McCarthy, Colman. I’d Rather Teach Peace. Orbis, 2002.
“This title is a running account of some of McCarthy’s experiences at the various places he’s taught peace. Three features make the book especially worthwhile. The first is McCarthy’s wonderfully flowing style. Reading his prose is like having a conversation with a person who loves words and people. The second is McCarthy’s reflections on peace and peacemaking, and why so few folks in this country take either very seriously. But the third feature–and, for my money, the heart of the book–is the story of McCarthy’s adventures in the classroom, chatting with kids about peace, overcoming their resistance, learning from their experiences, challenging them to think outside the box. McCarthy clearly teaches peacemaking as a way of life, not merely a cessation of war, and one of the first conditions is that his students begin to ask themselves some tough questions about how and why they value what they do. In reading his accounts, we find ourselves in the classroom with him and his students.” Review by Kerry Walters via Amazon.com website.
Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . One School at a Time. Penguin pb, 2007.
Follow the journey of this young mountain climber as he decides to dedicate his life to building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson and friends believe that the answer to finding peace is in education, especially for young women in the Middle East. Available in hardback and paperback. This book has 349 pages of drama, passion and life-changing views on ways we can change the world.
Hunt, Scott. The Future of Peace: On the Front Lines with the World’s
Great Peacemakers. HarperOne, 2004.
In an eye-opening journey around the world, Scott A. Hunt allows his readers to come face to face with true heroes through informal interviews. Some of his peacemakers include the Dalai Lama; the famed dissident of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the activist who brought peace to Latin America, Oscar Arias of Costa Rica. These peacemakers share their historic struggles and show readers how to find optimism in the face of pain and compassion in the place of animosity. Available in new and used paperback editions.
Wood, John. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey
to Educate the World’s Children. Collins, 2006.
This memoir of sorts tells the true story of John Wood’s struggle to find a meaningful outlet for his strong business skills. “For every high-achiever who has ever wondered what life might be like giving back, Wood offers a vivid, emotional, and absorbing tale of how to take the lessons learned at a hard-charging company like Microsoft and apply them to one of the world’s most pressing problems: the lack of basic literacy.” (from book jacket)