The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)
A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
ONE OF AUDIBLE'S BEST AUDIOBOOKS OF 2019
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019
"Her highly personal and reflective memoir . . . is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world."—President Barack Obama
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.
"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
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Samantha Power. (2019). The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir. Unabridged HarperAudio.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Samantha Power. 2019. The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir. HarperAudio.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Samantha Power, The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir. HarperAudio, 2019.
MLA Citation (style guide)Samantha Power. The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir. Unabridged HarperAudio, 2019.
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Samantha Power is a Professor of Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School. From 2013-2017, Power served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a member of President Obama's cabinet. From 2009-2013, Power served on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. Power began her career as a journalist, reporting from places such as Bosnia, East Timor, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, and she was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School. Power's book, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. She is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World (2008) and The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir (2019), which was named one of the best books of 2019 by the New York Times, Washington Post, Economist, NPR, and TIME. Power earned a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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Samantha Power is a Professor of Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School. From 2013-2017, Power served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a member of President Obama's cabinet. From 2009-2013, Power served on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. Power began her career as a journalist, reporting from places such as Bosnia, East Timor, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, and she was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School. Power's book, "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. She is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World (2008) and The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir (2019), which was named one of the best books of 2019 by the New York Times, Washington Post, Economist, NPR, and TIME. Power earned a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
ONE OF AUDIBLE'S BEST AUDIOBOOKS OF 2019
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019
- AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2019
- ONE OF TIME'S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2019
- AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR
- A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019
- A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF 2019
"Her highly personal and reflective memoir . . . is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world."—President Barack Obama
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.
"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 NPR BEST BOOK OF 2019
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Starred review from August 26, 2019
In vividly told scenes, with bracing honesty and breathless prose, Pulitzer Prize–winner Power (A Problem from Hell) reflects on the roads that led from her college days at Yale to her work in the U.S. government. She graduated from Harvard Law School, and in 2005 met Sen. Barack Obama, who asked her to serve as a foreign policy adviser. After his presidential election, Obama brought Power into the National Security Council in 2009, and from 2013 to 2017, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Power takes readers behind the scenes of her visits to Libya during the final tense days of the Qaddafi regime, pointing out that in spite of the downturn in security, Libya’s citizens agreed that they wanted no international presence in their country, but to determine their own future. She discovered that Burma’s human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi is a bad listener and that it’s not clear that Suu Kyi cared that much about humans. Ultimately, she stresses the necessity of caring, acting, and not giving up when seeking to change people’s lives. Power’s vibrant prose, exuberant storytelling, and deep insights into human nature make for a page-turning memoir.
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- content: Samantha Power's appealing voice exhibits gravitas, humility, and humor in this remarkable memoir. She is clear and compelling as she reflects on multiple turning points in her life--emigrating from Ireland as a child, visiting Dachau and Anne Frank's house, reporting on the Bosnian genocide, being a foreign policy advisor to President Obama, and becoming U.N. ambassador. Power struggles to retain her natural activism--a desire for American intervention to stem human rights abuses--while operating within the real constraints of American governmental and military institutions. Managing a young family along with a super-busy professional life generates lighter moments. It's hard not to giggle when her son Declan stomps away after unsuccessfully trying to get her attention during a political crisis, muttering "Putin, Putin, Putin. When will it be Declan, Declan, Declan?" A.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
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Starred review from September 1, 2019
As a young Irish immigrant to the U.S., painfully separated from her beloved, alcoholic father, Power learned the lessons of otherness and found refuge and camaraderie in sports, a passion that has helped her break down many barriers. The Tiananmen Square protests precipitated her political awakening; Washington, DC, internships stoked her fascination with foreign policy, and her intrepidness, writing skills, empathic curiosity, and commitment to justice propelled her to become a war correspondent in Bosnia at 23. Hoping to effect change, Power earned a law degree and wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning history of genocide, A Problem from Hell (2002), which led to the first of many delving conversations with U.S. senator, then president Barack Obama, who appointed her to be a human rights advisor on the National Security Council, then U.S. Ambassador to the UN. In this gripping and revelatory memoir, Power chronicles, with vibrant precision and stunning candor, her best and worst moments navigating the obstacle courses within the White House and the UN, daunting global crises, and personal struggles. She is utterly compelling in her eye-witness accounts of violence and political standoffs and shrewdly witty in her tales about balancing diplomacy and motherhood. Ultimately, Power affirms the possibility for positive change and asserts that America's power resides in its respect for human rights.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
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Starred review from October 1, 2019
Power (The Unquiet American) holds endowed chairs at both Harvard's Kennedy School and Law School, and received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide. She served as Barack Obama's special assistant for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights (2009-13) and as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2013-17). Here, she presents an illuminating and engaging account of her journey from would-be sports journalist to award-winning author, from Irish immigrant to presidential cabinet member. Along the way, Power shares about her family life, notably the challenges of raising two young children while serving in high-level government positions. Some of the narrative's best features include insights into working with fellow diplomats in a male-dominated UN bureaucracy inflamed by tyrannical world leaders, such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and Syria's Bashir Assad. Their actions are countered by anecdotes of heroic citizens who put their lives on the line for freedom from despots, disease, and mass murders. Power herself, was a steadfast advocate for immigrant, LGBTQ, and women's rights. VERDICT Revealing the inner-workings of foreign policy, this engrossing memoir will appeal to informed readers and will inspire women contemplating careers in public service. [See Prepub Alert, 3/4/19.]--Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
ONE OF AUDIBLE'S BEST AUDIOBOOKS OF 2019
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019
- AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2019
- ONE OF TIME'S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2019
- AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR
- A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019
- A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF 2019
"Her highly personal and reflective memoir . . . is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world."—President Barack Obama
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...
- AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2019
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