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Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins
A spirited portrait of twentieth-century war correspondent Maggie Higgins and her tenacious fight to the top in a male-dominated profession.
Marguerite Higgins catapulted to journalistic fame with her dramatic account of the liberation of Dachau at the end of World War II. Brash, beautiful, ruthlessly competitive, and sexually adventurous, she forced her way to the front despite being told the combat zone was no place for a woman. Her headline-making exploits earned her a reputation for bravery bordering on recklessness and accusations of “advancing on her back,” trading sexual favors for scoops. Her notoriety soared during the Cold War, and her daring dispatches from Korea garnered a Pulitzer Prize. A star reporter, she became close to the Kennedy brothers, but provoked bitter rivalries with male correspondents who vilified her until her untimely death. In Fierce Ambition , journalist and historian Jennet Conant digs into Maggie’s turbulent life and shines a spotlight on her legacy—her trailblazing career, unwavering courage, and refusal to sacrifice success to fit gender expectations.
Marguerite Higgins catapulted to journalistic fame with her dramatic account of the liberation of Dachau at the end of World War II. Brash, beautiful, ruthlessly competitive, and sexually adventurous, she forced her way to the front despite being told the combat zone was no place for a woman. Her headline-making exploits earned her a reputation for bravery bordering on recklessness and accusations of “advancing on her back,” trading sexual favors for scoops. Her notoriety soared during the Cold War, and her daring dispatches from Korea garnered a Pulitzer Prize. A star reporter, she became close to the Kennedy brothers, but provoked bitter rivalries with male correspondents who vilified her until her untimely death. In Fierce Ambition , journalist and historian Jennet Conant digs into Maggie’s turbulent life and shines a spotlight on her legacy—her trailblazing career, unwavering courage, and refusal to sacrifice success to fit gender expectations.
416 pages, Hardcover
Published October 31, 2023
About the author
Jennet Conant
17 books68 followersJennet Conant is an American non-fiction author and journalist. She has written four best selling books about World War II, three of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Asia and America, she received a BA degree in Political Theory from Bryn Mawr College in 1982, and double-majored in Philosophy at Haverford College. She completed a Master's degree in Journalism from New York City's Columbia University in 1983. She was awarded a John J. McCloy Fellowship to study politics in Germany.
Conant went on to work at Newsweek magazine for seven years, and wrote profiles for Rolling Stone, Spy magazine, and The New York Times. Additionally, she was a contributing editor for Esquire, GQ, and Vanity Fair, from which she resigned to write her first book, Tuxedo Park. Her profile of James Watson, the co-discoverer of the double-helix, was featured in The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2004.
Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Asia and America, she received a BA degree in Political Theory from Bryn Mawr College in 1982, and double-majored in Philosophy at Haverford College. She completed a Master's degree in Journalism from New York City's Columbia University in 1983. She was awarded a John J. McCloy Fellowship to study politics in Germany.
Conant went on to work at Newsweek magazine for seven years, and wrote profiles for Rolling Stone, Spy magazine, and The New York Times. Additionally, she was a contributing editor for Esquire, GQ, and Vanity Fair, from which she resigned to write her first book, Tuxedo Park. Her profile of James Watson, the co-discoverer of the double-helix, was featured in The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2004.
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January 27, 2024
“The Big Show was over. There would be no more battles to write about, no conquered cities to cover, no screaming headlines underlined in red. The soldiers [Marguerite Higgins] had interviewed earlier that day on the spacious, tree-shaded castle grounds had greeted the news of the armistice with deep relief, but for Maggie it was a disappointing anticlimax…As she stood there on the balcony in Salzburg watching the fireworks, it struck her that she was probably the only one there who was not happy at the prospect of going home. Unless she could find another war to cover, the journalistic glory that she had just achieved, and so fiercely coveted, would soon fade. Peace was the last thing she wanted…”
- Jennet Conant, Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins
Though her name has somewhat faded from memory, war correspondent Marguerite “Maggie” Higgins was once one of the most famous people in America, not simply an extraordinary journalist, but a bona fide celebrity. She broke news and generated headlines from the end-days of the Second World War to the early days of America’s involvement in Vietnam. During the catastrophic start of the Korean War, she was a ubiquitous presence, filing dispatches while fleeing from Kim Il Sung’s advancing legions.
Higgins was known for her scoops, and her willingness to do whatever it took to wring information from her sources. Of course, the world is full of unremembered journalists with those same abilities. Higgins became a legend not simply for her inarguable skills – she won a Pulitzer Prize for frontline reporting – but because she was a woman doing a job long dominated by men.
As documented in Jennet Conant’s Fierce Ambition, Higgins faced not only the obvious dangers of war reporting, but had to fight gender stereotypes, prejudices, and misogyny at every stage of her career. Nevertheless, the portrait that emerges is not that of a simple feminist icon, but of an extremely complicated individual, at once a trailblazer and a ruthless striver.
***
Conant begins Fierce Ambition with an extended prologue set during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. Among the first to enter, her dispatches from Dachau rank among her most noteworthy successes. As Conant explains, however, Higgins’s role in the event was controversial, with every witness providing a slightly different story. Conant does her best to sift through these competing perspectives dispassionately.
While it can be a bit disconcerting to jump into the middle of a story, this opening provides a good indication as to Conant’s purpose. She is certainly an admirer of Higgins – which makes sense, since she went to a lot of effort to write a book about her – but she is not a mythmaker, and refuses to simply follow her version of events. Conant looks at all the evidence, embraces Higgins’s flaws, and uses the material compellingly.
***
After the prologue, Fierce Ambition circles back to Higgins’s early life. She was born in Hong Kong, where her father worked at the time, but grew up mostly in Oakland, in a precariously middle class upbringing. While attending the University of California, Berkely, she wrote for the school paper, and later fast-talked her way into the Columbia University School of Journalism. Afterwards, she got a job with the New York Herald Tribune.
It is not for nothing that the word “ambition” features prominently in the title. Higgins worked hard and competed relentlessly. Many of her peers were wary of her, believing that she used them to further her career. Higgins knew what she wanted, and went for it vigorously. For instance, she lobbied hard to be sent overseas during the Second World War. In Korea, when General Walton Walker tried to ban female correspondents from the peninsula, she went straight to General Douglas MacArthur, who got the order rescinded.
Success, however, breeds contempt, and Higgins had a lot of success.
***
It seems hopelessly reductive to point out the fact that Maggie Higgins was – to most eyes – quite beautiful. Yet this cannot be ignored in the context of her life, and Fierce Ambition approaches the issue head-on. Studies have shown that attractiveness opens doors in the professional world, and Higgins used her looks to advance her goals. In and of itself, this is not exceptional. Journalism has been described as a form of seduction, an attempt to get another person to trust you with their secrets. To that end, a pretty or handsome face is just another tool.
The ethical line gets blurrier, though, when sex is involved. Throughout her career, Higgins was accused of “advancing on her back,” essentially trading sex for information. Conant spends a lot of time documenting the accusations against Higgins, for they followed her everywhere. It is undeniable that Higgins had a lot of sex, which – as a consenting adult – should not be remarkable. Given the prevailing double standards – which obviously exist to this day – Higgins’s intimate choices were loudly criticized, while men engaging in the same activity were not mentioned.
According to Conant, many of the allegations against Higgins can be boiled down to three words: Jealousy, jealousy, jealousy. As Higgins gained influence, book deals, and offers from Hollywood, her contemporaries – both male and female – tried to tear her down by essentially labeling her a prostitute. They never succeeded in destroying Higgins’s career, but they have certainly clouded her reputation for posterity.
***
For the most part, Fierce Ambition is a really strong biography. Its chief flaw is in its brevity. Maggie Higgins died young, but her forty-five years were crammed with adventure and incident, and cannot reasonably be detailed in only 332 pages of text. Some bios give you “the life and times.” Fierce Ambition can barely manage Higgins’s life, much less provide adequate space to the world in which she lived, or the other people within her orbit.
At one point, for example, Higgins becomes pregnant, gives birth, and loses her child all within the space of a single page. At another, Conant mentions that famed combat photographer Robert Capa was a “friend through many conflicts.” Nevertheless, he is only mentioned once in Fierce Ambition, in a single paragraph briefly describing his death, for which Higgins was present. In addition, it would’ve been nice to get more of a flavor for Higgins’s writing. Conant observes that she was known more for her doggedness in getting information than her artistry in conveying it. I would have welcomed more examples, in order to judge for myself.
I can’t help feeling that Fierce Ambition’s narrow scope amounts to a missed opportunity. There is just too much streamlining. During the section on the Second World War, for instance, we learn that Higgins was just one of several famous women covering the front, a list that included Margaret Bourke-White, Martha Gellhorn, and Lee Miller. It would’ve been fascinating to explore the various pathways each took, finding both commonalities and differences in their journeys. Unfortunately, Conant does not go in this direction.
In short, this compression makes for a fast pace and a quick read. The downside – and it is a steep one – is that you lose a lot of texture. Ultimately, I felt that Fierce Ambition provided a lot of the facts of Higgins’s life, without enough of the feeling.
***
Many civil rights pioneers have struggled to conform themselves, recognizing that they had to be unimpeachable in order to advance in the face of longstanding discrimination. Following in the footsteps of others, Higgins did not have this same burden. Instead, she played the game just like the boys, much to their disconcertion. She sought normal treatment, not special treatment; demanded instead of asked; and bent her surroundings to her will. She did not change history in a world-historical fashion, but is one of those characters that make history so thrilling to learn.
- Jennet Conant, Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins
Though her name has somewhat faded from memory, war correspondent Marguerite “Maggie” Higgins was once one of the most famous people in America, not simply an extraordinary journalist, but a bona fide celebrity. She broke news and generated headlines from the end-days of the Second World War to the early days of America’s involvement in Vietnam. During the catastrophic start of the Korean War, she was a ubiquitous presence, filing dispatches while fleeing from Kim Il Sung’s advancing legions.
Higgins was known for her scoops, and her willingness to do whatever it took to wring information from her sources. Of course, the world is full of unremembered journalists with those same abilities. Higgins became a legend not simply for her inarguable skills – she won a Pulitzer Prize for frontline reporting – but because she was a woman doing a job long dominated by men.
As documented in Jennet Conant’s Fierce Ambition, Higgins faced not only the obvious dangers of war reporting, but had to fight gender stereotypes, prejudices, and misogyny at every stage of her career. Nevertheless, the portrait that emerges is not that of a simple feminist icon, but of an extremely complicated individual, at once a trailblazer and a ruthless striver.
***
Conant begins Fierce Ambition with an extended prologue set during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. Among the first to enter, her dispatches from Dachau rank among her most noteworthy successes. As Conant explains, however, Higgins’s role in the event was controversial, with every witness providing a slightly different story. Conant does her best to sift through these competing perspectives dispassionately.
While it can be a bit disconcerting to jump into the middle of a story, this opening provides a good indication as to Conant’s purpose. She is certainly an admirer of Higgins – which makes sense, since she went to a lot of effort to write a book about her – but she is not a mythmaker, and refuses to simply follow her version of events. Conant looks at all the evidence, embraces Higgins’s flaws, and uses the material compellingly.
***
After the prologue, Fierce Ambition circles back to Higgins’s early life. She was born in Hong Kong, where her father worked at the time, but grew up mostly in Oakland, in a precariously middle class upbringing. While attending the University of California, Berkely, she wrote for the school paper, and later fast-talked her way into the Columbia University School of Journalism. Afterwards, she got a job with the New York Herald Tribune.
It is not for nothing that the word “ambition” features prominently in the title. Higgins worked hard and competed relentlessly. Many of her peers were wary of her, believing that she used them to further her career. Higgins knew what she wanted, and went for it vigorously. For instance, she lobbied hard to be sent overseas during the Second World War. In Korea, when General Walton Walker tried to ban female correspondents from the peninsula, she went straight to General Douglas MacArthur, who got the order rescinded.
Success, however, breeds contempt, and Higgins had a lot of success.
***
It seems hopelessly reductive to point out the fact that Maggie Higgins was – to most eyes – quite beautiful. Yet this cannot be ignored in the context of her life, and Fierce Ambition approaches the issue head-on. Studies have shown that attractiveness opens doors in the professional world, and Higgins used her looks to advance her goals. In and of itself, this is not exceptional. Journalism has been described as a form of seduction, an attempt to get another person to trust you with their secrets. To that end, a pretty or handsome face is just another tool.
The ethical line gets blurrier, though, when sex is involved. Throughout her career, Higgins was accused of “advancing on her back,” essentially trading sex for information. Conant spends a lot of time documenting the accusations against Higgins, for they followed her everywhere. It is undeniable that Higgins had a lot of sex, which – as a consenting adult – should not be remarkable. Given the prevailing double standards – which obviously exist to this day – Higgins’s intimate choices were loudly criticized, while men engaging in the same activity were not mentioned.
According to Conant, many of the allegations against Higgins can be boiled down to three words: Jealousy, jealousy, jealousy. As Higgins gained influence, book deals, and offers from Hollywood, her contemporaries – both male and female – tried to tear her down by essentially labeling her a prostitute. They never succeeded in destroying Higgins’s career, but they have certainly clouded her reputation for posterity.
***
For the most part, Fierce Ambition is a really strong biography. Its chief flaw is in its brevity. Maggie Higgins died young, but her forty-five years were crammed with adventure and incident, and cannot reasonably be detailed in only 332 pages of text. Some bios give you “the life and times.” Fierce Ambition can barely manage Higgins’s life, much less provide adequate space to the world in which she lived, or the other people within her orbit.
At one point, for example, Higgins becomes pregnant, gives birth, and loses her child all within the space of a single page. At another, Conant mentions that famed combat photographer Robert Capa was a “friend through many conflicts.” Nevertheless, he is only mentioned once in Fierce Ambition, in a single paragraph briefly describing his death, for which Higgins was present. In addition, it would’ve been nice to get more of a flavor for Higgins’s writing. Conant observes that she was known more for her doggedness in getting information than her artistry in conveying it. I would have welcomed more examples, in order to judge for myself.
I can’t help feeling that Fierce Ambition’s narrow scope amounts to a missed opportunity. There is just too much streamlining. During the section on the Second World War, for instance, we learn that Higgins was just one of several famous women covering the front, a list that included Margaret Bourke-White, Martha Gellhorn, and Lee Miller. It would’ve been fascinating to explore the various pathways each took, finding both commonalities and differences in their journeys. Unfortunately, Conant does not go in this direction.
In short, this compression makes for a fast pace and a quick read. The downside – and it is a steep one – is that you lose a lot of texture. Ultimately, I felt that Fierce Ambition provided a lot of the facts of Higgins’s life, without enough of the feeling.
***
Many civil rights pioneers have struggled to conform themselves, recognizing that they had to be unimpeachable in order to advance in the face of longstanding discrimination. Following in the footsteps of others, Higgins did not have this same burden. Instead, she played the game just like the boys, much to their disconcertion. She sought normal treatment, not special treatment; demanded instead of asked; and bent her surroundings to her will. She did not change history in a world-historical fashion, but is one of those characters that make history so thrilling to learn.
February 6, 2024
Actual Rating 3.5
This biography explores the journalistic career of Maggie Higgins who rose to fame after reporting on the liberation of Dachau at the end of WWII.
I quite liked this portrayal of Maggie. While she was touted as a feminist, it seemed that she was mainly driven by self-interest and did what it took to get to where she wanted, no matter if a man or woman was in the way. There were many quotes by her contemporaries about her included throughout the read, which provided excellent insight into how she was viewed by others at the time. The author also took the time to dispel a couple myths about her that were prevalent while she was alive and in previous biographies written about her. I also enjoyed that some of Maggie's less positive actions were included, painting a more realistic picture of her.
There was plenty of history incorporated throughout the read, especially relating to politics as Maggie was a foreign war correspondent. This included some details about WWII and its aftereffects, including some information I didn't know (I'm not a WWII buff). The last portion of the book included similar details relating to JFK's presidency and the Vietnam War.
The last portion of the book does seem to become more focused on the politics of the time rather than on Maggie herself. It's included because the politics and conflicts of the time influenced where she went and what she did, but there were several times when it was too easy to lose sight of Maggie beneath all the politics and intricacies. The ending was also a little abrupt - I wanted a conclusion from the author, maybe even as an epilogue. An author's note at the end would have been beneficial as well, though there may be one present in the physical copy.
I think the author did an excellent job compiling information about Maggie and creating a digestible biography. However, there were several instances of unnecessary repetition, especially relating to possible motivations of Maggie, unnecessary physical descriptions of Maggie, etc. The work would definitely benefit from another edit to tighten it up. If you're interested in learning about a female war journalist and her life, then I would recommend this read. My thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This biography explores the journalistic career of Maggie Higgins who rose to fame after reporting on the liberation of Dachau at the end of WWII.
I quite liked this portrayal of Maggie. While she was touted as a feminist, it seemed that she was mainly driven by self-interest and did what it took to get to where she wanted, no matter if a man or woman was in the way. There were many quotes by her contemporaries about her included throughout the read, which provided excellent insight into how she was viewed by others at the time. The author also took the time to dispel a couple myths about her that were prevalent while she was alive and in previous biographies written about her. I also enjoyed that some of Maggie's less positive actions were included, painting a more realistic picture of her.
There was plenty of history incorporated throughout the read, especially relating to politics as Maggie was a foreign war correspondent. This included some details about WWII and its aftereffects, including some information I didn't know (I'm not a WWII buff). The last portion of the book included similar details relating to JFK's presidency and the Vietnam War.
The last portion of the book does seem to become more focused on the politics of the time rather than on Maggie herself. It's included because the politics and conflicts of the time influenced where she went and what she did, but there were several times when it was too easy to lose sight of Maggie beneath all the politics and intricacies. The ending was also a little abrupt - I wanted a conclusion from the author, maybe even as an epilogue. An author's note at the end would have been beneficial as well, though there may be one present in the physical copy.
I think the author did an excellent job compiling information about Maggie and creating a digestible biography. However, there were several instances of unnecessary repetition, especially relating to possible motivations of Maggie, unnecessary physical descriptions of Maggie, etc. The work would definitely benefit from another edit to tighten it up. If you're interested in learning about a female war journalist and her life, then I would recommend this read. My thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
October 14, 2023
Get ready to feel conflicted! Jennet Conant's Fierce Ambition is a well-written and clear-eyed biography of controversial war correspondent Maggie Higgins. In fact, "controversial" may not be a strong enough word to describe the wide spectrum of feelings about Maggie during her life. She is a classic case of love her or hate her but there is no in between.
Higgins got her start during World War II and got her big break when she reported on the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. She was a lot of things but what is most interesting is that there is one thing I am positive she was not: a feminist. Sure, she absolutely hated being told she couldn't do something because she was a woman and violently fought against it. However, Higgins would just as easily cut the legs out from a fellow woman on her way to the top. Conant is definitely writing a positive biography, but she leaves breadcrumbs of how someone could write Higgins as a villain if they chose to. She was complicated and that makes for a compelling narrative.
Whatever lens you choose to view Higgins' life, this is a very readable book. Conant's tone is perfect throughout and you truly feel like you are getting a fair account of an amazing life. The pages fly by and there was no slow down for me in any chapter.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and W.W. Norton & Company.)
Higgins got her start during World War II and got her big break when she reported on the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. She was a lot of things but what is most interesting is that there is one thing I am positive she was not: a feminist. Sure, she absolutely hated being told she couldn't do something because she was a woman and violently fought against it. However, Higgins would just as easily cut the legs out from a fellow woman on her way to the top. Conant is definitely writing a positive biography, but she leaves breadcrumbs of how someone could write Higgins as a villain if they chose to. She was complicated and that makes for a compelling narrative.
Whatever lens you choose to view Higgins' life, this is a very readable book. Conant's tone is perfect throughout and you truly feel like you are getting a fair account of an amazing life. The pages fly by and there was no slow down for me in any chapter.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and W.W. Norton & Company.)
December 14, 2023
An interesting biography about Maggie Higgins, something of a pioneer in journalism, where she battled to cover combat alongside her male counterparts. It would have been a better read had it been 75 or so pages shorter. Jennet Conant's book is repetitious, with fawning physical descriptions of Higgins (petite! blonde! stunning!) her fiery Irish temper, and automatic pushback about deadlines, budgets and competition from within her news outlet and without. (She seems to have been unaware that the newspapers for which she wrote were businesses, with budgets.) The writing here verges on clunky, too, sending me backwards for more complete context at least a dozen times.
Then there was this: "Even after they bumped to a landing, breaking hard to avoid the charred fuselage at the end of the runway." Braking. Airplanes have brakes.
When Higgins gets back to the U.S., specifically in the Washington, D.C., area, there's a lot of redundant name dropping in the book: MacArthur, Hitler, Eisenhower, Khruschev, JFK, RFK, LBJ.
Most interesting to me, a career journalist 30 years after Higgins, was the sexist resistance she faced on many assignments, from men and women. Little has changed.
"The much bandied-about claim that they [women] had 'slept their way to the top' was payback for invading the war front, which the men considered their privileged domain."
"In the New York newspaper world, the female minority seems to be the favorite verbal target of the male majority. ... A woman reporter is 'temperamental' if she objects to five night assignments in a row. But a male who objects to five night assignments in a row is 'standing up for his rights.' A woman who gets a scoop by sticking by an assignment after the others go back to their offices is 'tricky.' Further, she 'takes unfair advantage.' A man who stays on an assignment after all the other reporters go back to their offices is 'a go-getter.'
Higgins seems to have been a gifted reporter. She did sleep around, but so did the men. (Not newsworthy, then or now.) Her writing could be pedestrian and she was challenged by deadlines. She also was a newsroom snoop and poached others' work relentlessly. And, in her later work, she was unable to keep her opinions out of her writing, even when it ran under a "News" heading. She did seem to know the biggest keys to success in journalism: keeping at it, consistently looking at events through a different lens, learning the languages of her subjects and aiming to file first.
Higgins died in 1966, and many of her contemporaries have passed on since then. Conant seems to have relied heavily on Higgins' papers, letters, and articles as well as Kathleen Keeshen's interviews of many with whom Higgins interacted. The result may be less nuance and depth, as well as more repetition. In most good journalism, showing a truth with pertinent examples, quotations, gathered details, is prized over telling: simply positing a truth. When the odds are against you, sometimes less is more. Props to Conant for telling more people about Higgins.
Then there was this: "Even after they bumped to a landing, breaking hard to avoid the charred fuselage at the end of the runway." Braking. Airplanes have brakes.
When Higgins gets back to the U.S., specifically in the Washington, D.C., area, there's a lot of redundant name dropping in the book: MacArthur, Hitler, Eisenhower, Khruschev, JFK, RFK, LBJ.
Most interesting to me, a career journalist 30 years after Higgins, was the sexist resistance she faced on many assignments, from men and women. Little has changed.
"The much bandied-about claim that they [women] had 'slept their way to the top' was payback for invading the war front, which the men considered their privileged domain."
"In the New York newspaper world, the female minority seems to be the favorite verbal target of the male majority. ... A woman reporter is 'temperamental' if she objects to five night assignments in a row. But a male who objects to five night assignments in a row is 'standing up for his rights.' A woman who gets a scoop by sticking by an assignment after the others go back to their offices is 'tricky.' Further, she 'takes unfair advantage.' A man who stays on an assignment after all the other reporters go back to their offices is 'a go-getter.'
Higgins seems to have been a gifted reporter. She did sleep around, but so did the men. (Not newsworthy, then or now.) Her writing could be pedestrian and she was challenged by deadlines. She also was a newsroom snoop and poached others' work relentlessly. And, in her later work, she was unable to keep her opinions out of her writing, even when it ran under a "News" heading. She did seem to know the biggest keys to success in journalism: keeping at it, consistently looking at events through a different lens, learning the languages of her subjects and aiming to file first.
Higgins died in 1966, and many of her contemporaries have passed on since then. Conant seems to have relied heavily on Higgins' papers, letters, and articles as well as Kathleen Keeshen's interviews of many with whom Higgins interacted. The result may be less nuance and depth, as well as more repetition. In most good journalism, showing a truth with pertinent examples, quotations, gathered details, is prized over telling: simply positing a truth. When the odds are against you, sometimes less is more. Props to Conant for telling more people about Higgins.
January 7, 2024
A fascinating biography of an American journalist I was unfamiliar with before picking up this book: Marguerite (Maggie) Higgins. Higgins (1920-1966) is most known for her war correspondent work for the New York Herald Tribune, covering World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, at a time when female war correspondents were rare. Higgins died of complications of infection with the tropical parasitic disease leishmaniasis, likely contracted in Vietnam, at the age of 45.
The title "fierce ambition" is well-selected, as Higgins' competitiveness and extreme drive are apparent in Conant's work. During her time (and apparently afterwards too, judging from reviews of this book), she was a polarizing figure, either intensely admired and lauded, or intensely hated to the point where she featured as a thinly-disguised fictional character in diss books of the era. I appreciated Conant's nuance in presenting various perspectives, both positive, negative, and mixed, of Higgins' life and work, particularly how her gender worked both for and against her.
Further reading:
First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent by Lorissa Rinehart - this one's on my TBR shelf, but Dickey Chapelle (1919-1965) was a fellow female war correspondent and photojournalist and contemporary of Higgins who also died during the Vietnam War
Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron by Nicholas Fraser - because I kept being reminded of Eva Peron (1919-1952), who is also quite a polarizing figure particularly for how she used her gender, as I read this book
The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News by Sheila Weller
The title "fierce ambition" is well-selected, as Higgins' competitiveness and extreme drive are apparent in Conant's work. During her time (and apparently afterwards too, judging from reviews of this book), she was a polarizing figure, either intensely admired and lauded, or intensely hated to the point where she featured as a thinly-disguised fictional character in diss books of the era. I appreciated Conant's nuance in presenting various perspectives, both positive, negative, and mixed, of Higgins' life and work, particularly how her gender worked both for and against her.
Further reading:
First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent by Lorissa Rinehart - this one's on my TBR shelf, but Dickey Chapelle (1919-1965) was a fellow female war correspondent and photojournalist and contemporary of Higgins who also died during the Vietnam War
Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron by Nicholas Fraser - because I kept being reminded of Eva Peron (1919-1952), who is also quite a polarizing figure particularly for how she used her gender, as I read this book
The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News by Sheila Weller
May 17, 2024
Fascinating book about Marguerite Higgins, known as Maggie, who was a kick ass, trailblazing war correspondent during World War II, the Korean War, and throughout the 1960s. She was fierce, indeed, living up to the title of the book. This is a deep dive nonfiction book, which at times can be a bit dense for some readers, but if you are a research geek, and are fascinated by history, women’s rights, and journalism, you will love it.
March 25, 2024
Amazing life! didnt know the lady but what a pioneer!
January 3, 2024
The version reviewed was the audio version. Narration by EJ Lavery was very well done. The audio is nearly 14 hours (the hardcover is 416 pages).
I struggle to rate Fierce Ambitions. Very well written; but I had no respect for Maggie Higgins, the subject of this biography. Feminists will love her. At the end of the book author Jennet Conant said that a coworkers comment about Maggie Higgins is that people either loved her or hated her. I would agree with that. Kudos to author Jennet Conant; she consistently tells both sides of the story. Because I really did not like Maggie Higgins, I really struggle with how to rate the book; as it is well written and you get a sense of Maggie from the perspective of those that like her and those that do not. So, I've gone from giving it a 2 (for my dislike of Maggie) to a 5 (because it was well written and I feel very emotionally engaged).
The book starts with … Good candidates for the job are rare; they are usually freaks who have landed head first at their goal, either by opportunity, hard work or luck. Most often luck. … Ishbel Ross, Ladies of the Press.
(It's difficult to pull quotes from an audio book. I've tried below. My comments are in parenthesis.)
Maggie scored her first big feature article in Feb 1940 on rumblings of revolution in Mexico. The stories were based on her observations of the country during the 3 week Christmas break. … In Mexico … , Maggie reported, there are no elections as we conceive of them in the United States, the government candidate always wins. No matter who is the people’s choice. It was a coup for a junior, but it was Maggie’s continued use of the royal “we” in the piece that confounded her colleagues.
Maggie came back from Mexico pregnant at 19; she went to AZ for an abortion. … there is no record of her pain or regret, save a confession to a close friend years later that she had undergone one too many terminations in her youth. Maggie did not allow herself to dwell on past mistakes. (Yes. I'm pro-life. Yes. Abortions kill a fetus, not a mass of cells but a beating heart. Abortions shouldn't be a method of birth control, especially not a repeated method.)
Maggie ended up in Watson’s lap and inevitably they became an item, … it would be hard to say who was using whom … how nice to have an adoring acolyte who hung onto your every word and then you took home at night. … The author said it gave her a reputation that she did not deserve.
A colleague said she had to learn how to write, we all broke her in. Some in more ways than one. Another said “Hell, she just liked to get laid.” “immensely good looking blond, with bright blue eyes … She was 22 years old, brash and bossy, with a little girls voice projecting an innocence that she did not possess.” Rumors were that she would do anything to get a story, meaning she was generous with her sexual favors and stingy with sharing credit. “Her conduct was no better or worse than her male counterparts”.
Helen Read (married to the owner of the Tribune) knew that women did 80% of the women's buying and she believed that women wanted to see more stories with a woman’s byline. Read noticed that Maggie had drive and ingenuity, … if she had stepped out of line and tramped on some male toes along the way, so be it.
Once again … “Maggie always seemed to come out well no matter what” … “exclusives wherever she went” … “soon gave rise that she was trading on her sex and trading favors for information”. Maggie believed that women correspondents were discriminated against and that if she used her sex appeal, she was just merely righting the balance. Andy Rooney, then a 26 year old correspondent for Stars and Stripes, did not care for her. She was smart, attractive and unquestionably a good reporter he recalled, she was also one of the few that I knew that was widely disliked by a generally collegially group of reporters. None other than Higgins was accused of using sex to gain an advantage over other correspondents. “No man was safe around her”.
She was constantly pumping all colleagues for information until it became obvious that she was using them. Comments from her colleagues at the time. “She needed to be transferred out of Germany, preferably back to Paris, where she might safely be allowed to cover fashion.” “Maggie treated all reporters as enemies, even the one or two that she was sleeping with” … “She was a dangerous, venomous bitch.” “Beautiful and unscrupulous.”
Tony Howard wrote a book, Shriek with Pleasure. Probably Maggie was used to model the protagonist.
Maggie was transferred to China and just happened to be in the area when the Korean War started.
At some point Maggie helped treat wounded soldiers in Korea.
(So this is where the book changes for me; for entirely personal reasons. Even though i had very little respect for Maggie's tactics. This book was very well written. My dad served in Korea and passed away 20 years ago. But this book opened my eyes and I've been trying to find out more about his service in Korea. He was there in 1953/54 as a heavy equipment mechanic. So I was very thankful to have read Fierce Ambition, if for no other reason that it opened my eyes to what it was like to have been on the ground in Korea.)
Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher HighBridge Audio for approving my request to listen to the advance listen of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is Oct 31, 2023.
I struggle to rate Fierce Ambitions. Very well written; but I had no respect for Maggie Higgins, the subject of this biography. Feminists will love her. At the end of the book author Jennet Conant said that a coworkers comment about Maggie Higgins is that people either loved her or hated her. I would agree with that. Kudos to author Jennet Conant; she consistently tells both sides of the story. Because I really did not like Maggie Higgins, I really struggle with how to rate the book; as it is well written and you get a sense of Maggie from the perspective of those that like her and those that do not. So, I've gone from giving it a 2 (for my dislike of Maggie) to a 5 (because it was well written and I feel very emotionally engaged).
The book starts with … Good candidates for the job are rare; they are usually freaks who have landed head first at their goal, either by opportunity, hard work or luck. Most often luck. … Ishbel Ross, Ladies of the Press.
(It's difficult to pull quotes from an audio book. I've tried below. My comments are in parenthesis.)
Maggie scored her first big feature article in Feb 1940 on rumblings of revolution in Mexico. The stories were based on her observations of the country during the 3 week Christmas break. … In Mexico … , Maggie reported, there are no elections as we conceive of them in the United States, the government candidate always wins. No matter who is the people’s choice. It was a coup for a junior, but it was Maggie’s continued use of the royal “we” in the piece that confounded her colleagues.
Maggie came back from Mexico pregnant at 19; she went to AZ for an abortion. … there is no record of her pain or regret, save a confession to a close friend years later that she had undergone one too many terminations in her youth. Maggie did not allow herself to dwell on past mistakes. (Yes. I'm pro-life. Yes. Abortions kill a fetus, not a mass of cells but a beating heart. Abortions shouldn't be a method of birth control, especially not a repeated method.)
Maggie ended up in Watson’s lap and inevitably they became an item, … it would be hard to say who was using whom … how nice to have an adoring acolyte who hung onto your every word and then you took home at night. … The author said it gave her a reputation that she did not deserve.
A colleague said she had to learn how to write, we all broke her in. Some in more ways than one. Another said “Hell, she just liked to get laid.” “immensely good looking blond, with bright blue eyes … She was 22 years old, brash and bossy, with a little girls voice projecting an innocence that she did not possess.” Rumors were that she would do anything to get a story, meaning she was generous with her sexual favors and stingy with sharing credit. “Her conduct was no better or worse than her male counterparts”.
Helen Read (married to the owner of the Tribune) knew that women did 80% of the women's buying and she believed that women wanted to see more stories with a woman’s byline. Read noticed that Maggie had drive and ingenuity, … if she had stepped out of line and tramped on some male toes along the way, so be it.
Once again … “Maggie always seemed to come out well no matter what” … “exclusives wherever she went” … “soon gave rise that she was trading on her sex and trading favors for information”. Maggie believed that women correspondents were discriminated against and that if she used her sex appeal, she was just merely righting the balance. Andy Rooney, then a 26 year old correspondent for Stars and Stripes, did not care for her. She was smart, attractive and unquestionably a good reporter he recalled, she was also one of the few that I knew that was widely disliked by a generally collegially group of reporters. None other than Higgins was accused of using sex to gain an advantage over other correspondents. “No man was safe around her”.
She was constantly pumping all colleagues for information until it became obvious that she was using them. Comments from her colleagues at the time. “She needed to be transferred out of Germany, preferably back to Paris, where she might safely be allowed to cover fashion.” “Maggie treated all reporters as enemies, even the one or two that she was sleeping with” … “She was a dangerous, venomous bitch.” “Beautiful and unscrupulous.”
Tony Howard wrote a book, Shriek with Pleasure. Probably Maggie was used to model the protagonist.
Maggie was transferred to China and just happened to be in the area when the Korean War started.
At some point Maggie helped treat wounded soldiers in Korea.
(So this is where the book changes for me; for entirely personal reasons. Even though i had very little respect for Maggie's tactics. This book was very well written. My dad served in Korea and passed away 20 years ago. But this book opened my eyes and I've been trying to find out more about his service in Korea. He was there in 1953/54 as a heavy equipment mechanic. So I was very thankful to have read Fierce Ambition, if for no other reason that it opened my eyes to what it was like to have been on the ground in Korea.)
Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher HighBridge Audio for approving my request to listen to the advance listen of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is Oct 31, 2023.
July 14, 2024
Overall this was a good book. Some parts were a little dry, but I learned some new things about the wars she covered and her time in Washington was really interesting. However, for the most part, she did not come across as that likable.
July 14, 2023
This book was really good! This book was well written about an incredible woman. I loved reading another perspective about this time period.
March 19, 2024
The title of the book seems apt, though after finishing the book, I might have titled it Ferociously Ambitious. It was apparent that Maggie Higgins trampled on anyone in her way—male or female—to get her stories on the front pages of newspapers. It’s no wonder she was disliked by her colleagues and, in many cases, viewed with hostility.
Higgins was a war correspondent, journalist, and author, active during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Her climb to fame had not as much to do with her relentless drive but with her attractiveness—her looks and use of femininity. Throughout the book, author Jennet Conant quotes and references Higgins appearance in countless instances with phrases such as “her dewy skin," “slim figure," “blond curls," “slight frame," “little girl voice," “willowy blond,” and “beautiful girl." This became repetitive and predictable, which, in my eyes, made Higgins work less credible. I surmised that Higgins success had more to do with her appearance and charm than her writing skills. Conant says as much by quoting another journalist: "Her looks got her into places and to see the right people easier than it was for others of her colleagues who were less endowed" (p 72).
Granted, Higgins was fearless, going into places near the front lines without a second thought, but there were other talented, fearless journalists on the front lines as well, including a handful of women.
Not surprising, Higgins became a celebrity with the public after newspapers and magazines ran flattering photographs of her. The newspapers Higgins worked for leveraged her celebrity status, devoting special columns to this beautiful female reporter. Not surprisingly, Higgins became a diva, difficult to work with and manage.
I enjoyed reading the section of the book about the Vietnam War. Conan goes into depth about the reporting of the war by the press and about the correspondents relationships with the White House, including Maggie, who was closely tied to the Kennedys and Johnson.
The book itself jumped around a lot. Frequently, in a paragraph, years of time would pass. There were also contradictions about Maggie’s life; for instance, when Maggie was at the Paris bureau, Conant wrote how Maggie was working hard, typically writing 3000 words each night. In the next paragraph, she stated that Maggie was enjoying Paris, attending cocktail parties, dinners, and evening poker games. This was not the only example of a disconnect, which is why the book lost its credibility.
Overall, it was a lively read and somewhat interesting to read about wartime coverage from a celebrity reporter’s perspective.
Higgins was a war correspondent, journalist, and author, active during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Her climb to fame had not as much to do with her relentless drive but with her attractiveness—her looks and use of femininity. Throughout the book, author Jennet Conant quotes and references Higgins appearance in countless instances with phrases such as “her dewy skin," “slim figure," “blond curls," “slight frame," “little girl voice," “willowy blond,” and “beautiful girl." This became repetitive and predictable, which, in my eyes, made Higgins work less credible. I surmised that Higgins success had more to do with her appearance and charm than her writing skills. Conant says as much by quoting another journalist: "Her looks got her into places and to see the right people easier than it was for others of her colleagues who were less endowed" (p 72).
Granted, Higgins was fearless, going into places near the front lines without a second thought, but there were other talented, fearless journalists on the front lines as well, including a handful of women.
Not surprising, Higgins became a celebrity with the public after newspapers and magazines ran flattering photographs of her. The newspapers Higgins worked for leveraged her celebrity status, devoting special columns to this beautiful female reporter. Not surprisingly, Higgins became a diva, difficult to work with and manage.
I enjoyed reading the section of the book about the Vietnam War. Conan goes into depth about the reporting of the war by the press and about the correspondents relationships with the White House, including Maggie, who was closely tied to the Kennedys and Johnson.
The book itself jumped around a lot. Frequently, in a paragraph, years of time would pass. There were also contradictions about Maggie’s life; for instance, when Maggie was at the Paris bureau, Conant wrote how Maggie was working hard, typically writing 3000 words each night. In the next paragraph, she stated that Maggie was enjoying Paris, attending cocktail parties, dinners, and evening poker games. This was not the only example of a disconnect, which is why the book lost its credibility.
Overall, it was a lively read and somewhat interesting to read about wartime coverage from a celebrity reporter’s perspective.
December 18, 2023
This is an incredible biography written about war correspondent, Maggie Higgins. She was definitely a pioneer in her field and faced adversity as a woman in a male-dominated career with incredible tenacity. This biography covers her childhood, college days and her eventual pursuit and execution of an amazing career. Maggie managed to realize her dreams of covering the most significant events around three wars in the 20th century. The ways in which she faced her opposition was inspiring even though she was frequently criticized for these traits at the time.
I was unaware of the life of this amazing woman and found her biography to be almost unbelievable. That she was able to play significant journalistic roles during WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War as a woman during this time was unheard of. I was also amazed that she desired the roles of wife and mother and was able to fulfill these roles as well as she continued her journalism career.
Thanks to the publisher for the print ARC of the book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I also listened to the audio version of the book and found the narrator to be easy to listen to with no distraction from the story. #NetGalley #HighBridgeAudio
I was unaware of the life of this amazing woman and found her biography to be almost unbelievable. That she was able to play significant journalistic roles during WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War as a woman during this time was unheard of. I was also amazed that she desired the roles of wife and mother and was able to fulfill these roles as well as she continued her journalism career.
Thanks to the publisher for the print ARC of the book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I also listened to the audio version of the book and found the narrator to be easy to listen to with no distraction from the story. #NetGalley #HighBridgeAudio
February 15, 2024
Wow. What a life. Maggie Higgins, born to a French mother and American father, worked her way up at the New York Herald Tribune with stubbornness and single mindedness. These same traits paved her way to Europe as an international correspondent near the end of World War Two and later, to Korea, where she did what was probably her best journalistic work. This book offers an encounter with a woman who was obsessed with reporting and could not be content to sit back in safety while her male colleagues (read: competitors) got the scoop. She out-reported and out-scooped one after another.
Along with chronicling Higgins' life and career, this book offers an abbreviated masterclass on the early days of the Cold War, as well as the Korean War and the Vietnam War (until Higgins' early and untimely death). Accompanying history lessons are part of why I enjoy biographies like this so much: I can glean lessons from a person's life while learning more about the history they lived through that shapes my own present context.
Highly recommend.
Along with chronicling Higgins' life and career, this book offers an abbreviated masterclass on the early days of the Cold War, as well as the Korean War and the Vietnam War (until Higgins' early and untimely death). Accompanying history lessons are part of why I enjoy biographies like this so much: I can glean lessons from a person's life while learning more about the history they lived through that shapes my own present context.
Highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2024
Maggie Higgins was a woman decades ahead of her time, a war correspondent who refused to take 'no' for an answer and excelled in a world which was previously nearly the exclusive domain of men. Along the way, Higgins infuriated other reporters, frustrated her assignment editors and publishers, and beguiled politicians and military officers as she traversed the world in search of the next hot zone. From making a name for herself in WWII, covering the wars in Korea and Vietnam, to being on a first name basis with president Kennedy and promoting the Johnson administration, Higgins evolved from a college infatuation with conceptual communism to an outright disdain for real-world communism, this is a woman who led a fascinating and unique life.
March 14, 2024
What a wonderful biography, chronicling a remarkable journalist, Maggie Higgins. From her groundbreaking coverage of the liberation of Dachau during World War II to her Pulitzer Prize-winning dispatches from the front lines of the Korean War, Higgins was a trailblazer, much to the chagrin of many men within the industry who attempted to bring her down. She fearlessly entered war zones and paved the way for journalists, particularly women. Higgins was unapologetically herself and I really enjoyed learning of her personal and professional endeavors. Highly recommend this biography!
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sincere thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 18, 2024
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I was not aware of Maggie Higgins prior to reading this book and enjoyed learning about her career as a journalist specializing in foreign combat. The book had a good review of the partitioning of Berlin and the airlift to keep West Berlin supplied with food and other necessities after WWII and a good summary of the beginnings of the Korean conflict. The early years of the Vietnam War are also discussed.
At times the book dragged and I felt the author was quite repetitive in telling us how hard it was for Maggie, as a woman, to break into a traditionally male profession.
At times the book dragged and I felt the author was quite repetitive in telling us how hard it was for Maggie, as a woman, to break into a traditionally male profession.
April 28, 2024
An excellent book by a great researcher. The ambition of Maggie Higgins had few role models, and she tried to emulate no one as she charted her own course. In the process, she was not trying to make friends as she plowed through to get to the stories and to be on the forefront of events.
Reader her biography, it was hard for me to separate sometimes-dislike of the character from the strength of the book, but the meticulous research done by Ms. Conant brought to life this less-than-perfect beautiful woman who died in her 40s, too early for the last chapters (and victories) of her life could be written.
Reader her biography, it was hard for me to separate sometimes-dislike of the character from the strength of the book, but the meticulous research done by Ms. Conant brought to life this less-than-perfect beautiful woman who died in her 40s, too early for the last chapters (and victories) of her life could be written.
April 13, 2024
I freaking loved hearing about Maggie that it pains me to give this 4 stars, but every time I had to hear about how hot Maggie was I wanted to bonk my own forehead with a pan. Hearing about the sexism is real and important, but this book was… also over-emphasizing her sexual appeal, just like her coworkers. I get it, she is dainty and blonde and bright eyed and had a beautiful body. I GET IT! 😮💨
December 14, 2023
Higgins was a dynamo of American journalism and a great female pioneer for breaking through the male caste system of military journalists. She had more grit than any of her contemporaries and always got the story first. Conant never disappoints in her command of storytelling about forgotten luminaries.
February 3, 2024
Four hours into a 13 hour audiobook I just couldn't go on. Four hours of nauseating repetitive lack of substance. Main theme: "Ambitious girl who wasn't afraid to even the double-standard playing field of male chauvinism in journalism by using her sex appeal." Over and over and over again. Poke me in the eye for nine more hours - no thanks!
April 9, 2024
A fascinating portrayal of a fierce woman breaking ground in the field of war reporting. I didn’t know anything about Maggie before going into this book, but I appreciated her tenacity and the way she battled her insecurities and the expectations put on her by everyone around her. My newest feminist icon.
April 11, 2024
Excellent and well written account of historical facts surround Maggie's life. She was truly a groundbreaking women journalists.
Very interesting and informative. The contributions of women have been marginalized and need to be recognized. This book shows the important role that one women played in our history.
Very interesting and informative. The contributions of women have been marginalized and need to be recognized. This book shows the important role that one women played in our history.
May 5, 2024
A refreshing look at a “first” that acknowledges the misogyny she had to face without getting stuck in it. Towards the end, when you want to shake Higgins out of her cold warrior glasses, you still want to pull for her to get better and keep on reporting. Great research that doesn’t read like research.
June 22, 2024
This book got on my reading list because I heard this author interviewed on NPR. An amazing biography of a reporter that I'd never heard of. She died to young. It would have been really interesting to see what she would have done as she grew older. She was at the discovery of the concentration camps in Germany, survived Korea and Vietnam. An amazing person.
November 11, 2023
One of Jennet Conant’s Finest
Wonderful Bio of an intriguing and not well known war correspondent. Jennet’s research is so thorough and her writing so engaging, it brings to life an almost heroic young woman. I couldn’t put it down. Fabulous
Wonderful Bio of an intriguing and not well known war correspondent. Jennet’s research is so thorough and her writing so engaging, it brings to life an almost heroic young woman. I couldn’t put it down. Fabulous
December 6, 2023
"Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins" is a detailed narrative history on one of America's most well-known female war correspondents. Author Jennet Conant provides is extremely thorough information on Higgins' life, almost to the point of voyeurism.
October 29, 2023
Excellent book about a gutsy woman who didn't let anything stand in her way and lead an amazing life.
January 3, 2024
This was a long one, but what a storied career!
January 6, 2024
A remarkable, brave and sometimes controversial woman who was a trailblazing war reporter.
January 17, 2024
Very well written academic account.
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