This book, a biography of Josephine Baker, the Folies-Bergere dancer is the result of twenty years of research. Baker adopted the author when he was a teener, and this book represents his search for the truth of her fractious life. Baker was many things: a charismatic performer; a fearless opponent of oppression and racism who risked her life for the French Resistance during World War II; a self proclaimed Universal Mother who adopted children from many countries; an entrepreneur born into poverty who earned and lost a fortune; a friend to such world leaders as Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles de Gaulle, Robert F. Kennedy, and Eleanor Roosevelt. This biography chronicles her rise and fall as a cause de scandale in Paris, and candidly discusses her many loves, her bisexuality, her conflicted feelings about her heritage, and her lasting impact upon the way America and the world view African Americans. -- From back cover.