Madeleine Albright, as the secretary of state for President Clinton, made a name for herself using her brooches as diplomatic statements. This new book features those pins in connection with an exhibit of her pieces at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. I heard her interviewed on NPR about the exhibit and the book so I had to check it out. The book is a beautifully photographed coffee table book of a number of her pins, though not all. Intermixed are the stories of those pins and how she came to collect them. Her collection started with inherited jewelry and then expanded as her career developed. Soon her pins began to be interpreted in diplomatic circles, though she didn't wear them to send messages initially. But soon she would wear them to send non-verbal and sometimes not-so-subtle communications to various world leaders.

As I said, this is a coffee table book. Her pins are quite spectacular and quite funny. She has all kinds - expensive gemstones, costume (mostly), and really inexpensive handmade pieces that she's picked up on her travels. I wanted every one of them! While the pins and the photographs are quite glorious, if you want more information about the effectiveness of those pins in diplomacy, then I would suggest another book. This is Madeleine-lite. There are a few charming and anecdotal stories about her life, but not much detail. I wanted more. Maybe I picked the wrong book to read about her. But if you're interested in her exhibition pieces, then this is the book for you. If you're looking for more meat, try something else.