Sarah^• is an amazing book simply because it was published in April 2008, a scant four months before Governor Palin became the Vice Presidential nominee who threatened Senator Obama’s presidential bid. Back then, the media and fellow Democrats supported Palin as a maverick, fighting corruption in a nonpartisan matter, including in the Republican establishment. There is no hint in these pages of the media savaging in store for Governor Palin.

In her first year as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has plunged ahead with the fearlessness of a polar explorer.—Associated Press

She had a tough-girl Alaskan résumé that most politicians could only dream of—the protein her family eats comes from fish she has pulled out of the ocean with her own hands.—Vogue

In Alaska, Palin is challenging the dominant, sometimes corrupting, role of oil companies in the state’s political culture.—Newsweek

[Governor Palin] stands out in a state that has seen few fresh faces in politics. She is untainted by government scandal and unburdened by political debt.—New York Times

This book is very short. It’s just a simple outline of then-Governor Palin’s life story, the basics from her young life in Alaska, through college, a few words about her and Todd Palin’s courtship, and, mostly, but still abbreviated, her political career first in Wasilla and ending in the governorship of Alaska.

Throughout the book we see Palin without the partisan lens that came after 2008. We see the kind of centrist conservative the country needs: a principled politician who can work with the other side of the aisle and still not discard her principles. A Republican politician who can work with, and be admired by, Democrats.

For example, after Palin resigned from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to protest the corruption there[as a member, she was forbidden to talk about anything that went on at the AOGCC], she worked with Democrat Representative Eric Croft to investigate corruption by the Republican governor’s crony, Gregg Renkes. The party line was that, because Renkes owned only .02% of stock in a company, there was no conflict of interest during negotiations with the company. It turned out, that .02% was worth $120,000.

And when Palin challenged incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski, she received support from Democrats as well as Republicans, including Fairbanks Democrat John Reeves.

“I knew from the moment I met her that she was going to win,” said Reeves, who switched parties in order to support Sarah^•.

“So many people from all walks of life came together and said, it doesn’t matter what party, Sarah is what we want,” Reeves said.

This is a fascinating look at Sarah Palin before the storm, and worth picking up if you see it just for that. I probably wouldn’t go looking for it, though, just because it predates the most interesting parts of her career.