Condi Nabs 3-Book Deal

Condoleezza Rice has agreed to a three-book deal officials say is worth at least $2.5 million, starting with a memoir about her years in the administration of President Bush. The former secretary of State “will combine candid narrative and acute analysis to tell the story of her time in the White House and as America's top diplomat," Crown Publishers said in a statement. The book is planned for 2011.

Rice, 54, also will write a memoir about her family, scheduled for 2012, and a young-adult edition of her family book that will come out at the same time. Rice is regarded among publishers as more likable and less ideological than other administration officials. She is also seen as having an interesting personal story, rising from a segregated community in Birmingham to become the first black woman to head up the State Department.