Read This! (If You're Interested in the Peace Corps)

I just finished a very interesting book. If you ever thought about joining the Peace Corps, or met a Peace Corps volunteer in your home country, you might be interested, too.

Here's my review from the Goodreads website:


When the World Calls: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE PEACE CORPS AND ITS FIRST FIFTY YEARS by Stanley Meisler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating history of the Peace Corps, which is now 50 years old. The author lays out clearly all the Washington DC fighting and deals and politics that come with any gov't agency. But having served as a volunteer, I didn't see that side of things. I think he gives the Peace Corps more importance in affecting host country politics than is warranted--but I could be wrong--he describes incidents from the 1960's when it was new and glamorous. Looking through the lists in the back of the book, I see that I served during the Peace Corps' smallest years and during the Reagan administration, when the PC was not considered glamorous or important. I always thought the administration was crazy to think they could use volunteers to promote their agenda, because we volunteers were 90% young, inexperienced liberals who were always against the agenda. Reading this book, it looks like that dynamic is at the heart of the PC's history. The author jumps too far to that liberal heart of the agency to defend it, and its cherished traditions, against all criticisms. But he does present the criticisms and discuss both sides. Really liked this book and learned a lot from it.