a little less author, a little more Fred

books:


	• The Man Who Tried to Save the World: The Dangerous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of an American Hero Scott Anderson Anchor, 2000 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

fantastic

What an inspiring man Fred Cuny was en what a great story.
A lovely written book about a great man. There should be more people like him. Great book.

A cold slap to the Western worldview

I read this book several years ago and remember only a few things clearly. First, I gained a real appreciation for the degree to which Western governments leave their citizens in relative peace. Second, the story of Grozny was absolutely horrifying. And third, the author has done a wonderful job of finding a story to tell, and telling it well.

Kudos to Mr. Anderson for bringing this (well, the parts that are knowable) into the open.

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Cuny was a man with a mission !

I read this book a couple of years ago, and just recently reread it. What a fascinating story. For those who are interested in humanitarian crises, and what it takes to make things happen; within the myriad non-governmental organizations and governments as well; this is the book for you.
Cuny's CV reads like a laundry list of the disasters (mostly manmade) of our time. Bosnia and Chechenya are the two most prescient issues in this book. Anyone who engages in these types of activities in the future would do well to read this book to see what kind of energy and fortitude it takes to get things accomplished.
Cuny's demise is a tragic story with an even sadder ending, but I will let the reader get there on his/her own...
A joy to read about such a remarkable person.

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Mired in Mystery

I selected this book because I'd read the author's previous work, wanted to know more about Chechnya, and was curious about a man who would try "to save the world." Anderson's telling of the tale of Fred Cuny is illuminating and thought-provoking. I wanted to share this story with others who also knew little about the world where Cuny lived and worked. The continuing unrest in Chechnya makes this book as timely as it was on the day it was published.

Scott Anderson leads the reader down the shadowy path taken by Fred Cuny and leaves one with the certainty that uncertainty like that faced by Cuny still prevails in many parts of the world. Recent events demonstate that even between the relatively safe borders of the USA, terror remains a daily concern. The people of Chechnya and other places where Fred Cuny worked to help others have known terror much longer.

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a little less author, a little more Fred

This is definitely a captivating tale about a horrid and bizarre situation, but one wishes for a little less of the author's not so interesting tale. The author strikes me as a bit too macho, exaggerating the risks and missing out on important details of Fred Cuny's life (focusing too much on the macho aspects that the author clearly favors). Definitely worth a read but don't be turned off by the author's overblown bravado.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

A swashbuckling Texan, a teller of tall tales, a womanizer, and a renegade, Fred Cuny spent his life in countries rent by war, famine, and natural disasters, saving many thousands of lives through his innovative and sometimes controversial methods of relief work. Cuny earned his nickname "Master of Disaster" for his exploits in Kurdistan, Somalia, and Bosnia. But when he arrived in the rogue Russian republic of Chechnya in the spring of 1995, raring to go and eager to put his ample funds from George Soros to good use, he found himself in the midst of an unimaginably savage war of independence, unlike any he had ever before encountered. Shortly thereafter, he disappeared in the war-rocked highlands, never to be seen again.

Who was Cuny really working for? Was he a CIA spy? Who killed him, and why? In search of the answers, Scott Anderson traveled to Chechnya on a hazardous journey that started as as a magazine assignment and ended as a personal mission. The result is a galvanizing adventure story, a chilling picture of "the new world order," and a tour de force of literary journalism.

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