The Story
She is one of the most compelling, powerful and dangerous women of our time. Also the most underestimated...Americans know Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos as the Shoe Lady, notorious for owning hundreds of pairs of designer shoes and sandals. But Filipinos, who knew there is much more to her story, called her the Steel Butterfly, and youll know why after reading this unauthorized biography by Pulitzer prize winning journalist Katherine Ellison.The research here is superb, the writing is gripping and graceful.The Washington PostFrom her lonely, traumatic upbringing in the remote island of Leyte, Imelda rose to power after a fabled courtship with Ferdinand Marcos. Supported by billions of dollars in US aid, the two ruled the Philippines from 19651986 in an often brutal kleptocracy known as the conjugal dictatorship.This engrossingly detailed biography sheds light on the ManilaWashington connection, Ferdinand Marcos creative diplomacy, and horrific human rights abuses, and Imeldas voracious US real estate purchases including New York Citys Crown Building and littleknown role in the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino.Now in her 90s, Imelda is head of a political dynasty centered on her son, Ferdinand Jr. (BongBong), the nations president, and remains an icon of cheerfully unrepentant greed. How did the Marcos dictatorship last so long, seducing so many US presidents and diplomats? Find out in Imelda: Steel Butterfuly of the Philippines.Katherine Ellison has a reporters zeal for finding the story within the story. Her book is full of surprises.David Haward Bain, author of Sitting in Darkness: Americans in the PhilippinesRead IMELDA today!
Description
She is one of the most compelling, powerful and dangerous women of our time. Also the most underestimated...Americans know Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos as the Shoe Lady, notorious for owning hundreds of pairs of designer shoes and sandals. But Filipinos, who knew there is much more to her story, called her the Steel Butterfly, and youll know why after reading this unauthorized biography by Pulitzer prize winning journalist Katherine Ellison.The research here is superb, the writing is gripping and graceful.The Washington PostFrom her lonely, traumatic upbringing in the remote island of Leyte, Imelda rose to power after a fabled courtship with Ferdinand Marcos. Supported by billions of dollars in US aid, the two ruled the Philippines from 19651986 in an often brutal kleptocracy known as the conjugal dictatorship.This engrossingly detailed biography sheds light on the ManilaWashington connection, Ferdinand Marcos creative diplomacy, and horrific human rights abuses, and Imeldas voracious US real estate purchases including New York Citys Crown Building and littleknown role in the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino.Now in her 90s, Imelda is head of a political dynasty centered on her son, Ferdinand Jr. (BongBong), the nations president, and remains an icon of cheerfully unrepentant greed. How did the Marcos dictatorship last so long, seducing so many US presidents and diplomats? Find out in Imelda: Steel Butterfuly of the Philippines.Katherine Ellison has a reporters zeal for finding the story within the story. Her book is full of surprises.David Haward Bain, author of Sitting in Darkness: Americans in the PhilippinesRead IMELDA today!
