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Albert Schweitzer's Mission: Healing and Peace
Dr. Schweitzer's correspondence provides the core of an account of his crusade to awaken public consciousness to the folly of nuclear war
- GenresBiography
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 3, 2010
The author, Norman Cousins, went to visit Albert Schweitzer at his
mission in Lambarene, French Equatorial Africa. He was worried that
the doctors writing,of which there was only one copy, could be lost through age,weather and other dangers. He also wanted to approach
Dr Schweitzer on being a voice for anti nuclear testing.
It was a short visit of several weeks, but they became friends and
corresponded until Schweitzer's death.
Dr Schweitzer was a pacifist, but he was no pushover. When Mr
Cousins told him that he had a publisher in New York that was
interested in his manuscripts, Dr Schweitzer advised him that he
already had a publisher that he had used in the past and that
anything published would be by them. He did give Mr Cousins a
copy of the manuscript for The Kingdom of God. It was written in
longhand on the backs of tax forms and other miscellaneous paper
and tied up with string on the top. The author photographed the
manuscript to preserve it.
Dr Schweitzer was one of the most admired people in the world at this time and his support of a ban on nuclear testing would be very
important. He was wholeheartedly against any use of nuclear weapons, but he wanted his voice to be a humanitarian appeal. He did not want
to get into the politics of individual countries.
Dr Schweitzer came across as a very principled individual
and a bit of a control freak. He didn't want anyone foisting their
ways of doing things on him.
The second part of the book is a collection of letters not only
to and from the author and Dr Schweitzer, but world leaders such
as Jawaharla Nehru,John F Kennedy and even Nakita Khrushchev. I
forged through them. They got to be a bit tedious, but it was
an interesting light on that time when the Cold War was pretty hot.
Dr Schweitzer even lost his non-political stance when the US
Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara , and President Kennedy
threatened to use "all force" in the Cuban missile crises and the
situation of Berlin. He wrote a letter to President Kennedy and
intended to write an open letter to Robert Mcnamara. In a letter
to the author he says that the US should let the Germans handle
the Berlin problem and it is idiocy for the US to be threatening
nuclear war over Berlin.
I want to read a more in depth biography about Dr Schweitzer . He
is an intriguing person.
mission in Lambarene, French Equatorial Africa. He was worried that
the doctors writing,of which there was only one copy, could be lost through age,weather and other dangers. He also wanted to approach
Dr Schweitzer on being a voice for anti nuclear testing.
It was a short visit of several weeks, but they became friends and
corresponded until Schweitzer's death.
Dr Schweitzer was a pacifist, but he was no pushover. When Mr
Cousins told him that he had a publisher in New York that was
interested in his manuscripts, Dr Schweitzer advised him that he
already had a publisher that he had used in the past and that
anything published would be by them. He did give Mr Cousins a
copy of the manuscript for The Kingdom of God. It was written in
longhand on the backs of tax forms and other miscellaneous paper
and tied up with string on the top. The author photographed the
manuscript to preserve it.
Dr Schweitzer was one of the most admired people in the world at this time and his support of a ban on nuclear testing would be very
important. He was wholeheartedly against any use of nuclear weapons, but he wanted his voice to be a humanitarian appeal. He did not want
to get into the politics of individual countries.
Dr Schweitzer came across as a very principled individual
and a bit of a control freak. He didn't want anyone foisting their
ways of doing things on him.
The second part of the book is a collection of letters not only
to and from the author and Dr Schweitzer, but world leaders such
as Jawaharla Nehru,John F Kennedy and even Nakita Khrushchev. I
forged through them. They got to be a bit tedious, but it was
an interesting light on that time when the Cold War was pretty hot.
Dr Schweitzer even lost his non-political stance when the US
Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara , and President Kennedy
threatened to use "all force" in the Cuban missile crises and the
situation of Berlin. He wrote a letter to President Kennedy and
intended to write an open letter to Robert Mcnamara. In a letter
to the author he says that the US should let the Germans handle
the Berlin problem and it is idiocy for the US to be threatening
nuclear war over Berlin.
I want to read a more in depth biography about Dr Schweitzer . He
is an intriguing person.
October 1, 2014
My grandpa gave me this book before I went to college, telling me how important it was to know who Albert Schweitzer was. I can't believe it took me this long to read this book! It doesn't go in-depth into all of his philosophies but it does reveal his character and the way he lived his life while serving at his hospital in Africa. What an amazing man.
August 15, 2023
Inspiring life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews