Review of A Dream For Peace
Posted: 29 Oct 2022, 00:20
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Dream For Peace" by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah.]
A Dream For Peace by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah is an expansive autobiography that covers the entirety of the author's life in a thought-provoking manner. It comprehensively follows the author on his journey from his birth and higher education to prison and diplomatic meets. Dr. Ghoulem Berrah was born in Algeria and eventually bought to the Ivory Coast through complex and unusual paths. He was working at Yale University as a tenured professor before he left to answer the call of Africa. He served as a diplomatic advisor to the President Houphouët-Boigny of Côte d'Ivoire. He did his best work for Mideast peace.
The book is very well structured. It is chronological and does not confuse the reader. The table of contents shows the reader what an expansive journey we are in for and excites us. The dedication is very sweet, with enticing writing that indicates the author's prose prowess. One thing I liked was the introductions by different people before the autobiography started. It served as the foundation to tell us a little bit about the author and shows us the overwhelmingly positive things they have to say about him.
History, geography, politics, and even biology mingle in the autobiography, and it's frankly educating. Another thing I liked was that there were pictures and photos of documents to accompany the text. These helped me to understand the author's life further and gave me a more personal insight. The documents, including memos from the Cold War, are a true snippet of history and were incredibly interesting to read about. It was fascinating to see how their society functioned, snippets of another culture and their practices. The author has done a wonderful job of portraying it through personal anecdotes and vivid descriptions.
The author's life is certainly illustrious - he has met many influential people, such as Mao Zedong, and served as his country's de facto ambassador. Some of the incidents the author recounts are shocking, especially during his time in prison. Before each chapter starts, there's a page with a quote that gives a little sneak peek of the chapter and encourages the reader to go on. The author is a fiercely passionate man, and we see this in how he describes his dreams with enthusiasm, for example, his dream of living in an independent Algeria.
As a Muslim married to a Christian, the author is very dedicated to 'common faith' and secularism and recounts incidents that prove this. It is very inspiring to see him bringing such positive beliefs to life through actions like building a church and mosque close together to foster harmony. The book ends on a bittersweet but hopeful note, with the author talking about how the world is witnessing the birth of a new generation of confident people. He calls for us to encourage dialogue among the people and not allow extremism to divide us.
In all honesty, there is nothing I disliked about this book. While it is a little long, every page is filled with important accounts. Struggle and conflict are present in the book, but it is overwhelmed by themes of peace, harmony, secularism, belief, faith, and love. It is also exceptionally well edited and formatted; I found no errors while reading.
I would rate this book a well-deserved 4 out of 4 stars. As a young reader, I was inspired and touched by this wonderful book about a truly incredible man. It taught me many lessons about the importance of peace and harmony. I recommend this book to readers looking for a non-fiction book that follows a motivating, eminent personality through his remarkable life.
******
A Dream For Peace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A Dream For Peace by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah is an expansive autobiography that covers the entirety of the author's life in a thought-provoking manner. It comprehensively follows the author on his journey from his birth and higher education to prison and diplomatic meets. Dr. Ghoulem Berrah was born in Algeria and eventually bought to the Ivory Coast through complex and unusual paths. He was working at Yale University as a tenured professor before he left to answer the call of Africa. He served as a diplomatic advisor to the President Houphouët-Boigny of Côte d'Ivoire. He did his best work for Mideast peace.
The book is very well structured. It is chronological and does not confuse the reader. The table of contents shows the reader what an expansive journey we are in for and excites us. The dedication is very sweet, with enticing writing that indicates the author's prose prowess. One thing I liked was the introductions by different people before the autobiography started. It served as the foundation to tell us a little bit about the author and shows us the overwhelmingly positive things they have to say about him.
History, geography, politics, and even biology mingle in the autobiography, and it's frankly educating. Another thing I liked was that there were pictures and photos of documents to accompany the text. These helped me to understand the author's life further and gave me a more personal insight. The documents, including memos from the Cold War, are a true snippet of history and were incredibly interesting to read about. It was fascinating to see how their society functioned, snippets of another culture and their practices. The author has done a wonderful job of portraying it through personal anecdotes and vivid descriptions.
The author's life is certainly illustrious - he has met many influential people, such as Mao Zedong, and served as his country's de facto ambassador. Some of the incidents the author recounts are shocking, especially during his time in prison. Before each chapter starts, there's a page with a quote that gives a little sneak peek of the chapter and encourages the reader to go on. The author is a fiercely passionate man, and we see this in how he describes his dreams with enthusiasm, for example, his dream of living in an independent Algeria.
As a Muslim married to a Christian, the author is very dedicated to 'common faith' and secularism and recounts incidents that prove this. It is very inspiring to see him bringing such positive beliefs to life through actions like building a church and mosque close together to foster harmony. The book ends on a bittersweet but hopeful note, with the author talking about how the world is witnessing the birth of a new generation of confident people. He calls for us to encourage dialogue among the people and not allow extremism to divide us.
In all honesty, there is nothing I disliked about this book. While it is a little long, every page is filled with important accounts. Struggle and conflict are present in the book, but it is overwhelmed by themes of peace, harmony, secularism, belief, faith, and love. It is also exceptionally well edited and formatted; I found no errors while reading.
I would rate this book a well-deserved 4 out of 4 stars. As a young reader, I was inspired and touched by this wonderful book about a truly incredible man. It taught me many lessons about the importance of peace and harmony. I recommend this book to readers looking for a non-fiction book that follows a motivating, eminent personality through his remarkable life.
******
A Dream For Peace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon