`We can't do a zigzag,' Golda Meir insisted as she drove Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence through a provisional cabinet meeting, gaining a bare majority of 6 out of 10. Two decades later, in 1969, she would interrupt her retirement for another remarkable step - to become the first female leader in the Western world and earn her nickname, `The Iron Lady,' as Prime Minister of Israel.

Who was she? This deeply-researched standard 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 as well as account of the the state she passionately believed in.