‘We can’t do a zigzag,’ Golda Meir insisted as she drove Israel’s 1948 Declaration of Independence through, gaining a bare majority of 6 to 4 in the provisional government. Two decades later, in 1969, she would interrupt her retirement to become the first female leader in the West and earn her nickname, ‘The Iron Lady,’ as Prime Minister of Israel. Who was this remarkable woman and leader? This gripping biography traces Golda Meir’s life from her escape from a Russian pogrom in 1906 to her decisive influence on Israel — often at a hidden cost to her personal life. Full of behind-the-scenes insights — including the 1972 Olympics attacks — and choice quotes, Golda Meir is a spell-binding portrait of the woman and the early State of Israel.