Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and Power
Advance praise forDangerous Ambition “With grace and insight, Susan Hertog has written a masterly dual biography of two of the most formidable women of their age. This is a deeply researched, carefully wrought book, at once illuminating and entertaining, and it brings Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson back to vivid life. As readers, we owe Hertog a great debt.”—Jon Meacham, author ofAmerican Lion “Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson were brave, driven, ferociously intelligent, and magnificently right about the thing that mattered more than anything else in their era: the Nazi threat. In this well-researched, fluent, and groundbreaking work, Susan Hertog successfully connects their personal and professional lives, drawing profound moral conclusions from the friendship between these two ambitious, high-achieving, and admirable women.”—Andrew Roberts, author ofThe Storm of War “Susan Hertog brilliantly captures these two women as they lived, loved, and marshaled their power to fight for Western civilization in the hour of its greatest challenge. We know what Dorothy Thompson and Rebecca West did; Hertog shows us how they did it.”—Amity Shlaes, author ofThe Forgotten Man “They were literary icons—among the most admired writers of their day. At a time when most women were made to choose between the two, Britain’s Rebecca West and America’s Dorothy Thompson never managed to reconcile professional success with personal fulfillment. It’s all unveiled here in Susan Hertog’s deft and perceptive portrait of their accomplished but messy lives—riveting tales of triumph and tragedy. This is an illuminating, sobering read.”—Ellen Chesler, author ofWoman of Valor                                                                              “Meticulously researched, interpretively daring, and beautifully written,Dangerous Ambitioninterweaves the stories of two remarkably talented women writers (and their sons and lovers) as they stumble and dance their way through the terrible twentieth century, struggling with their conflicting roles as wives and mothers, witnesses and chroniclers of a world gone mad.”—David Nasaw, author ofAndrew Carnegie “I very much enjoyed this worthy look at two big lives, these fascinating women of the twentieth century: both intellectuals, both serious writers, both passionately engaged in the great issues of their day, and both functioning, in different ways, as true leaders. This is a great story, and Susan Hertog tells it with verve and spirit.”—Peggy Noonan, author ofPatriotic Grace