Evita, First Lady: A Biography of Evita Peron

by John Barnes

Book Overview

Eva Peron was a star and a legend during her lifetime, one of the most alluring women of the twentieth century. Through the hit Broadway musical Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber, her story became famous, and with the release of the film starring Madonna as Eva Peron, her life became a media obsession once again. Whore and feminist, tyrant and saint, Evita was the beautiful and legendary woman who rose up from poverty to become the hypnotically powerful...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802134793
• ISBN13: 9780802134790
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Learn more about this fascinating persona

I fell in love last year. With Argentina. Having visited, I wanted to learn more and more. The musical Evita gave me a taste of the complexity of the fascinating story of one of Argentina's great figures. This book is a scholarly look at her life, her ups her downs, and includes many interesting photographs of Eva and Juan. I recommend it highly.

A hard myth to dissect

This is one biography that can tries to explain what made her tick. Close to 55 years since she died, Evita's mystery unravels slowly. Her childhood trauma is not enough to explain what drove her addictive need for power and bloodlust. If you admire powerful women, read this.

Evita First Lady : A Biography of Eva Peron

I am a biography buff. I prefer fact over fiction and read just about every autobiography and biography that I can get my hands on. Often I have found the need to read several biographies by various authors to get a clear picture and understanding of the subject's life and character. Not this time - Evita First Lady is an exquisitely written biography. It is not a bit of fluff but a riviting account of the life and times of one of history's most notorious first ladies. I highly recommend John Barnes' book.

"Truth stranger than fiction"

I am very familiar with Latin American writers and read them in the Spanish. I read this book in Spanish even though it originally was in English! John Barnes is a very experienced journalist who was stationed in Bueonos Aires for various major publications. He has worked all over the world in places like Argentina, Chile. No. Ireland and covered the Iran Iraq was for Newsweek. With this background and talent he has crafted a facinating book about Eva Peron. It's true that there is a lot of politics but when you are first lady it goes with the territory. It's how she and Col. Peron transformed and revoluncionized Argentina just before the end of WW 11 that is so interesting. Evita left a little pueblo at 15 with no formal education, worked her way up to being a second rate actriz in their film industry. She fell in love with Col Peron many years her senior and took control of the country. It turnes out she was the brains and fierce driving spirit in the process who died at age 32. The major labor union petioned the Pope to have her cannonized a saint! I found this book by the pro John Barnes a real treat.

One of the more comprehensive Eva Peron biographies

This is the sixth biography of Evita that I have read in as many weeks, and I found it to be one of the better ones. Mr. Barnes offers historic and political details in a manner that is comprehensible to the non-scholar. Although he does incorporate some of the gossip, he focuses primarily on the facts. It would be impossible to write an accurate biography of such an important political figure without giving some historical background. I found this book to be an easy read.