Fromthe New York Times bestselling author of TheRevenge of Geography comes a sweeping yet intimate story ofthemost influential humanitarian you’ve never heard of-Bob Gersony, who spent four decades in crisis zones aroundtheworld.

One of the best accounts examining American humanitarian pursuits over the past fifty years … With still greater challenges on the horizon, we will need to find and empower more people like Bob Gersony-both idealistic and pragmatic-who can help make the world a more secure place. -The Washington Post

In his long career as an acclaimed journalist coveringthe hot moments oftheCold War and its aftermath, bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan often found himself crossing paths with Bob Gersony, a consultant fortheU.S. State Department whose quiet dedication and consequential work made a deep impression on Kaplan.

Gersony, a high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, conducted on-the-ground research forthe U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone intheworld. In Thailand, Central and South America, Sudan, Chad, Mozambique, Rwanda, Gaza, Bosnia, North Korea, Iraq, and beyond, Gersony never flinched from entering dangerous areas that diplomats could not reach, sometimes risking his own life. Gersony’s behind-thescenes fact-finding, which included interviews with hundreds of refugees and displaced persons from each war zone and natural-disaster area, often challenged theassumptions and received wisdom ofthepowers that be, on boththeleft andtheright. In nearly every case, his advice and recommendations made Americanpolicy at once smarter and more humane-often dramatically so.

In Gersony, Kaplan saw a powerful example of howAmerican diplomacy should be conducted. In a work that exhibits Kaplan’s signature talent for combining travel and geography with sharp political analysis, The Good American tells Gersony’s powerful life story. Set duringtheState Department’s golden age, this is a story about the loneliness, sweat, and tears andthegenuine courage that characterized Gersony’s work in far-flung places. It is also a celebration of ground-level reporting- a page-turning demonstration, by one of our finest geopolitical thinkers, of how getting an up-close, worm’s-eye view of crises and applying sound reason can elicit world-changing results.