cover image The Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World

The Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World

Thant Myint-U. Norton, $35 (384p) ISBN 978-1-324-05197-8

The career of former UN Secretary-General U Thant represents both the potential for heroic diplomacy and its heartbreaking limitations, according to this intricate biography. Thant Myint-U (The Hidden History of Burma), a historian and Thant’s grandson, recaps Thant’s stint helming the UN and trying to resolve global crises from 1961 to 1971. His successes included the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when he shepherded America, the Soviet Union, and Cuba toward a stand-down, an effort that involved him restating American and Soviet demands as UN initiatives so neither side felt they were losing face. Thant also weathered frustrating failures, however; for years he tried, and failed, to get the U.S. to stop bombing North Vietnam in exchange for de-escalation and peace talks. Thant was also blamed for provoking the 1967 Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors by removing UN peacekeepers from the Sinai at Egypt’s behest—an account the author seeks to debunk by showing that most peacekeepers remained in place. Thant Myint-U’s colorful narrative is a classic fly-on-the-wall crisis drama of the “in the Kremlin, Khrushchev raged” variety, and his warmhearted portrait of Thant paints him as a straightforward, reassuring presence, possessed of endearing quirks—he was obsessed with UFOs—but unflappable in his equanimity. It makes for an insightful and gripping appreciation of the vital, patient work of international relations. (Sept.)