The world doesn't know quite what to make of Angelina Jolie.

The bee-stung lips and high cheekbones are iconic in their expression of modern female beauty. Jolie is also talented, and the camera loves her. Ever since the spotlight first shone on her with her captivating performance in HBO's Gia, audiences have been fascinated by Jolie's life and career. She earned an Oscar for her role as a volatile mental patient in Girl, Interrupted and became a darling of the video game set in her role as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

However, despite her pedigree--she is the daughter of actor Jon Voight, Jolie is very much not of Hollywood. Her most important roles appear to be those of single mother and as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, a calling that has led her to live and work with refugees around the world.

And then there's her fearless honesty about her dark personal past--her turbulent relationship with her father, her one-time obsession with knives and self-mutilation and her fascination with death.

This biography reveals a strong and compassionate woman of extraordinary beauty, both inside and out, who is candid about her life and work.

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