Snapdragon: The World War II Exploits of Darby's Ranger and Combat Photographer Phil Stern

An award-winning journalist with more than 15 years' experience, Liesl Bradner has contributed to respected national publications such as the Los Angeles Times, the New Republic, the Guardian, Truthdig, Variety and WWII Magazine. In addition to Phil Stern, with whom she forged a strong bond, Bradner has interviewed nearly 100 artists, actors, screenwriters, authors, politicians and photographers. In May 2016, she was part of a team of writers at Truthdig that won the 2015 Maggie Award for best regularly featured web column (Book Review). Book projects include Frank Sinatra Has a Cold (Taschen, 2015) and the Writers' Room essay for Matthew Weiner's Mad Men (Taschen, 2016). She lives in Los Angeles.

Described by Vanity Fair editor David Friend as the “Chronicler of Cool,” American photographer Phil Stern is noted for his iconic portraits of Hollywood stars. During World War II, he served as a U.S. Army Ranger and combat photographer in the much heralded fighting unit Darby's Rangers in the North African and Italian campaigns. In 2014 Stern was inaugurated into the prestigious U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame for his “service as an original member of the 1st Ranger Battalion and for his lasting contribution to the photographic history of the Rangers.”