Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

Barbie and Ruth is the entwined story of two exceptional women. There’s Barbie: the diminutive yet arrestingly voluptuous doll unveiled at the 1959 Toy Fair who became the treasure of 90% of American girls and their counterparts in 140 countries. She went on to become an Olympic athlete, an air force pilot, a boutique owner, a presidential candidate, and a cultural icon.

Then there’s Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator: the tenth child of Polish-Jewish immigrants; a passionately competitive and creative business pioneer; and a mother and wife who wanted it all. After Ruth was forced out of Mattel, the company she founded, she used her breast cancer as an impetus to start a business that changed women’s lives. She was ultimately honored as a pioneer, humanitarian, and masterful entrepreneur. Based on previously unavailable material, original research, and extensive interviews, Barbie and Ruth is the fascinating story of two women, and how together they indelibly changed American business and culture