Praise for Unbowed
Unbowed: A Memoir (UK & USA versions)
"Wangari Maathai's memoir is direct, honest, and beautifully written—a gripping account of modern Africa's trials and triumphs, a universal story of courage, persistence, and success against great odds in a noble cause."—Bill Clinton
"In her engrossing and eye-opening memoir, a work of tremendous dignity and rigor, Maathai describes the paradise she knew as a child in the 1940s, when Kenya was a 'lush, green, fertile' land of plenty, and the deforested nightmare it became. . . ."—Booklist (Starred Review)
"[E]ssential reading. . . . Unbowed is a modern fable about individual responsibility and the importance of challenging received wisdom, dogma and irrational male authority, as well as the punishment meted out to those who challenge masculine power."—Sunday Times (London)
"An autobiography written with honesty, humility, and depth. . . . Her achievements, accomplished as they were in the face of incarceration by those in power, will astonish the reader. Maathai's fairness, activism, and determination to make her country and the continent she loves healthy again are palpable."—Library Journal
"Concrete and mesmerizing, Unbowed is the story of resistance, a refusal to be bowed down by oppression and humiliation in the pursuit of the excellent and the heroic in society. Wangari Maathai’s story is more than that of one woman’s struggles against the negative political and social conditions of her upbringing: it is also the story of Kenya, Africa, and the World. The environment she fights for is the totality of the ecological and social conditions of our being. Her life is a triumph of good over evil."—Ngugi wa Thiong’o, author of Wizard of the Crow
"Wangari Maathai is a prophet for our time and Unbowed is a call to arms for all of us who feel that the planet is overwhelmed by careless, corrupt or violent leadership. I have long suspected that the voice to lead us forward would come out of Africa, and it has—a voice of humor, sense, strength and compassion. Read this book and pass it on."—Alexandra Fuller, author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
"This is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary woman’s life. The courage, compassion and natural wisdom that shine out from these pages are hugely inspiring for campaigners the world over. And for those who are still struggling to find what ‘sustainable development’ really means in practice, you need look no further than Wangari Maathai’s own life, and the astonishing success of the Green Belt Movement."—Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder and Programme Director of Forum for the Future
Read articles about Unbowed.
"In her engrossing and eye-opening memoir, a work of tremendous dignity and rigor, Maathai describes the paradise she knew as a child in the 1940s, when Kenya was a 'lush, green, fertile' land of plenty, and the deforested nightmare it became. . . ."—Booklist (Starred Review)
"[E]ssential reading. . . . Unbowed is a modern fable about individual responsibility and the importance of challenging received wisdom, dogma and irrational male authority, as well as the punishment meted out to those who challenge masculine power."—Sunday Times (London)
"An autobiography written with honesty, humility, and depth. . . . Her achievements, accomplished as they were in the face of incarceration by those in power, will astonish the reader. Maathai's fairness, activism, and determination to make her country and the continent she loves healthy again are palpable."—Library Journal
"Concrete and mesmerizing, Unbowed is the story of resistance, a refusal to be bowed down by oppression and humiliation in the pursuit of the excellent and the heroic in society. Wangari Maathai’s story is more than that of one woman’s struggles against the negative political and social conditions of her upbringing: it is also the story of Kenya, Africa, and the World. The environment she fights for is the totality of the ecological and social conditions of our being. Her life is a triumph of good over evil."—Ngugi wa Thiong’o, author of Wizard of the Crow
"Wangari Maathai is a prophet for our time and Unbowed is a call to arms for all of us who feel that the planet is overwhelmed by careless, corrupt or violent leadership. I have long suspected that the voice to lead us forward would come out of Africa, and it has—a voice of humor, sense, strength and compassion. Read this book and pass it on."—Alexandra Fuller, author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
"This is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary woman’s life. The courage, compassion and natural wisdom that shine out from these pages are hugely inspiring for campaigners the world over. And for those who are still struggling to find what ‘sustainable development’ really means in practice, you need look no further than Wangari Maathai’s own life, and the astonishing success of the Green Belt Movement."—Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder and Programme Director of Forum for the Future
Read articles about Unbowed.