“Decca” Mitford lived a larger-than-life life: born into the British aristocracy—one of the famous (and sometimes infamous) Mitford sisters—she ran away to Spain during the Spanish Civil War with her cousin Esmond Romilly, Winston Churchill’s nephew, then came to America, became a tireless political activist and a member of the Communist Party, and embarked on a brilliant career as a memoirist and muckraking journalist (her funeral-industry exposé, The American Way of Death, became an instant classic). She was a celebrated wit, a charmer, and throughout her life a prolific and passionate writer of letters—now gathered here. Decca’s correspondence crackles with irreverent humor and mischief, and with acute insight into human behavior (and misbehavior) that attests to her generous experience of the worlds of politics, the arts, journalism, publishing, and high and low society. Here is correspondence with everyone from Katharine Graham and George Jackson, Betty Friedan, Miss Manners, Julie Andrews, Maya Angelou, Harry Truman, and Hillary Rodham Clinton to Decca’s sisters the Duchess of Devonshire and the novelist Nancy Mitford, her parents, her husbands, her children, and her grandchildren. In a profile of J.K. Rowling, The Daily Telegraph (UK), said, “Her favorite drink is gin and tonic, her least favorite food, trip. Her heroine is Jessica Mitford.” *Starred Review* Fifth of the noted Mitford sisters, Jessica (called Decca since childhood) eschewed family politics but kept her mother's practice of prodigious letter writing, leaving reams of lively correspondence to family and friends, including some of the intelligentsia of her time. Her letters are forthright, warm, and witty to the point of being laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes serving as epistolary notes for her investigative journalism. Dubbed "Queen of the Muckrakers" for her landmark book The American Way of Death , she took strong stands against injustice and exploitation, becoming estranged from family members, particularly sisters Unity and Diana, early friends of Hitler. (In 1943 she wrote Winston Churchill, uncle of her first husband, who died in action in the war, protesting his release from prison of Diana and her Fascist leader husband.) Each of nine chronological chapters begins with photographs and brief biographical summaries, providing social history from Decca's days as a Communist Party member and civil-rights activist to acclaimed author. From childhood notes to her parents to a letter to her husband of 53 years, labor lawyer Bob Treuhaft, days before her death in 1996, this is a treasure. Michele Leber Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Jessica Mitford is also the author of Hons and Rebels (previously published as Daughters and Rebels ), The American Way of Death, The Trial of Dr. Spock, Kind and Usual Punishment, A Fine Old Conflict, Poison Penmanship, Faces of Philip: A Memoir of Philip Toynbee, Grace Had an English Heart, and The American Way of Birth. Until her death in 1996, she lived in Oakland, California, with her husband, labor lawyer Robert Treuhaft. Peter Y. Sussman was an award-winning editor at the San Francisco Chronicle from 1964 to 1993 and has written, edited, taught, and lectured widely since then. He is the coauthor of Committing Journalism and was a coauthor of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. He lives in Berkeley, California. Mitford? Now where have we heard that name before? Let me count the ways, or at least a few of them. Once upon a time, in England, Lord and Lady Redesdale had six daughters and one son. All the girls were good-looking but a little out of the ordinary, especially after they grew up. Nancy resided in Paris, lived "in sin" and wrote delicious comic novels, including The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Deborah married very, very well, becoming the duchess of Devonshire and chatelaine of the great English country house Chatsworth. Unity, alas, got to be an intimate friend of Adolf Hitler, whom she just adored, and shot herself in the head on the day Britain declared war on Germany. The particularly beautiful Diana divorced her first husband to wed her lover, the infamous British fascist leader, Sir Oswald Mosley. Brother Tom was killed during World War II, and sister Pam somehow led a quiet, fairly conventional life, probably just to be different. And then there was Jessica (1917-96). If you don't know about Decca, as everyone called her, just start reading this terrific collection of letters and hang on for the ride. During the 1930s, Decca took off to fight on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War with her boyfriend and eventual husband, Esmond Romilly. Later, the adventurous lovebirds moved to Washington, where they became close chums with the young Katharine and Philip Graham, as well as the crusading civil libertarians Virginia and Clifford Durr. After World War II broke out, Esmond enlisted, returne