Peacemaker: U Thant, the United Nations and the Untold Story of the 1960s

‘A wonderful subject, beautifully written, evoking a world startlingly like and unlike our own’ Rory Stewart

‘A brilliant portrait not just of a great and unjustly forgotten man, but of an entire age’ William Dalrymple

‘Important reading at any time in history; essential in the world of today’ Peter Frankopan

IN THE EARLY 1960S, a peaceful world seemed possible. The still young United Nations was regarded as humankind’s best hope for ending war. African and Asian nations, having recently won their freedom from colonial rule, sought influence on the world stage. At the helm of their international efforts was Secretary-General U Thant, a practising Buddhist and former schoolteacher from Burma.

In Peacemaker, acclaimed historian Thant Myint-U traces his grandfather’s integral yet forgotten roles in some of the twentieth century’s most critical crises: from battling white supremacist mercenaries in the Congo and mediating an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis to desperately trying to prevent the 1967 Six Day War. Drawing on newly declassified documents, he traces U Thant’s tireless efforts to bring peace to Vietnam, create a fairer international economy, safeguard the environment, and avoid a third world war.

A testament to the power of hope and individual action in times of uncertainty, Peacemaker is an extraordinary chronicle of a golden age of diplomacy - and vital to a fresh understanding of our world today.