NEW YORK TIMES WALL STREET JOURNAL AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER A must-read for anyone who cares
about our role in a changing world.-President Barack Obama This is a wonderful book. [...] The
interweaving of Power's personal story family story diplomatic history and moral arguments is
executed seamlessly and with unblinking honesty.-THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN The New York Times Book
Review Honest personal revealing... about the development of a young woman's inner strength
and self-knowledge.-COLM TÓIBÍN author of Brooklyn and Nora Webster Truly engrossing.-RACHEL
MADDOW An intimate powerful and galvanizing memoir by Pulitzer Prize winner human rights
advocate and former UN Ambassador Samantha Power. In her memoir Power offers an urgent
response to the question What can one person do? and a call for a clearer eye a kinder heart
and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist
traces Power's distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential
Cabinet official. In 2005 her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected
senator Barack Obama who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his
presidential campaign. After Obama was elected president Power went from being an activist
outsider to a government insider navigating the halls of power while trying to put her ideals
into practice. She served for four years as Obama's human rights adviser and in 2013 he named
her US Ambassador to the United Nations the youngest American to assume the role. Power
transports us from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the White House
Situation Room and the world of high-stakes diplomacy. Humorous and deeply honest The
Education of an Idealist lays bare the searing battles and defining moments of her life and
shows how she juggled the demands of a 24 7 national security job with the challenge of raising
two young children. Along the way she illuminates the intricacies of politics and geopolitics
reminding us how the United States can lead in the world and why we each have the opportunity
to advance the cause of human dignity. Power's memoir is an unforgettable account of the power
of idealism and of one person's fierce determination to make a difference.
