by some and the Dragon Lady by others, May-ling Soong Chiang used her enormous intelligence and charm to negotiate her way through the highest echelons of the international political scene. Her life story, filled with drama and passion, is made even more fascinating by the turbulence and importance of her times. In reading about Madame Chiang and her era, we learn what made the Chinese who they are today.
 |
The Last Romantic |
| The story of Marie, a beautiful granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia, who was married off by her mother to the unprepossessing future King of Romania but managed to overcome royal restraints and emerge a legend in her own time. |
 |
An Uncommon Woman |
| The life of Vicky, Queen Victoria’s eldest child who married a handsome Prussian prince and became Empress of Germany. Staunch supporters of benign monarchy, Vicky and her husband struggled against the arch-conservatives who formed the German Empire which led the world into World Wars I and II. |