An electrifying re-examination of one of the twentieth century’s greatest unsung power players, from the bestselling author of A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
A 2024 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TELEGRAPH, ECONOMIST, FINANCIAL TIMES, GUARDIAN, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, SPECTATOR, LONDON STANDARD and OLDIE
‘Supremely enjoyable … With a historian’s eye for rigour, a journalist’s for detail and a storyteller’s for drama’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘A page turner that matches her subject in verve and ambition … Tremendous’ IRISH EXAMINER
‘A wonderfully racy romp [and] a gripping biography of a brave, ambitious woman’ DAILY MAIL
‘An incredible story, beautifully told, of a remarkable woman whose political influence spanned Churchill to Clinton. Quite a woman, quite a read’ ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
‘Superb and fascinating. I can’t recommend it more’ LADY ANNE GLENCONNER, bestselling author of Lady in Waiting
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were scathing – and often downright sexist. Written off as a social climber, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true legacy. Much of what she did behind the scenes to shape the twentieth century, on both sides of the Atlantic, remained invisible. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how Harriman left an indelible mark on the world today.
There is practically no-one in twentieth-century politics, culture and fashion whose lives she did not touch. Her influence began at age twenty, when her father-in-law, Winston Churchill, engaged her as a “secret weapon” during World War II, wining, dining and seducing Americans over to the British cause against Hitler. It continued later in the US, where she hand-picked Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulted him to the presidency. It extended further, over five decades and two continents, influencing figures like the Kennedys, Nelson Mandela, Truman Capote, Gianni Agnelli, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem and Frank Sinatra.
Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigour that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, power, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, Kingmaker sets out Harriman’s rightful place at the heart of recent history.
****
‘Rigorous but rollicking’ NEW YORK TIMES
‘Fascinating and revelatory, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph’ WILLIAM BOYD
‘As compelling as its subject’ TLS
‘ Riveting and revelatory’ THE NEW YORKER
‘An alluring new biography’ THE ECONOMIST
‘Purnell’s research is impeccable’ SPECTATOR
‘Kingmaker is on to something important. Successful women are judged differently than men’ AMANDA FOREMAN, GUARDIAN
‘Sympathetic, well-researched, busily peopled’ OBSERVER BOOK OF THE DAY
‘Vivid’ NEW STATESMAN
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Reviews
Kingmaker is as compelling as its subject
A romp of a read
This captivating new look sees Harriman for who she truly was [and] digs deep into what made Harriman who she was-sharp, tactical, power-hungry, generous, infamous-and why she managed to find herself at the crux of almost every major event in her lifetime. It's a crash course in history, to be sure, but also a finely observed story of becoming who you're meant to be-whether the world approves or not
A wonderfully racy romp [and] a gripping biography of a brave, ambitious woman
Sympathetic, well-researched, busily peopled ... The most astonishing passages of the book concern Churchill Harriman's early role as an intelligence-gathering intermediary between the British war cabinet and the Americans
A superb and fascinating account of Pamela Churchill Harriman's life. It certainly puts the record straight and I can't recommend it more
Purnell's achievement in this vivid narrative is to show just why so many men and women of influence wanted her blessing
An incredible story, beautifully told, of a remarkable woman whose political influence spanned Churchill to Clinton, and whose sex life alone would make a Hollywood blockbuster. Quite a woman, quite a read
Comprehensive and warm ... Purnell gets across the energy and tenacity of her subject ... A very enjoyable account of a fascinating life
Sonia Purnell raises disturbing and enduring questions about constraints of female influence, emotional duplicity and sexual exploitation
A fascinating read and would make an enthralling present for a history enthusiast
Purnell makes the case for Pamela as a woman of substance ... Kingmaker is on to something important. Successful women are judged differently than men
Rigorous but rollicking
A compulsively readable, multifaceted portrait of an oft-misunderstood woman whose role in twentieth-century geopolitics has, until now, been severely underappreciated
Meticulous research informs a captivating biography
A perfumed seductress with a big heart and even bigger hair, Pamela Harriman trailed jewels and luxury as she befriended everyone from Sinatra and Mandela to Kennedy and Nixon. In Kingmaker, Sonia Purnell triumphantly resurrects this British-born aristocrat (and daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill) whose life was intertwined with many of the greatest movers and shakers of the twentieth century. Addicted to men with riches and power, Pamela's lack of formal education proved no handicap to her becoming President Clinton's hand-picked ambassador to France. Meticulously researched and served up with great panache, this is the biography that Pamela Harriman so richly deserves
A page turner that matches her subject in verve and ambition ... Tremendous
One of the most accomplished biographers of our time. Purnell gifts readers with a vivid, glittering, sexy, scintillating, beautifully written portrait of a woman who drove 20th century history even as history was driving her. Kingmaker is a rich and nuanced study of power--its allure, its perils, the gratifications and the great cost of its pursuit
Pamela wined, dined and seduced in the name of Britain's battle against tyranny ... An alluring new biography
Purnell's research is impeccable
A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... Riveting and revelatory
A completely fascinating and revelatory biography, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph
Supremely enjoyable ... With a historian's eye for rigour, a journalist's for detail and a storyteller's for drama, Purnell is extremely persuasive ... Refreshing and timely; meticulously researched ... Pamela, in Purnell's deft hands, blossoms into a fascinating subject
Sonia Purnell escorts readers behind the scenes, beneath the covers, and between the lines as she crafts an enthralling and exhaustive portrait of Pamela Harriman, whose life and legacy have long deserved the kind of insightful treatment that someone with Purnell's storytelling talents can provide ... A deliciously seductive read
Wonderful ... brilliantly readable and fair minded. Was there anyone else like Pamela Churchill Harriman? And will there ever be again?
Purnell convincingly turns a comic-book enchantress into a sensualist operator, equally fluent in U.N. Security Council resolutions, table linens, and oral sex
Sonia Purnell's Kingmaker resurrects another heroine in Pamela Churchwell Harriman, a figure who might have been invented by Jilly Cooper . . . the world's almost only diplomat-cum-courtesan, knew everyone, went everywhere, wore fabulous frocks, and helped shape post-war British and American politics
In Purnell's hands, Kingmaker becomes a study of the limited means of influence available to ambitious women of Harriman's generation