Imelda Marcos—famous for her 1,060 pairs of shoes—was also one of the most powerful and controversial figures in world history. She was extraordinarily beautiful, charismatic, determined—and savage.
Imelda: Steel Butterfly of the Philippines, a uniquely unauthorized biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Katherine Ellison, describes the Philippine first lady's rise from near-poverty to unimaginable riches, her surprisingly tenacious attempt to take over as dictator, and her fatal grudge match with her chief political rival, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.
"The research here is superb, the writing is gripping and graceful."
—The Washington Post
After helping reveal Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos' multi-billion-dollar corruption in a Pulitzer-prize-winning newspaper series, Ellison returned to the Philippines, New York City, and Washington, D.C. to interview scores of Imelda's relatives, friends, bodyguards, "Blue Ladies," political rivals and allies, as well as every U.S. Ambassador to serve in Manila during the Marcos' 1965-1986 regime.
Acclaimed by The Washington Post for its exceptional research and compelling writing, Ellison's book chronicles Imelda's journey from her modest upbringing on the island of Leyte to her powerful role beside her husband, who called her his "secret weapon." Fueled by fortunes in US aid, and for years extolled by US media, which compared the Marcoses to the Kennedys' "Camelot," the Philippines' "conjugal dictatorship" soon devolved into unrivaled extravagance, corruption, and harrowing human rights abuses.
Delving into the intricacies of the Manila-Washington dynamics in the context of one of history's weirdest-ever binational relationships, Ellison also explores Imelda's voracious pursuit of US real estate, including the acquisition of New York's Crown Building; her meetings with Muammar Qadafy, Yuri Andropov, Fidel Castro and Madame Mao, and her attendance at such fabulous events as Iran's 2,500th-anniversary festival and the coronation of the King of Nepal. Ellison also provides startling, never-before-reported evidence of Imelda's clandestine involvement in Benigno Aquino's assassination.
Imelda, now in her 90s, and at the helm of a political dynasty with her son, President Ferdinand "BongBong" Marcos Jr., appears to have triumphed over her critics, even inspiring a cheerful recent Broadway musical.
Get Imelda: Steel Butterfly of the Philippines to learn the much more fascinating truth.
"Katherine Ellison has a reporter's zeal for finding the story within the story. Her book is full of surprises."—David Haward Bain, author of Sitting in Darkness: Americans in the Philippines
Katherine Ellison is a former foreign correspondent and author and co-author of a dozen books, including the family ADHD memoir, Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention. She has reported for publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Smithsonian, and The Atlantic.
