The Education of an Idealist

Samantha Power's appealing voice exhibits gravitas, humility, and humor in this remarkable memoir. She is clear and compelling as she reflects on multiple turning points in her life--emigrating from Ireland as a child, visiting Dachau and Anne Frank's house, reporting on the Bosnian genocide, being a foreign policy advisor to President Obama, and becoming U.N. ambassador. Power struggles to retain her natural activism--a desire for American intervention to stem human rights abuses--while operating within the real constraints of American governmental and military institutions. Managing a young family along with a super-busy professional life generates lighter moments. It's hard not to giggle when her son Declan stomps away after unsuccessfully trying to get her attention during a political crisis, muttering "Putin, Putin, Putin. When will it be Declan, Declan, Declan?" A.B. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine