This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
One man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia: in 1993 Greg Mortenson was an American mountain-climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of a Pakistani village, he promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time--Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. In a region where Americans are often feared and hated, he has survived kidnapping, death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself--at last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools.--From publisher description.… (more)
BookWallah: If you are one of the few people in the USA that missed Greg's first (Three Cups of Tea) book you should make amends and rush to read this one.
cougar_c: From one middle east country to the another - what "Three Cups of Tea" and "Mornings in Jenin" have in common is they show the human side of people trapped in a conflict.
I listened to this book (I downloaded it for free from the library web site). It took a little while to get into, but I was hooked once he started describing building the schools in Pakistan. Fascinating. ( )
Greg Mortenson's pursuits and heart are not only interesting but inspiring; however, the writing tries too hard for poeticism. The action, geography, and man are interesting, but the writing is not. ( )
Good story of a former mountain climber's work on building schools for girls in the Middle East or Central Asia area. Very inspiring. I hope the rumors that he falsified some of it are not true. ( )
I’ve had this book for years but never got around to reading it until hearing a podcast about how several of the stories are exaggerated or completely fraudulent . That may have coloured how much I enjoyed the book. Next on the list is “Three Cups of Deceit”! ( )
"The story of how this happened is a cliffhanger as well as an first-hand introduction to the people and places of a region little understood by most Americans. The subtitle, "One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . . . One School at a Time," underscores the motivation behind his work."
added by cvosshans | editBookBrowse, Washington Times - Ann Geracimos
"Answering by delivering what his country will not, Mortenson is "fighting the war on terror the way I think it should be conducted," Relin writes. This inspiring, adventure-filled book makes that case admirably."
to Irvin "Dempsey" Mortenson, Barry "Barrel" Bishop and Lloyd Henry Relin for showing us the way, while you were here
First words
The little red light had been flashing for five minutes before Bhangoo paid it any attention. "The fuel gages on these old aircraft are notoriously unreliable," Brigadier General Bhangoo, one of Pakistan's most experienced high-altitude pilots, said, tapping. I wasn't sure if that was meant to make me feel better.
Quotations
The only way we can defeat terrorism is if people in this country where terrorists exist learn to respect and love Americans...and if we can respect and love these people here. What's the difference between them becoming a productive local citizen or a terrorist? I think the key is education.
Your President Bush has done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years. (Pakastani Brigadier General Bashir Baz)
Osama, baah!...The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever. (Pakastani Brigadier General Bashir Baz)
Last words
Mortenson put his hands on the shoulders of Sadhar Khan's brown robe, as he's done a decade earlier, among other mountains, with another leader, named Hajji Ali, conscious, not of the gunmen still observing him through their sniperscopes, nor of the shahid stones, warmed to amber by the sun's late rays, but of the inner mountain he'd committed, in that instant, to climb.
One man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia: in 1993 Greg Mortenson was an American mountain-climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of a Pakistani village, he promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time--Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. In a region where Americans are often feared and hated, he has survived kidnapping, death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself--at last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools.--From publisher description.
▾Library descriptions
No library descriptions found.
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
One wrong turn in Pakistan's K2 mountain range changes the life of one man and all whom he encounters.