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Visions of Hope in Words and Images by MICHAEL COLLOPY New World Library $40 (hardcover)
The book as a whole is a collection of photographs of some of the most influential people in our world. It is said that Mr. Collopy "set out to bring seventy-five of the world’s great peacemakers — spiritual leaders, politicians, scientists, artists, and activists — together in one book. Through their photographs and words, the book sets out to convey how diversity of culture and opinion can be united through a central goal of peace." And that is just what it does. Architects of Peace draws on the wisdom of so many greats that it is hard to name but a few. It includes peacemakers from Pope John Paul II to the Dalai Lama, Maya Angelou to Steven Spielberg, Margaret Thatcher to Jimmy Carter, and Jean-Michel Cousteau to Dr. C. Everett Koop. More than half of the essays collected here were written especially for this book, lending even more focus to a powerfully centered book on peace. Topics cover so many approaches — peace from war, peace in ecology, human rights, economics — that the list is as varied as the people who are presented here. I tend to review those books that a reader can turn around and use in his or her daily life, books that offer a plan. But we must remember that behind every great plan, there is an even greater will. It is no doubt why inspirational books remain so popular. Among titles of inspiration, I say this one stands formidably among the best; it opens the eye and brings resolution toward renewed growth as the reader lets the power of words sink in. |
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Architects of Peace caught my attention as soon as it arrived at The New Times. I felt right away how important this book is, its energy radiating in a way that few books’ can claim to. It’s hardly a surprise that the images of such potent workers as Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela grace the cover, but — and I am not one to make such claims lightly — I can almost feel the power of the words in the book seeping through the cover to surround me.