Aside from the smudgy pastel illustrations provided by Anne Sibley O'Brien, this mother-and-son effort earns high marks both for adding less-celebrated names to the pantheon of peacemongers and for noting that the nonviolent approach to civil protest doesn't always work—which makes the courage of those who engage in it all the more exemplary. Each of the 16 chronologically arranged chapters highlights a particular event, from the Gandhi-led mass burning of Indian registration documents in 1908 Johannesburg to the worldwide anti-Iraq war protest on February 5, 2003, then closes with a set of rubrics that add detail or historical background. Along with the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., Muhammad Ali and Csar Chávez, young readers will meet—and come away admiring—Vietnam's Thich Nhat Hanh, Australian Charles Perkins and the Students For Aboriginal Action, Belfast's Peace People, the Mothers of the Disappeared in Buenos Aires and others who understood that "nonviolence is the weapon of the strong." Might that admiration grow into emulation in some?

It's been a century since a young lawyer named Mohandas Gandhi peacefully defied the British Empire in support of Indian laborers working in South Africa. In this book, a mother-son team of social activists trace the impact of that seminal event, highlighting the subsequent, worldwide history of nonviolent resistance through understandable text and rich portraits and illustrations. The book does an admirable job of clarifying complex conflicts and conveying that the truth eventually prevails when persistently applied, even against the most malevolent regimes. Coverage includes dozens of examples profiling the durable courage of leaders like Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Václev Havel, and Wangari Maathai and ending with a chapter on the role of nonviolence in shaping the future

If children are sometimes led to believe that nonviolent civil disobedience runs a straight line from Mohandas Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr., this effort by mother and son authors will expand their understanding. More than a dozen profiles of peaceful resistance movements and their proponents are highlighted here, spanning six continents and a century. Many names will be familiar--Gandhi, King, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez--while other activists, such as Charles Perkins (Australian Aboriginal rights), Aung San Suu Kyi (pro-democracy in Myanmar), Wangari Maathai (environmentalism and women's empowerment in Kenya) are probably lesser known among American children. Each entry opens with a few gripping paragraphs that capture the climax of a confrontation and readily hook reader interests; unfortunately, the several pages of context that follow seem fairly dry in comparison. . . The global scope of the title does, nontheless, establish its usefulness, both in opening readers' eyes to underexamined civil rights movements, and in raising awareness of resistance activities that may be quietly making waves in their own communities. Gray-tone pastel portraits and illustrations are included, as are an index and annotated bibliography.

Using Gandhi as its starting point, this large-format book traces the history of nonviolent resistance by looking at significant adherents from 1908 to 2003, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Charles Perkins, Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Vaclav Havel, and Wangari Maathai and groups such as the student activists of Tiananmen Square and the Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Disappeared) in Argentina. Each of the 15 main entries includes a little background information as well as an account of significant events. Read individually, these entries offer basic intorduction to leaders of nonviolent protests on six contintents. Read together, they give a sense of the breadth of the nonviolent movement over a hundred years and its potential as a catalyst for change. There are no source notes, but a discursive, chapter-by-chapter bibliography is appended. The handsome design and striking black-and-white illustrations are strong visuals that complement the story of nonviolent resistance in action.

In 1906 Mohandas Gandhi was working as a lawyer for the Asian Indian community in South Africa. On September 11, 1906 Gandhi made his first speech to a large crowd calling for nonviolent resistance to the government's oppressive requirement that all Asian residents register and be fingerprinted. In the next two years a movement was born that Gandhi lead with growing understanding of the extraordinary power of nonviolent resistance.

In the past one hundred years leaders all over the globe have studied his ideas and methods and lead successful nonviolent movements against repressive, unjust governments. After Gandhi is a comprehensive study of the ideas taking shape in the lives of leaders such as Thich Nhat Hanh of Vietnam, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the United States, Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu of South Africa, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, the Student Activists of Tienanmen Square in China, Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia, and Wangari Maathai of Kenya, among others. Each of the peace heroes is profiled and Gandhi's role in their education and development is highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on the influences and opportunities they faced in childhood and youth, making these profiles interesting and relevant to young readers.

Although I lived through most of these movements and have heard this and that about them in my education, in the media and in my social circles, I was surprised at how little detail I actually knew about their lives and the successes of their struggles for peace, justice and change. I found reading this book to be delightful, encouraging and inspiring. Gandhi says;

"Be the change you want to see in the world.

If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.

Nonviolence is an intensely active force when properly understood and used.

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."

Quotations such as these are set off in red sidebars for each of the profiled personalities. There is an opening scenario setting the scene, an essay recounting the life and work of the major figure, and a short biography summing up their life's work for each of the profiled world leaders. Their lives are truly inspiring and their words are phenomenal. This is a book that every young person should read and have on hand to re-read often.

The charcoal sketch illustrations throughout the book include portraits of the leaders of resistance and scenes of the protest meetings and marches. The one weakness of this book, in my opinion, is that these graphics are not particularly appealing to youth accustomed to full color, lively graphics. In our school library books illustrated in this style are often taken for old fashioned, tired dust collectors. It's a shame but I can't tell you how many great biographies have been weeded out of the collection just because the kids won't pick up black and white illustrations. I am afraid this failing will keep the book out of the hands and sight of youngsters browsing the shelves. The book will have to be presented and supported by teachers, librarians and parents in order to display it's treasures.

At the end of the book the authors tell a story of their own recent peace march as they joined The Veterans and Survivors March for Peace and Justice: "Walkin' to New Orleans" in 2003, just six months after Katrina. They petitioned the government to bring our troops home from Iraq and focus on rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Anne Sibley O'Brien is a member of Military Families Speak Out and her son Perry Edmond O'Brien is a former Army medic serving in Afghanistan and Iraq who received an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector. He is the founder of www.peace-out.com, a website that helps servicemen navigate the conscientious objector application process.

Also noted: the final chapter is about the February 15, 2003 global peace protest promoted on the Internet.

"No one knows exactly how many people were involved, but estimates range from six to thirty million. The protesters were students,grandmothers, artists, businessmen and women, celebrities, nuns, veterans, children. In many languages, they spoke with one voice: "No War On Iraq!".... President George W. Bush and the US government didn't listen. On March 20th, 2003, American troops invaded Iraq."

March 20, 2003. March 20, 2009. Six years. Thousands (millions?) of lives in need of peaceful nonviolent protest.

Use this nonfiction, middle grade book of biographies in peace curriculum or to teach the Quaker SPICES of peace. (Quaker SPICES are the testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Service by which we live). The kidlit book blogger's nonfiction Monday roundup is hosted by L. L. Owens today. Go take a look!

After Ghandi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance, by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien, profiles sixteen world leaders who practiced nonviolent resistance to various political regimes in the twentieth and early twenty-first century, beginning with Mohandas Ghandi in 1908 Johannesburg, South Africa, up to protests against the Iraq War in America. It is aimed at 9-12 year old children and is illustrated with black and white pastel artwork.

Authors Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien have selected a pantheon of leaders from all over the globe- the reader goes from South Africa to Vietnam, to Alabama, Belfast, Prague, Beijing and more. There are names likely to be familiar to many readers, such as Muhammad Ali, profiled for his protests against the Vietnam War, and Desmond Tutu, the South African priest, and names likely new to many readers, such as Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi and Charles Perkins of the Australian Aboriginal Rights Movement. Nelson Mandela is profiled as much for his nonviolent resistance to his prison conditions as for his anti-apartheid activism, which, the authors acknowledge, wasn't always exactly non-violent in nature. They provide a brief biographical sketch of each leader and discuss their activities in terms of what each leader gleaned from Gandhi's teachings. For example, they discuss how Cesar Chavez employed the hunger strike to help gain better working conditions for migrant laborers. This analysis helps build a picture of activists of different stripes and working on different issues, learning from each other to build a better world.

The authors use clear, age-appropriate language and an attractive presentation style to communicate with their readers; the illustrations add texture and interest, but I would have liked to see a photograph or two here and there. Since the purpose of the book is to encourage young people to engage in social activism, and the authors are activists themselves (as shown in the Authors' Note at the end), the authors don't even pretend to be objective and that's fine as long as the reader knows what he or she is getting into. The book also contains an annotated bibliography and index to help young readers find source material and reference specific topics in the text.

After Ghandi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance would be a good choice for families and libraries looking to add to their collection of social-justice nonfiction. I'm debating whether or not to include it the collection I manage, mainly because none of the activists profiled are Jewish (the Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, for example, would have been a great choice to profile alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks in the fight for racial equality in the United States) but the book would be fine addition to many collections nonetheless.

After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistanceby Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien reminds us that even blessed peacemakers can begin as angry revolutionaries. Rosa Parks was not the mild-mannered, exhausted lady we encounter in books: " 'The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,' she said." She watched her grandfather sit with a rifle in his lap while Ku Klux Klansmen threatened their neighborhood: " 'whatever happened, I wanted to see it. . . . I wanted to see him shoot that gun.' "

South Africa's Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress were not pacifists initially, either. "Convinced that the government's violence would never change without armed resistance, the fiery lawyer had helped form a military group to train soldiers to fight back."

Yet each of the heroes and heroines of "After Gandhi" came to recognize the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance. Many felt as Mohandas Gandhi did: He imagined nonviolent action with the goal not of beating opponents, but of winning them over. Within two years he found an Indian name for his idea - satyagraha, which combined the word for truth, satya, with the word agraha, for firmness or force. He believed that refusing to harbor violence of any kind was a choice that came out of strength, not weakness.

Peace lovers encounter violence all their lives: Gandhi and Martin Luther King were assassinated; Nelson Mandela beaten and jailed; the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh exiled from his native Vietnam. Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi has lived under house arrest on and off since 1989. Nor does such work necessarily lead to recognition in one's lifetime: Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, but never won the award. "After Gandhi" presents a rich if unevenly illustrated encyclopedia of the history of nonviolent resistance during the past 100 years. It is an invaluable resource for peace studies and young peace lovers.

A mother-son team selects 16 examples of nonviolent resistance, beginning with the work of Mohandas Gandhi, who, with the burning of registration cards in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 16, 1908, took "actions [that] marked the beginning of a movement that would change the world"--and that Gandhi would repeat with the Great Salt March of 1930. The O'Briens cite others influenced by Gandhi's work: Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez and Betty Williams in Northern Ireland. Lesser-known leaders include Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, the Australian Aborigine Charles Perkins and the Chinese students at Tiananmen Square in 1989. "At such a challenging time, we need the example of these heroic men and women who faced circumstances even more threatening and urgent than our own," says Anne Sibley O'Brien. "They managed to respond with extraordinary courage and creativity, and even, sometimes, to succeed against incredible odds."

Young readers will get a good introduction to the lives of 15 nonviolence activists in After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien. Interesting and easy-to-read profiles cover the years 1908 to 2003 and include Wangari Maathai, Vaclav Havel, Charles Perkins, Mairead Corrigan, and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you heard a name in the news that most people weren't familiar with, but you were-you the kid? Aung San Suu Kyi has been headlining the news for a few weeks now. I feel so proud that I know who she is and what she stands for and I knew about her long before these recent events. My knowledge of Aung San Suu Kyi and of the many committed people like her is due to this wonderful book called After Gandhi; One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien.
This book, published this year by Charlesbridge, features 16 amazing people from around the world, who chose a nonviolent means of resistance to express their discontent with injustice and oppression. Aung San Suu Kyi of (Burma) Myanmar, despite house arrest, years of separation from her family, has continually challenged, through peaceful resistance, the Myanmar government to be fair and just. She won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991. In After Gandhi; One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance, the reader learns about Aung San Suu Kyi's life, her father's political activism and his death, her years of campaigning for democracy in her country and her years under house arrest.
Click this link to see Aung San Suu Kyi and hear her and to learn of recent events concerning her.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/14/suu-kyi-lake-swim-yettaw

After Gandhi; One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance makes the reader, especially the teen reader, care about the people being profiled. The book presents the political struggles, of these people, in way that is understandable and interesting. The fact that many of the featured activists are alive and actively fighting to make this world a better place is a great example for young people to admire and emulate.
Being a girl originally from Africa-Cote d'Ivoire-, I am now, because of this book, a huge fan of Wangari Maathai, the Tree Lady. She is a Kenyan woman who is a fearless environmentalist. She saw the link earlier on between poverty and the destruction of Kenya's environment. In response, she organized Kenyan women to plant trees to stop deforestation. Trees prevent soil from washing away and allow people to plant crops to meet their needs. This movement of planting trees is called the Green Belt Movement. To date, Wangari Maathai and her women have planted more than 40 million trees in Kenya. The Kenyan government began to fear her and how effectively she was organizing women to empower themselves. She was arrested and even beaten. But her resistance and that of her followers have always been nonviolent- hunger strikes, marches, etc. In 2004, Wangari Maathai won a Nobel Prize for Peace. She stated:

" We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own…"

I first saw Muhammad Ali on Dancing with the Stars. He was in the audience to support his daughter, who was one of the dancers. I remember expressing more awe for his daughter than for him. But, my mother and grandfather told me that it was Muhammad Ali who deserved my admiration. To be honest, their comments didn't really sink in, but reading about Muhammad Ali, in After Gandhi; One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance , I know why they were so passionate in their respect for him. Muhammad Ali was one of the great boxers of all-time. He had not only physical skill, but he was intelligent ,articulate, and committed to what was right. He stood a stand against the Vietnam War at an important time in his career. He lost his boxing license and commercial contracts worth millions of dollars. He stayed true to his convictions. Eventually, he returned to boxing and became its biggest star. I like this quote by Muhammad Ali:

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?"

These are just three incredible people featured in the book; a book that needs to be a part of every young person's library. Learn about Desmond Tutu of South Africa, the student activists of China, Cesar Chavez of the United States, Charles Perkins of Australia and many more committed people.

Again, here is the website for Charlesbridge www.charlesbridge.com. They publish amazing books that connect you to the rest of the world. I am presently reading The Camel Rider and will do a review of this book next.

I've been looking for a nice book on Gandhi/people like Gandhi for quite some time and I finally got my hands on one that is completely readable, filled with age-appropriate information, and some pretty awesome illustrations. So many non-fiction books aimed at children/young adults, have too much info condensed into teensy text, no illustrations and that, my friends, equals booooring! This title definitely is not boring! It's about time...

After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance is written by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien, and focuses not only on the interesting and beautiful life Gandhi himself led, but also those that came after him. Included are the women of Belfast, Northern Ireland in the 1960's, Wangari Maathai, from Nairobi, Kenya, Rosa Parks, and the student activists of Tiananmen Square. Some you may have heard of, some not, but all the stories are incredibly interesting, relevant, and worth a read.

Acclaimed author/illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien has teamed up with her son, Perry Edmond O’Brien to create After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance (Charlesbridge, 2009). There’s an interesting backstory here. Anne has devoted her life to peace and environmental activism. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, son Perry enlisted in the military, over his mother’s strong objections, and served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Perry’s story in the Afterword of coming to write about peace after having served in a war is honest, eloquent, and insightful, and it shows that no matter what we say to them, children have to find their own way.

The book can be read straight through, explored by topic, or used as reference. It presents 16 individuals or groups that resisted occupations, dictatorships, racial discriminations, and other forms of injustice through nonviolent means from 1908 to the present. The O’Briens begin with Gandhi himself and his early activism on behalf of foreign-born residents of South Africa. The other chapters feature Thich Nhat Hanh in Vietnam, U.S. civil rights activists Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Australian Aboriginal civil rights activist Charles Perkins, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in South Africa, César Chávez, Muhammad Ali, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo, Aung San Suu Kyi, the student activists of Tienanmen Square, Vaclav Havel, Wangari Maathai, and the millions of people across the globe who demonstrated against the impending war in Iraq on February 15, 2003.

Having been part of those February 15, 2003 demonstrations (in New York City) I was moved to find my small efforts depicted in a book for children. And, yes, many of those efforts were unsuccessful–not only the demonstrations that failed to stop the war, but the Tienanmen Square protests, the 20th anniversary of which we remember today. However, the O’Briens remind us, and explain to children, that nothing is ever wasted–nonviolence sets an example, and it often takes much time for seeds to bear fruit.

From Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1908, to the Internet-based anti-war protest of February 2003, this book chronicles the efforts of peace activists around the world. Most of the featured activists are well-known, but the O'Briens also honor the countless numbers who participated in large-scale movements and demonstrations, such as the 1989 protests at Tiananmen Square. Each section opens with a brief overview of a particular event, followed by more detailed background information on the situation that led to the protest, and ends with biographical information on the leader or catalysts of the protests. The writing throughout is clear and concise. Terms that may be unfamiliar to some readers are carefully explained in the text, rather than a glossary. The subdued black-and-white pastel illustrations that introduce each section successfully convey the character and mood of the protests; portraits of the activists conclude each chapter. This book is an excellent introduction to not only the major peace activists and movements of the last 100 years, but also the the philosophy of nonviolence that unites them.

Lest teens forget the forefathers (and mothers!) of nonviolent change, Anne Sibley O’Brien and Perry Edmond O’Brien’s After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance (Charlesbridge, 2009; Gr 6-10), reminds middle and secondary school readers about the struggles of the student activists of Tiananmen Square, Desmond Tutu, Cesar Chavez, and other groups and individuals. Charcoal portraits and large color-blocked pull quotes add power and immediacy to the profiles and stories of protests across the globe.

From Montgomery, Alabama, to Cape Town, South Africa, from Moree, Australia to Beijing, China, nonviolent resisters followed Mohandas Gandhi's lead to "take a stand without resorting to violence or hate."

Sixteen sections feature sixteen historical incidents around the world when ordinary but extraordinarily courageous people fought for their rights and against wars.

Each section features the historical event and the person (people) who influenced it. For example, the first section presents a snapshot of Gandhi's Passive Resistance Campaign in 1908, South Africa. It is followed by a compact biography of Gandhi. Further information explains how Gandhi was inspired and eventually started his first acts of nonviolent resistance. This illuminating column is called "More to the Story." Different fonts are used to distinguish these three features.

Although the theme of this book is solemn, the large white space and differentiated fonts encourage young readers to read on and start their critical thinking. This is a valuable read for the future historical movers and shakers.

The authors, a mother and son team, present 16 examples of nonviolent resistance to occupations, dictatorships, racial discrimination, and other forms of injustic since 1908. The O'Briens begin with Gandhi himself--and his early activism on behalf of foregn-born residents of South Africa. The authors go on to cover Thich Nhat Hanh in Vietnam, U.S. civil rights activists Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Australian Aboriginal civial rights activist Charles Perkins, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in South Africa, Cesar Chavez, Muhammad Ali, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo, Aung San Suu Kyi, the student activists of Tienanmen Square, Vaclav Havel, Wangari Maathai, and the millions of people across the globe (including this reviewer) who demonstrated against the impending war in Iraq on February 15, 2003.

The authors draw the readers into each chapter through a brief vignette. Several pages of explanation and elaboration and a page with biographical notes and key terms follow. A useful bibliographic essay concludes the book. Students are introduced to the key principles of nonviolent direct action, important tactics (such as demonstrations, boycotts, and hunger strikes), and challenges (such as apartheid, strikebreakers, juntas, and house arrest). Some points seem oversimplified; the role of the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo in bringing down Argentina's dictatorship was secondary to economic hardship and the country's losing a war in 1982. (Neighboring Chile would have been a better example of the efficacy of human rights activism in ending a dictatorship.) All chapters begin with dates, but the one for the women activists in Northern Ireland, Corrigan and Williams, should have been 1976, not 1967. These errors (and the repeated use of "tribe" to refer to African ethnic groups) notwithstanding, this is an important and accessible introduction to the concepts of nonviolent resistance and its recent incarnations.

An extraordinarily powerful and moving book, After Gandhi: One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance brings together a gallery of non-violent peace activists, whose actions, it is no exaggeration to say, changed the course of history. Those changes may not have been immediately apparent but the seeds they sowed through “nonviolent resistance” sent out roots into future generations, whose freedom stemmed – and still stems – from that spark of resistance that these stories chronicle.

Fittingly, the book’s introduction is given over to Gandhi himself, who “was not the first leader to use nonviolent methods to challenge injustice, but he developed new strategies involving tens of thousands of people in mass actions and demonstrated the power of nonviolence on a scale never seen before.” This is key to the book’s message – young readers will respond to these inspirational stories because each individual form of resistance created a groundswell among the people, which then became the true instrument for change: whether it was Rosa Park’s actions in Alabama giving rise to the Civil Rights Movement; Charles Perkins’ fight for Aboriginal rights in Australia; the Madres de Plaza de Mayo marching for their disappeared children in Argentina; Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams bringing mothers together to march for peace in Northern Ireland; Aung San Suu Kyi’s constant resistance to the military regime in Burma; student activists in China in a “war between love and hatred, not between force and force” that reached its climax in Tiananmen Square in 1989; or Václav Havel’s leading role in Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution. Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnam), Nelson Mandela (South Africa), Martin Luther King, Jr. (USA), César Chávez (USA), Muhammad Ali (USA), Desmond Tutu (South Africa) and Wangari Maathai (Kenya) are all also represented – as well as, in the final profile, the thousands of people who came together across the globe in 2003 to protest against the war in Iraq.

The books’ layout is very attractive, using a variety of fonts to good effect. Interestingly, there are no photographs but each section is introduced with a double-page illustration and carries a portrait, both depicted in black and white. Quotations are highlighted throughout the book in red bands across the page; a world map at the beginning pin-points all the locations highlighted; and there is an annotated bibliography at the end.

With After Gandhi, mother-and-son team Anne Sibley O’Brien and Perry Edmond O’Brien show the key role nonviolent movements for social justice have played in our history. The array of exceptional individuals it features – all catalysts for peaceful citizen action – is sure to inspire a new generation of young readers to take their philosophy forward in their own lives.

Anne Sibley O’Brien’s compelling jacket illustration leads the eye visually in much the way that the text in this beautifully crafted book leads the reader through the last one hundred years of nonviolent resistance in the world. People marching through time, carrying signs, gathering in numbers, form a roughly pyramidal shape against white space. Atop the pyramid is a lonely figure, cane in hand, ahead of his time. An introduction makes Mohandas K. Gandhi’s work accessible to young readers in the context of this book’s intent. His life’s journey from 1908 onward is examined in a brief chapter, starting with his earliest work in South Africa and ending with his assassination in 1948. Similarly positioned narratives follow, contextualizing the lives and work of peacemakers who came after Gandhi, many of whom were influenced by his thought and work. They are, in order, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Australian Aboriginal rights advocate Charles Perkins, César Chávez, Muhammad Ali in his role as draft resister, Irish Peace People founders Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, Azucena Villaflor de Vincenti of the Argentinean Mothers of the Disappeared, Aung San Suu Kyi, the student activist of Tiananmen Square, Desmond Tutu, Vaclav Havel, and Wangari Maathai. The 2003 worldwide protests against the Iraq war find room here as well, as does a speculative chapter on the future of nonviolence. A touching note in the backmatter speaks to the personal involvement of the authors, mother and son, in the 2006 Veterans and Survivors March for Peace and Justice. A detailed annotated bibliography and index round out this book. Informative and inspiring, After Gandhi speaks to young readers in a simple, compelling, and greatly needed voice.

Fifteen activists who chose nonviolent resistance based on Gandhi's model are profiled in this powerful examination of his effect on world history.