BOOKS


This Was Not Our War:
Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace

This Was Not Our War shares first-person accounts of twenty-six Bosnian women who are reconstructing their society following years of devastating warfare. They are from all parts of Bosnia and represent the full range of ethnic traditions and mixed heritages. Their ages spread across sixty years, and their wealth ranges from expensive jewels to a few chickens. For all their differences, they have this much in common: all survived the war with enough emotional strength to work toward rebuilding their country. Reflecting on the causes of the war, they vehemently reject the idea that age-old ethnic hatred made the war inevitable. The women share their reactions to the Dayton Accords, the end of hostilities, and international relief efforts. While they are candid about the difficulties they face, they are committed to rebuilding Bosnia based on ideals of truth, justice, and a common humanity encompassing those of all faiths and ethnicities. Their courage and fortitude are inspirational. Their wisdom—along with the insights Hunt has garnered through her work with women leaders in conflicts around the world—is instructive for anyone who cares about stopping deadly conflict.
~Duke University Press~



Half-Life of a Zealot

Swanee Hunt’s memoir, Half-Life of a Zealot, available now. Read the reviews.

Swanee Hunt’s life has lived up to her Texas-size childhood. Daughter of the legendary oil magnate H. L. Hunt, she grew up in a household dominated by an arch-conservative patriarch who fathered a brood of colorful offspring. Her family was nothing if not zealous, and her own zeal—albeit for more compassionate causes—propelled her into a mission that reaches around the world.

Half-Life of a Zealot tells how the girl who spoke against “Reds” alongside her father became a fierce advocate for progressive change in America and abroad, an innovative philanthropist, and Bill Clinton’s ambassador to Austria. In captivating prose, Hunt describes the warmth and wear of Southern Baptist culture, which instilled in her a calling to help the least fortunate and most vulnerable. The reader is drawn into her full-throttle professional life as it competes with critical family needs.

Hunt gives a remarkably frank account of her triumphs and shortcomings; her sorrows, including a miscarriage and the failure of a marriage; the joys and struggles of her second marriage; and her angst over the desperate illness of one of her three children. She is candid about the opportunities her fortune has created, as well as the challenge of life as an heiress. Much of Swanee Hunt’s professional work is devoted to expanding women’s roles in making and shaping public policy through her position at Harvard University and through the family foundation she has established.

Swanee Hunt’s autobiography brims over with strong women: her mother, whose religious faith and optimism were an inspiration; her daughter, who fights the social stigma of mental disorders; the women of war-torn Bosnia, who transformed their grief into action; and friends like Hillary Clinton, who used her position as First Lady to strengthen the voices of others.

Hunt is one more strong woman. Half-Life of a Zealot is her story—so far.
~Duke University Press~