Hope, never fear: a personal portrait of the Obamas

"Award-winning photographer Callie Shell met Barack Obama while covering John Kerry's presidential campaign for Time. This unique look behind the curtains follows the journey from the Obama's family home in Chicago to the most powerful house in our nation, and takes you back to a time before Barack was the "rock star" president - to a time when he still washed his own dishes and saw the kids off to school;.

When Michelle still balanced her checkbook and checked her Blackberry; when he rode the back roads of Illinois in a rental van without any Secret Service or press, and just Shell for company - through to the primaries, the run for president, and the first 100 days of his first and second terms. Throughout it all, they became fast friends, swapping stories about their kids and spouses, sharing tips about coping with life on the road, and how to get your five-year-old to sit still enough to put their shoes on.

Here a collection of more than 100 photographs are combined with inspiring and revealing quotations from Michelle and Barack that reveal their warmth, compassion and unending commitment to service. With an in-depth introduction by Shell together with notes drawn from the detailed diaries she kept during her time with the Obamas, this is an affecting and deeply personal insight into this extraordinary couple who inspired and empowered millions of people around the world"--.