THE DAUGHTERS OF YALTA

“A stirring account of one momentous week that would unleash fifty years of tyranny for half of Europe and plunge the world into the Cold War, as seen through the eyes of three young women.  Catherine Grace Katz’s debut book, The Daughters of Yalta, is a marvelous and extraordinary work that reveals the human experience of the conference, with all its tragedy, love, betrayal, and even humor.  She defines the relationships that shaped our world, and continue to shape our future.” —Julian Fellowes, Oscar-winning writer and creator of Downton Abbey 

“Catherine Grace Katz paints a vivid portrait of one of history’s great international summits through the eyes of three young women, each a daughter of a key participant.  We get the inside story, and learn the compelling details that bring history to life.” —Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile 

“Catherine Grace Katz’s Daughters of Yalta is a revelation. It’s a story of World War II, the origins of the Cold War, a key moment in diplomatic history, but above all a coming-of-age tale about three fascinating women in an extraordinary time.” —Jeffrey Toobin, author of True Crimes and Misdemeanors and American Heiress 

“Both intimate and sweeping, Catherine Grace Katz vividly captures a little known story against the backdrop of a very big one. Meticulously researched and emotionally gripping.” —Amy Pascal, Producer, Little Women (2019)  

“Daughters of Yalta is an absorbing, revealing, and expertly crafted narrative that takes us behind the scenes of some of World War Two’s most consequential periods of political leadership and diplomacy. Catherine Grace Katz possesses a novelist’s gift for character, and for how supposedly minor characters may influence and color the intimate movements of history.  A truly impressive debut.” —John Burnham Schwartz, Author of The Red Daughter and The Commoner 

“Daughters of Yalta is yet more proof that behind every great man is an army of exceptional women. We need their stories told; so three cheers for Catherine Katz!”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana and A World on Fire 

“In 1945 an American president, his ambassador to the Soviet Union, and a British prime minister chose to make the trip to Yalta with their daughters in tow. Over the next weeks those “second mates” served as their fathers’ eyes and ears, their tasters, confidantes, and chiefs of staff. They gate-kept and play-acted, eradicated bedbugs, held their vodka, and offered up toasts, as Stalin cunningly put it, “to the broad sunlight of victorious peace.” In a rich, captivating narrative, Catherine Grace Katz gives us a wholly original Yalta, one seen from a different gender and generation.” —Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra and The Witches

“A singular take on the history of the Yalta Conference, viewed through the eyes of the three notable daughters who supported their famous fathers, the “Big Three,” and contributed in heretofore undocumented ways . . . A substantive debut work of first-rate scholarship . . . Katz effectively shows how these three often overlooked women proved to be indispensable in a variety of ways.  Engaging, multilayered history of the best kind, grounded in telling detail and marvelous personalities.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review 

“This sparkling account offers a fresh take on a decisive moment in the history of WWII and the Cold War….Gleaning a treasure trove of details from memoirs, diaries, and letters, Katz documents poor sanitary conditions…at the ransacked summer palaces where the delegations stayed, analyzes diplomatic maneuverings, and shares plenty of spicy gossip….Katz debuts with a vivid and revealing account of…the daughters of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Harriman at the 1945 Yalta Peace Conference.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review