Most Popular Books by Kate Clifford Larson

The revelatory, poignant story of Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest and eventually secreted-away Kennedy daughter, and how her life transformed her family, its women especially, and an entire nation. "[Larson] succeeds in providing a well-rounded portrait of a woman who, until now, has never been viewed in full."—The Boston Globe “A biography that chronicles her life with fresh details . . . By making Rosemary the central character, [Larson] has produced a valuable account of a mental health tragedy and an influential family’s belated efforts to make amends.”—The New York Times Book Review Joe and Rose Kennedy’s strikingly beautiful daughter Rosemary was intellectually disabled, a secret fiercely guarded by her powerful and glamorous family. In Rosemary, Kate Clifford Larson uses newly uncovered sources to bring Rosemary Kennedy’s story to light. Young Rosemary comes alive as a sweet, lively girl adored by her siblings. But Larson also reveals the often desperate and duplicitous arrangements the Kennedys made to keep her away from home as she became increasingly difficult in her early twenties, culminating in Joe’s decision to have Rosemary lobotomized at age twenty-three and the family’s complicity in keeping the secret. Only years later did the Kennedy siblings begin to understand what had happened to Rosemary, which inspired them to direct government attention and resources to the plight of the developmentally and mentally disabled, transforming the lives of millions. One of People’s Top Ten Books of 2015

The essential, “richly researched”* biography of Harriet Tubman, revealing a complex woman who “led a remarkable life, one that her race, her sex, and her origins make all the more extraordinary” (*The New York Times Book Review). Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history—a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War. Now, in this magnificent biography, historian Kate Clifford Larson gives us a powerful, intimate, meticulously detailed portrait of Tubman and her times. Drawing from a trove of new documents and sources as well as extensive genealogical data, Larson presents Harriet Tubman as a complete human being—brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. A true American hero, Tubman was also a woman who loved, suffered, and sacrificed. Praise for Bound for the Promised Land “[Bound for the Promised Land] appropriately reads like fiction, for Tubman’s exploits required such intelligence, physical stamina and pure fearlessness that only a very few would have even contemplated the feats that she actually undertook. . . . Larson captures Tubman’s determination and seeming imperviousness to pain and suffering, coupled with an extraordinary selflessness and caring for others.”—The Seattle Times “Essential for those interested in Tubman and her causes . . . Larson does an especially thorough job of . . . uncovering relevant documents, some of them long hidden by history and neglect.”—The Plain Dealer “Larson has captured Harriet Tubman’s clandestine nature . . . reading Ms. Larson made me wonder if Tubman is not, in fact, the greatest spy this country has ever produced.”—The New York Sun

In The Assassin''s Accomplice, historian Kate Clifford Larson tells the gripping story of Mary Surratt, a little-known participant in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln, and the first woman ever to be executed by the federal government of the United States. Surratt, a Confederate sympathizer, ran the boarding house in Washington where the conspirators-including her rebel son, John Surratt-met to plan the assassination. When a military tribunal convicted her for her crimes and sentenced her to death, five of the nine commissioners petitioned President Andrew Johnson to show mercy on Surratt because of her sex and age. Unmoved, Johnson refused-Surratt, he said, "kept the nest that hatched the egg." Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, The Assassin''s Accomplice tells the intricate story of the Lincoln conspiracy through the eyes of its only female participant. Based on long-lost interviews, confessions, and court testimony, the text explores how Mary''s actions defied nineteenth-century norms of femininity, piety, and motherhood, leaving her vulnerable to deadly punishment historically reserved for men. A riveting narrative account of sex, espionage, and murder cloaked in the enchantments of Southern womanhood, The Assassin''s Accomplice offers a fresh perspective on America''s most famous murder.

Few figures embody the physical courage, unstinting sacrifice, and inspired heroism behind the Civil Rights movement more than Fannie Lou Hamer. For millions hers was the voice that made "This Little Light of Mine" an anthem. Her impassioned rhetoric electrified audiences. At the Democratic Convention in 1964, Hamer''s televised speech took not just Democrats but the entire nation to task for abetting racial injustice, searing the conscience of everyone who heard it. Born in the Mississippi Delta in 1917, Hamer was the 20th child of Black sharecroppers and raised in a world in which racism, poverty, and injustice permeated the cotton fields. As the Civil Rights Movement began to emerge during the 1950s, she was struggling to make a living with her husband on lands that her forebears had cleared, ploughed, and harvested for generations. When a white doctor sterilized her without her permission in 1961, Hamer took her destiny into her own hands. Bestselling biographer Kate Clifford Larson offers the first account of Hamer''s life for a general audience, capturing and illuminating what made Hamer the electrifying force that she became when she walked onto stages across the country during the 1960s and until her death in 1977. Walk with Me does justice to the full force of Hamer''s activism and example. Based on new sources, including recently opened FBI files and Oval Office transcripts, the biography features interviews with some of the people closest to Hamer and conversations with Civil Rights leaders who fought alongside her. Larson''s biography will become the standard account of an extraordinary life.

A Library Journal Best Reference Book of 2022 Harriet Ross Tubman, born enslaved in Maryland emerged from the most oppressive of conditions to lead others to freedom along the Underground Railroad and then continue her fight against slavery on the battlefields of the Civil War. During the last fifty years of her life in New York she campaigned for voting and civil rights, became an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, community organizer and leader. Harriet Tubman: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works captures her life, her works, and legacy. It features a chronology, an introduction offers a brief account of her life, a dictionary section lists entries on people, places, and events central to Tubman’s life as an enslaved person, liberator, abolitionist, soldier, spy, wife, mother, and public figure, and includes the most recent research findings and the latest efforts to memorialize her.

Rosemary est la petite soeur du futur président John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Différente des autres membres de la fratrie, elle accuse un léger retard mental associé à des troubles de l''humeur. Pour le père, Joe Kennedy, obsédé par la réussite, sa famille doit incarner le rêve américain. Ce n''est pas le cas de Rosemary. Un peu rebelle, elle affectionne les fêtes, pratique la voile et le tennis. En 1939, elle obtient un diplôme d''éducatrice auxiliaire, mais son comportement effraie son père. Frénétique dans sa recherche de méthodes pour la soigner, il va trop loin et fait lobotomiser sa fille à la fin de l''année 1941. L''opération tourne mal. La jeune femme en sort lourdement handicapée, à la fois physiquement et mentalement. Elle est alors internée, cachée, effacée. Pendant longtemps, ses frères et soeurs ignorent même ce qu''est devenue Rosemary. Une histoire aussi taboue que touchante. Isabelle Duriez, Elle. Un destin tragique. François Forestier, L''Obs. Préface de Pierre Pratabuy. Traduit de l''anglais (Etats-Unis) par Marie-Anne de Béru.