"There was Cleopatra. Later there was Josephine Baker. The French called her La Baker, the epitome of all that was exciting from the 1930s on. The toast of two continents, she could be found at night, dressed in her fabulously elaborate gowns and headdresses or just her famous banana costume, receiving standing ovations at the Folies Bergere. By day, tout Paris greeted her as she strolled down the Champs Elyse?es in a Dior frock, leading her pet leopard with its jeweled collar. Josephine Baker had come a long way from the black ghetto in St. Louis where she was born. Here is a dramatic story, heartwarming, horrifying, and funny by turns. Legends about her life and loves were legion, then and now. But only one person knew the real story of Josephine--herself. This is her book. Nearly completed before her death in 1975, it has been added to by her husband, Jo Bouillon, her sister, several of her adopted children, and her close friends. And what a life it was: one-night stands in tank-town theaters throughout the U.S., success in New York, and finally triumph in Paris and other European cities...fabulous costumes and famous friends...legendary performances throughout the world...lovers, husbands, jewels, pets... her efforts in World War II for the Free French cause...winning the medal of Resistance, given by General De Gaulle... her twelve adopted children of different races and religions--her Rainbow Tribe...Cha?teau Milandes which was to be a monument to human brotherhood and which was literally sold out from under her...her continuous fight for racial equality...her great comeback on the Paris stage just a few days before her death. Josephine's story is larger than life, for she reveled in the glamour of yesterday and today, and struggled for a more enlightened tomorrow." -- Book jacket