The Good American: The Epic Life of Bob Gersony, the U. S. Government’s Greatest Humanitarian

An “obsessive-compulsive” freelancer with a knack for talking to people epitomizes what foreign policy should be, according to this poignant and provocative biography of Bob Gersony, a retired independent contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. Journalist Kaplan (The Return of Marco Polo’s World) recounts Gersony’s unsung, four-decade career from the 1970s to the 2010s as he parachuted into humanitarian disasters, refugee crises, and civil wars in order to assess the situation up-close and recommend policies through the straightforward mechanism of interviewing ordinary people. Kaplan credits Gersony with crucial policy redirections, including the Reagan administration’s decision not to arm Mozambique’s RENAMO rebels after he exposed their atrocities in 1988, and recommendations of many aid programs—road-paving in El Salvador, water projects in the West Bank—that allowed people to work instead of fight. It’s a vivid story as Gersony, suffering perpetual nervousness and indigestion, navigates hair-raising conflict zones, and fences with denialist bureaucrats and politicians. It’s also Kaplan’s love-letter to Reagan-era Cold War diplomacy, when “realism... encompassed a concern for human rights.” Liberals may dispute that assessment, but Kaplan’s immersive, ground-level view of practical foreign policy-making gives it substance. This incisive account pays tribute to the people who uphold America’s ideals to the world. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman. (Oct.)