我的一生略小于美国现代史 – Personal History by Katharine Graham

20世纪后半叶是历史上的多事之秋，美国更是旋涡的中心，热点事件、政经黑幕频出。《华盛顿邮报》逆势崛起，改写历史进程，犹如彗星划过夜空。

1971年，著名的“五角大楼文件”泄露，该文件详尽客观地记录了二战以后美国政府对越政策的种种秘密，从根本上动摇了越战的合法性。在政府的压力下，全美各大媒体噤若寒蝉，唯有《华盛顿邮报》将真相彻底公开，为此不惜与国防部授意下的司法部对簿公堂，直至在美国最高法院大获全胜。此举在很大程度上影响了越战的结局。

1972年，“水门事件”爆发，《华盛顿邮报》不顾白宫和总统本人的阻挠和威胁，持续在头版头条发布事件调查报告，直至将这个震惊世界的政治阴谋彻底揭穿，并直接导致了美国当任总统尼克松的下台。

带领《华盛顿邮报》写下新闻史上登峰造极一笔的人，正是本书的作者凯瑟琳·格雷厄姆。她系出名门却中年丧偶，在男性主宰职场的环境下，逐步成长为在相当程度上改变历史的“女皇”。这本回忆录，从媒体人的角度几乎重现了美国近代史；从私人的角度，又给历史补充鲜活的细节和动人的情感。从这方面说，本书更接近历史的真相。

In this widely acclaimed memoir (“Riveting, moving…a wonderful book” The New York Times Book Review), Katharine Graham tells her story—one that is extraordinary both for the events it encompasses and for the courage, candor, and dignity of its telling.

Here is the awkward child who grew up amid material wealth and emotional isolation; the young bride who watched her brilliant, charismatic husband—a confidant to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson—plunge into the mental illness that would culminate in his suicide. And here is the widow who shook off her grief and insecurity to take on a president and a pressman’s union as she entered the profane boys’ club of the newspaper business.

As timely now as ever, Personal History is an exemplary record of our history and of the woman who played such a shaping role within them, discovering her own strength and sense of self as she confronted—and mastered—the personal and professional crises of her fascinating life.