Sally Bedell Smith Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Sally Bedell Smith is bestselling historical fiction biography and memoir author whose works have been on New York Times bestseller list. She has written definitive biographies of the likes of the late Queen Elizabeth drawing from the diaries and letters she found in the Windsor Castle archives.

She has also penned biographies of William S. Paley, Princess Diana of Wales, Pamela Harriman, Jacqueline, and John Kennedy, and Hillary and Bill Clinton. Her bestselling novels have since been published in at least twelve countries.
Since 2017, she has been a contributor to CNN offering commentary and analysis on the British Royal family. She has also been a Vanity Fair contributing editor and previously worked as a cultural news reporter for “The New York Times” and for “Time.”
For her work, she has won several awards including the Washington Irving Medal in 2012 and the best book in biography and history Goodreads Choice Award. She has also been awarded an honorary master’s degree from Columbia University and a Doctor of Humane Letters from her alma mater Wheaton College.

Sally is a proud mother of three and now makes her home in Washington DC where she lives with Stephen Smith her husband.

After graduating with a history degree from Wheaton, Sally Bedell Smith found the market did not have many professional opportunities for female college graduates. But she was lucky to get a job with Carnegie Corp working for the head of public relations who soon saw that she was talented.

Her boss Avery Russell told her that she needed to consider writing and proceeded to give her more writing assignments, even if these were press releases, and annual and quarterly reports.

She began taking night classes on creative writing at New York University and then at the Journalism School at Columbia where she got her master’s. Following her graduation, she went on to write for “The New York Times,” “TV Guide,” and ‘Time.”
She penned “Up the Tube” her debut novel in 1981 and has never looked back since. Sally has said that she draws inspiration from her experience at Wheaton and from Paul Helmreich her History professor at Norton.

She has said that Paul always emphasized the importance of organization, sound thinking, and connecting the dots and this is what she has always been doing.

Sally Bedell Smith makes her home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington DC. Her neighbors include the likes of the owner of “The Washington Post” and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner, and Michelle and Barack Obama.
She pens most of her works from the guest room which has turned into an office full of files with notes on travels, television documentaries, books, and interview notes.

Sally writes every day as she gets her morning coffee in the late morning hoping to write at least 1000 words every day. She sometimes works from a standing desk so that she can walk around and get some exercise.
At the end of her day, she loves to head to Rock Creek Park for an hour-long walk. On the days she is not writing she loves to go to the movies.

“Elizabeth the Queen” by Sally Bedell Smith follows the ascension of Elizabeth right from when she became queen aged 25. She would become one of the most scrutinized people on the planet but there have always been things that we never knew about her.

The author draws from never before revealed documents and numerous interviews to showcase intimate details of the private and public life of Queen Elizabeth II. We are first introduced to her when her uncle abdicates the throne and makes her heiress presumptive.
She would then meet and fall in love with Philip the young cadet despite her parents preferring wealthier and more notable English aristocrats. She would become involved in the war effort during the second world war and struggled to balance her role as heir presumptive and taking care of two young children.

Once she became queen, she had to attend weekly meetings with the prime minister, undertake demanding tours abroad, and review several boxes of documents each day as the head of state.

She had to do this over several decades under the constant watch of the press but managed to deal with all of it with composure and dignity.

In “Prince Charles,” Sally Bedel Smith provides a look into the life of the man that would become King following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

It is an eye-opening and vivid biography that was drawn from hundreds of interviews with spiritual gurus, former girlfriends, and palace officials.

The author sheds light on the life of Prince Charles and other important happenings in his life including the marriage and death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and how he prepared to one day become king.
Bringing the man to life, the author follows his lonely childhood where he sought companionship with Lord Mountbatten his great uncle, after struggling to live up to the expectations of his family.
It then follows the man in school, his intellectual quests, his early love affairs, his search for spiritual meaning, and his entrepreneurial pursuits.

Ranging from his travels all over the globe to his country homes and glamorous places, the author shows the man’s fiercely independent spirit that was often chained by having to follow rigid protocols.
Smith lays bare the life of a man that turns out to be more compelling, tragic, and complicated than we ever imagined.

Sally Bedel Smith’s work “Grace and Power” takes its readers inside the Kennedy presidency with unparalleled insight and access.

The author interviewed many people that had been intimate with Kennedy including aspects drawn from personal papers and letters for the first time. In the early 1960s, a forty-three-year-old president and his thirty-one-year-old wife are the youngest couples to ever ascend to the highest office in the land.

The couple captivated Americans with their easygoing conviction and cool elegance as they drew to them a brilliant coterie of artists, international jet setters, intellectuals, diplomats, and journalists. As president, he created new frontiers, devoted himself to his children and wife, and stared down the Soviets.

Jackie as the first lady mesmerized the American people and foreign leaders with her sophistication and style. She also made a White House that was known for its culture and beauty.

The author brilliantly writes about the Kennedy years, in addition to how the first couple managed their political associations, friendships, and their marriage.