Madeleine Albright

by Michael Burgan

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761303677
• ISBN13: 9780761303671
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Millbrook Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Book Review

Madeleine Albright is one of the most notable people to work in the Clinton administration. She was the first woman to ever become Secretary of State and hold such a high position. Most people, though, don't know the private details of this Czechoslovakian immigrant's life from fleeing her homeland to her political volunteering, life celebrations, tragedies, and accomplishments during the forty-first presidency. If you thought other immigrants' life stories were shocking, just wait until you read about this one. Madeleine's life was interesting from the start. Born in 1937, Marie Juana Korbel was Joseph and Mandula Korbel's first born. Joseph had just earned his degree in international law from Charles' University and was headed for great things in the first independent Czechoslovakian government in over four hundred years. As a child, Marie Juana, or Madlenka, experienced first handedly how Hitler had terrorized Western Europe on behalf on the revenge-seeking Germans who were enraged by the extreme conditions of the Versailles peace treaty after the First World War. He and his followers, the Nazis, caused her family to escape to England as part of the Czechoslovakian government in exile program. There, Madlenka learned to speak fluent English and other subjects in school as World War II began. As soon as the war was over in 1945, the Korbels returned to their country, thankful Prague had only been mostly burnt compared to the damage in other cities. If only they knew that would be the last few months they would see their beloved land. By high school, Albright's life turned for the worst. After the war, the Czechoslovakian government had kept the concept of communism to run the country. Joseph, being a loyal democrat, protested but finally accepted a job offer after watching his former superior be executed. He knew it was the only way to get his family safely out. The same year as he was on a business trip, Joseph arranged with a British official to temporarily station his wife and children there until he could get them across the ocean to the United States. Once there, they applied for an asylum, an official order that permitted the Korbels to permanently live in the states, and took a job as a college professor specializing in Czechoslovakian affairs. As an American citizen, Madeleine became more involved with her new home. In college, Albright fell in love with politics, following the footsteps of her father. His influence got her through some rough times such as her surprising divorce from her college sweetheart Joseph Michael Patterson. Supporting three daughters alone, Albright began teaching until she had the opportunity the get really involved when she became the first woman to be Secretary of State. But during her four years of service, a reporter exposed a deep family secret even this powerful woman didn't know about. Her Czechoslovakian roots traced back to the Holocausts, concentration camps the Nazis used to murder millions of Jews

Book Review

Madeleine Albright is one of the most notable people to work in the Clinton administration. She was the first woman to ever become Secretary of State and hold such a high position. Most people, though, don't know the private details of this Czechoslovakian immigrant's life from fleeing her homeland to her accomplishments during the forty-first presidency. If you thought other immigrants' life stories were shocking, just wait until you read about this one. Born in 1937, Marie Juana Korbel was Joseph and Mandula Korbel's first born. Joseph had just earned his degree in international law from Charles' University and was headed for great things in the first independent Czechoslovakian government in over four hundred years. As a child, Marie Juana, or Madlenka, experienced first handedly how Hitler had terrorized Western Europe on behalf on the revenge-seeking Germans who were enraged by the extreme conditions of the Versailles peace treaty after the First World War. He and his followers, the Nazis, caused her family to escape to England as part of the Czechoslovakian government in exile program. There, Madlenka learned to speak fluent English and other subjects in school as World War II began. As soon as the war was over in 1945, the Korbels returned to their country, thankful Prague had only been mostly burnt compared to the damage in other cities. If only they knew that would be the last few months they would see their beloved land. After the war, the Czechoslovakian government had kept the concept of communism to run the country. Joseph, being a loyal democrat, protested but finally accepted a job offer after watching his former superior be executed. He knew it was the only way to get his family safely out. The same year as he was on a business trip, Joseph arranged with a British official to temporarily station his wife and children there until he could get them across the ocean to the United States. Once there, they applied for an asylum, an official order that permitted the Korbels to permanently live in the states, and took a job as a college professor specializing in Czechoslovakian affairs. In college, Albright fell in love with politics, following the footsteps of her father. His influence got her through some rough times such as her surprising divorce from her college sweetheart Joseph Michael Patterson. Supporting three daughters alone, Albright began teaching until she had the opportunity the get really involved when she became the first woman to be Secretary of State. But during her four years of service, a reporter exposed a deep family secret even this powerful woman didn't know about. Her Czechoslovakian roots traced back to the Holocausts, concentration camps the Nazis used to murder millions of Jews. It seemed her three grandparents, one already deceased, all died in the camps across Europe. The disturbing report persuaded Albright to return to Czechoslovakia, now the Czech republic, for the first time in forty years. She then we