Great Peacemakers

I just received my examination copy, and ate it up. What a perfect book this is for my college seminar class. It is already on my "required reading" list. With so much attention today placed on TV personalities, it is good to be able to help students see and discuss other, real ways of being in the world. Thank you Ken Beller and Heather Chase. If you are ever in Vermont, please consider this an invitation to speak to my college class!

This is a terrific book. Well written, concise, and inspirational. Appropriate for all ages.

Great Peacemakers is a fascinating read about twenty incredible people--some famous or familiar, some less so--whose positive influences have reverberated around the world and affected modern history in surprisingly countless ways. The authors carefully and thoughtfully organized the peacemakers and their particular areas of focus into five categories, or paths: Choosing Nonviolence, Living Peace, Honoring Diversity, Valuing All Life, and Caring for the Planet. Each theme has a vital point of social, political, environmental, and ethical significance and urgency, conveyed through the courage, creativity, and insights of the peacemakers. In selecting the peacemakers to profile, the authors strove for balance of race, nationality, religion, gender, age, and level of fame. The outcome is an exceptional collection of intriguing personalities and role models, each one equally memorable and inspirational. The text is easy to read but intelligently composed. Each segment consists of five pages that highlight the overall theme of each person's life. This format prevents the reader from getting bogged down in detail while gleaning the essence of the peacemakers, their accomplishments and challenges, and their individual approaches to peace. The photographs bring the individuals to life, and the quotations at the end of each segment encapsulate the core of their messages in memorable affirmations. Great Peacemakers is the kind of book that you want to read from cover to cover. Because each segment is self-contained, it's easy to complete just one a day, if time is limited, or if you want to use it as a topic of meditation, discussion, or further exploration. This book is ideal for youth through adults. It would also be an excellent text for middle school, high school, and college-level classes, as well as book clubs, community-service volunteers, activists, and faith-based groups. In fact, anyone who wants an uplifting, thought-provoking read will find this book to be a treasure--one that should be revisited frequently.