Jennifer Hosten went to the 1970 Miss World pageant on a lark, representing the tiny Caribbean Island of Grenada, and came home with the crown and a place in history.

What was supposed to be a light-hearted affair turned out to be the most controversial, politically-charged and consequential pageant ever. Women's liberation activists blew up a BBC broadcast truck.

They threw rotten vegetables in the auditorium and hit Bob Hope with a flour bomb. When order was restored, Jennifer Hosten made history as the first women of colour ever to win the title. The broadcast introduced its massive audience to both a new brand of feminism and a new ideal of beauty.

Ms. Hosten followed her triumph with a successful career as a diplomat and public servant in Grenada and Canada. Her book tells the stories of the epochal 1970 contest and her life with grace and an amused modesty.