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Overview"Ralph Bunche was instrumental — sometimes at great personal risk — in finding peaceful solutions to incendiary conflicts around the world, while at the same time he was never far from the realities of racial prejudice. Bunche rose from modest circumstances to become the foremost international mediator and peacekeeper of his time, winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize and key drafter of the United Nations charter. Drawing on Bunche's personal papers and on his many years as Bunche's colleague at the UN, Brian Urquhart's elegant biography delineates a man with a zest for life as well as unsurpassed integrity of purpose. ""Brian Urquhart brings [Bunche] back to life with a splendid biography. . . . Bunche emerges here as one of the major American diplomatic figures of this century and one of the towering leaders in African American history."" —Arnold Rampersad, Princeton University At once a splendid biography of a very brave and remarkable American, a vivid account of the struggle for racial justice, and an indispensable introduction to the dilemmas of international peacekeeping. ""—Arthur Schlesinger, Jr." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Brian UrquhartPublisher: WW Norton & Co Imprint: WW Norton & Co Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.50cm , Height: 3.60cm , Length: 23.40cm Weight: 0.734kg ISBN: 9780393318593ISBN 10: 0393318591 Pages: 512 Publication Date: 11 November 1998 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Out of stock  The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available. Table of ContentsReviewsThe first full-dress biography of Bunche - and one that brings to life the many achievements of a remarkable diplomat. Drawing on access to Bunche's private papers and to knowledge gained during his stint as Bunche's assistant at the UN, Urquhart (A Life in Peace and War, 1987; Hammarskjold, 1972) offers a nuanced portrait of an exceptional man who began as a militant critic of white America and ended as a member of its establishment. Bunche, the grandson of a former slave, graduated from UCLA in 1927, earned a doctorate at Harvard, and helped Gunner Myrdal research his landmark study, An American Dilemma. During WW II, the future UN undersecretary general served with the OSS, moving in 1944 to the State Department, where - in his capacity as head of the section dealing with colonial affairs - he participated in the founding of the UN and the drafting of its charter. In the wake of his appointment to the UN Secretariat, Bunche negotiated the 1949 armistice between Israel and its Arab neighbors, a feat that won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. As the secretary-general's chief troubleshooter, he directed missions to defuse the Suez, Congo, Cyprus, and other crises. Though a world-class statesmen widely esteemed for his mediation talents, the globe-trotting Bunche (who died in 1971 at age 67) remained a second-class citizen subject to racial discrimination in the US - where he was visibly, if judiciously, active in the civil-rights movement. Throughout, Urquhart provides perceptive accounts of Bunche's many appearances on the international stage, plus valuable perspectives on his relations with a close-knit family. As additional archival material becomes available, scholars will no doubt pay closer attention to Bunche's extraordinary accomplishments as a peacemaker. But be that as it may, Urquhart's scrupulously documented, wide-angle narrative bids fair to become a standard reference on the man. (Kirkus Reviews) Author InformationSir Brian Urquhart succeeded Ralph Bunche as United Nations Undersecretary General for Special Political Affairs. He is Scholar in Residence at the Ford Foundation and author of A Life in Peace and War, also a Norton paperback. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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