Buy New
 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
$3.55 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
929 used & new from $0.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Personal History
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Personal History (Paperback)

~ (Author) "MY PARENTS' paths first crossed in a museum on 23rd Street in New York..." (more)
Key Phrases: editorial quality, New York, White House, Glen Welby (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)

List Price: $16.00
Price: $10.88 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $5.12 (32%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Thursday, February 11? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
104 new from $2.90 811 used from $0.01 14 collectible from $4.99

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover, Deckle Edge $29.20  
Paperback $10.88  
Audio, CD, Abridged, Audiobook --  

Frequently Bought Together

Personal History + American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center + The Alchemist
Price For All Three: $30.05

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Personal History by Katharine Graham

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center by William Langewiesche

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In lieu of an unrevealing Famous-People-I-Have-Known autobiography, the owner of the Washington Post has chosen to be remarkably candid about the insecurities prompted by remote parents and a difficult marriage to the charismatic, manic-depressive Phil Graham, who ran the newspaper her father acquired. Katharine's account of her years as subservient daughter and wife is so painful that by the time she finally asserts herself at the Post following Phil's suicide in 1963 (more than halfway through the book), readers will want to cheer. After that, Watergate is practically an anticlimax. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Katharine Meyer Graham was a woman born into a world of wealth and privilege who raised four children, became involved in volunteer work, and ended as the head of a powerful newspaper. Graham's father, a wealthy entrepreneur, bought the struggling Washington Post in 1933. Although Katharine had worked as a journalist, it was her husband, Philip Graham, who was chosen to take over the paper from her father. This is the story of a newspaper's rise to power but also of the destruction of a marriage, as Philip Graham slid into alcohol, depression, and suicide, and of Katharine's rise as a powerful woman in her own right. Throughout this easy-to-read story, Graham writes about her personal life and the lives of others, ranging from presidents to household help, with sympathy and grace. Recommended for public libraries.
-?Rebecca Wondriska, Trinity Coll. Lib., Hartford, Ct.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 688 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; First Vintage Books edition (February 24, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375701044
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375701047
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,801 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #10 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Books & Reading > Book Industry
    #47 in  Books > Reference > Writing > Journalism
    #51 in  Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Media Studies

More About the Author

Katharine Graham
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's Katharine Graham Page

Inside This Book (learn more)

Citations (learn more)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

141 Reviews
5 star:
 (73)
4 star:
 (37)
3 star:
 (18)
2 star:
 (9)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (141 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What a wonderful combination of substance and opportunity!, September 15, 2005
By Joan C. Frank (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Personal History (Hardcover)
Since I grew up in a house where the "Washington Post" was devoured daily, I was always aware of Katherine Graham. I read this book shortly after she passed away, and I was knocked off my feet.

She was blessed by the accident of her birth into a family of extreme wealth and ultimate social position. Her family's advantages - sadly compounded by her husband's untimely death - gave her inumerable opportunities. At the same time, she was brilliant, capable, focused, and a gifted communicator. This combination of traits and circumstances allowed her to live a most enthralling, significant life.

Throughout, I marveled at her "realness." Her family had more money and servants and things than anyone I am ever likely to meet, but she describes her challenges, insecurities, and fears in a way that allow me to appreciate how she faced and succeeded in life.

This is a compelling read despite its length and detailed content. It is well documented and beautifully written - without the aid of a ghostwriter. It does not suffer from spurious melodrama, myopia, or vanity to which so many autobiographers fall victim.

I highly recommend both the form and substance of this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting & life affirming, August 15, 2001
By At Leaterbarrow (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Anyone wanting any more insights into Watergate or the Pentagon Papers will probably be disappointed by this book (if you want that read Ben Bradlee's autobiography). This book is very aptly titled - it is indeed a personal history and what comes out in the end is the story of a woman who via her upbringing and marriage was afflicted by a crushing lack of confidence, deeply insecure, troubled by some of her closest relationships (in particular her own mother) and in her own words little more than a housewife. This same person upon the death of her husband was thrust into a world which she was totally unsuited for and against all odds flourished as the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

What comes out in the end is that people in general and women in particular are capable of taking grievous blows and overcoming far greater challenges than they ever realise.

A friend of mine lost her partner in similar circumstances to Katharine Graham many years ago and I wish I could have bought her this book then. Without wanting to sound patronising, this is a good book for men but a great book women. I don't know whether she is a feminist icon but she certainly should be !!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars I hope I have a story like this I can tell at age 80, May 10, 1999
By A Customer
I read this book's first chapter on the internet, and knew I had to buy it. I was captivated by the analysis and detail in the early chapters, specifically targeted at her parents, their relationship, and the impact they had on her and her siblings. Details are gradually drawn away from family and, after Phil Graham's death, is focused almost entirely on her career at the Post. But the new focus her life takes is nothing short of inspirational, and her recollection (and application)of detail provides us with an absorbing panorama of faces and places. Having known little about the newspaper industry prior to this book, I am eager to know more, and put Ms. Graham's tremendous accomplishments in a more informed perspective. Despite her insecurities, fears and worries (which were difficult to read--even to believe--at times) they are obviously a part of her personality, and by revealing them she made her story more compelling. I felt that, if her point was to write a manual for success, she could have done so. But how much she would have deprived us of! The only serious deficiency I found was that I thought, with the great deal of commentary at the beginning of the book concerning how she and her siblings were raised--with particular emphasis on her mother's influence--that she would have included more on what the effects of her own role as a mother were. But, this omission seems to have been a conscious one on her part. This was my nightly reading for quite some time, and I feel a little sad that I no longer have it to look forward to! Though I was certainly glad when the interminably long segment on the pressmen's strike was over, as important as the incident was...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars More than just a spoiled rich girl...
This book was simply fascinating. I wondered how someone so integral to our country's media could've escaped me... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Grant

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply outstanding
Katharine Graham's Personal History is by far one of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Her candor about her triumphs and hardships is powerful and at times inspiring... Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Smith

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money
This book was terrible. If my book club wasn't reading it, I would have put it down after the first hundred pages. It's a personal history, but not really about her. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Disappointed Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Politics, family, women's issues, labor issues, business all wrapped in one amazing book
This amazing book has so many stories wrapped into one but the main message I got from it is that life is about perseverance. Mrs. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lucia Paradise

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and a good read
I enjoyed this book but it seemed a little hard to relate to her family background.
Published 7 months ago by Avid book reader

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE this book!
This book is incredibly well written and interesting. I am not someone who read a lot of nonfiction but I was enthralled with her story. Loved it! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Angela Waters

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Story Written Elegantly
The book is dangerous - After I opened the cover, I basically kept reading and was interrupted only by lecture, walking, toilet breaks, meals and sleep. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Cheng Eng Aun

5.0 out of 5 stars PERSONAL HISTORY
VERY VERY INTERESTING AND ALL ON TIME. THANK YOU

ALESSANDRA PINELLO
Published 12 months ago by SCELLI

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary self portrayal
I came to Graham's autobiography after reading Schroeder's "The Snowball" in which Warren Buffett heaped much praise on Graham's running of the Washington Post. Read more
Published 14 months ago by John Sturges

5.0 out of 5 stars Katherine Graham - Personal History
Excellent seller. I would definately buy from them again or recommend them to family and friends. The item was exactly as described.
Published 14 months ago by K. Bledsoe

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   



So You'd Like to...


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.