The Double Life of Katharine Clark - by Katharine Gregorio (Paperback)

About the Book

"Illuminating a thrilling untold chapter of the Cold War, The Double Life of Katharine Clark shares the forgotten story of a remarkable woman who pioneered a career in a male-dominated profession. In 1955, Katharine Clark became the first female American wire reporter behind the Iron Curtain, forging a career as a journalist, befriending a leading Communist, and risking her life to smuggle away books that exposed the truth about Communism to the world. This dramatic historical narrative shows how one woman with an unwavering commitment to truth, justice, and freedom of the press put her life on the line to reshape American history."--

Book Synopsis

"Gregorio tells [Katharine] Clark's story in engaging, well-researched and vivid detail...an eloquent tribute." --Wall Street Journal

If you loved Kate Moore's The Radium Girls, Sonia Purnell's A Woman of No Importance, or Rebecca Donner's All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, you'll be enthralled with this untold true story of how Katharine Clark, a trailblazing journalist, exposed the truth about Communism to the world.

In 1955, Katharine Clark, the first American woman wire reporter behind the Iron Curtain, saw something none of her male colleagues did. What followed became one of the most unusual adventure stories of the Cold War. While on assignment in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Clark befriended a man who, by many definitions, was her enemy. But she saw something in Milovan Djilas, a high-ranking Communist leader who dared to question the ideology he helped establish, that made her want to work with him. It became the assignment of her life.

Against the backdrop of protests in Poland and a revolution in Hungary, she risked her life to ensure Djilas's work made it past the watchful eye of the Yugoslavian secret police to the West. She single-handedly was responsible for smuggling his scathing anti-Communism manifesto, The New Class, out of Yugoslavia and into the hands of American publishers. The New Class would go on to sell three million copies worldwide, become a New York Times bestseller, be translated into over 60 languages, and be used by the CIA in its covert book program.

Meticulously researched and written by Clark's great-niece, Katharine Gregorio, The Double Life of Katharine Clark illuminates a largely untold chapter of the twentieth century. It shows how a strong-willed, fiercely independent woman with an ardent commitment to truth, justice and freedom put her life on the line to share ideas with the world, ultimately transforming both herself--and history--in the process.

Praise for The Double Life of Katharine Clark:

"Reads like thriller fiction."--Major General Mari K. Eder, author of The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line

"[A] nail-biting story...recreates a forgotten chapter of the Cold War."--Robert D. Kaplan, national bestselling author of Balkan Ghosts

"An interesting read well told."--Nina Willner, author of Forty Autumns

"[A] fascinating book about an extraordinary woman who made her mark during the Cold War."--Dr. Aleksa Djilas, author of The Contested Country and the son of Steffie and Milovan Djilas

Review Quotes

"A fascinating, true life, and impressively informative journalist memoir that reads with all the suspense and high-tension thrills of a novel." -- Midwest Book Review

"A pen can become more powerful than a weapon is a dominant theme in Katharine Gregorio's new book... Katharine's and Milovan's stories give us hope in matters of truth and justice." -- Journalism History

"Clark's story, finally told, reads like an espionage thriller in Gregorio's capable hands--with the added wallop of its being true." -- Shelf Awareness

"Gregorio debuts with a rousing and rigorously researched biography of her great-aunt Katharine Clark.... a fitting tribute to a pioneering female journalist." -- Publishers Weekly

"Gregorio's story is factual, but it reads like a John le Carré or Alan Furst spy thriller." -- The Epoch Times

"In this haunting and utterly necessary book that brings to life the print-and-typewriter age of journalism in Eastern Europe in the 1950s, Katharine Gregorio tells the nail-biting story of how Djilas's greatest works were smuggled out of Belgrade to the West. Both timeless and rooted-in-place, it recreates a forgotten chapter of the Cold War." -- Robert D. Kaplan, national best-selling author of Balkan Ghosts and In Europe's Shadow

"Katharine Clark was a pathfinder. From a conservative background, she was anything but as she challenged every obstacle that stood in her way--including the Yugoslavian Secret Police. An interesting read well told." -- Nina Willner, author of Forty Autumns

"Katharine Clark's journey reads like thriller fiction, with all the heart-thumping tension and risk that only someone fighting against a powerful and oppressive government could appreciate, all the while battling the misogynistic culture of Depression-era newsrooms. She got her story all right, and we are privileged to hear it." -- Major General Mari K. Eder, author of The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line

"This is an excellent and unique book on several levels. It provides an authoritative account of an important Cold War episode, in which one of the most senior Yugoslav party leaders, Milovan Djilas, lost faith in Tito-driven governance and denounced its hypocrisy and oppression. The story of Katharine Clark's willingness to challenge in real time the virtues of Yugoslav-style communism is an example of journalistic bravery. It is a remarkable read!" -- Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs