Peace Corps Times

When the World Calls is the first complete and balanced look at the Peace Corps’s first fifty years. Revelatory and candid, journalist Stanley Meisler’s engaging narrative exposes Washington infighting, presidential influence, and the Volunteers’ unique struggles abroad. He deftly unpacks the complicated history with sharp analysis and memorable anecdotes, taking readers on a global trek starting with the historic first contingent of Volunteers to Ghana on August 30, 1961. In the years since, in spite of setbacks, the ethos of the Peace Corps has endured, largely due to the perseverance of the 200,000 Volunteers themselves, whose shared commitment to effect positive global change has been a constant in one of our most complex—and valued—institutions.

For the first time, the story of Afghanistan prior to, and during, the communist coup of 1979 is told from the perspective of an American working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan.

The author worked and vacationed in Liberia and West Africa from 1962-1964 and 1964 respectively. The author kept a diary for most of his stay. This book reveals the day-to-day life of a Peace Corps volunteer as well as the experiences of students and villagers. The experiences are both diverse and unexpected. Reading these diaries results in a fair perspective on the volunteers life and times. Furthermore, it provides many insights into Liberia, Americo-Liberian culture, life up-county, or life in the interior. This book carries the reader from experience to experience. Youll have a hard time setting it down.