This is a wonderful look at the career of Dame Fonteyn. On one level, you witness every step in her career, from her luck at having a great teacher while her father worked in Tietsen China to her greatest triumphs with Rudolf Nureyev in the 1960s. She is gracious, humorful, and in awe of her craft and art. She treats the reader to a wonderful portrayal of her method of creativity: what she thinks about and feels, the regime of her discipline, and the institutions she became a part of. This is valuable stuff.

On another level, the reader is introduced to a vanished milieau of artists in Europe and the US, which is personal history at its best. While the politics of the 20C were viewed from the sidelines here, it was fascinating to me to learn what it did to the arts. There is also Arias, the love of her life, a Panamanian aristocrat who had a strange and dry sense of humor.

Warmly recommended for those who love dance history.

Margot Fonteyn wrote a brilliant autobiography with this book. She skims over the less interesting details and concentrates on what her audience would find interesting. She candidly discusses her feelings and thoughts throughout her career, and does her best to present a fair view of herself. This book is interesting to dancers and non-dancers alike