The Peace Corps in the 1960's under founding Director Sargent Shriver and later under Jack Vaughn has been well chronicled in such books as "Come as You Are" by Coates Redmond, "A Moment in History" by former Deputy Director Brent Ashabranner, "The Bold Experiment" by Gerard Rice and more recently by Cobbs Hoffman's "All you Need is Love."

Less well known is the history of the Peace Corps in the 1970's when Richard Nixon tried to dismantle the agency. Recent scholarship by Professor Hoffman has shown that Nixon's Peace Corps Director Joe Blatchford fought a rear-guard action to save the Peace Corps by supporting its merger into the ill-fated Action Corps. Director Blatchford's other contributions to the Peace Corps have never been adequately recognized, among them his "New Directions" policies to re-orient the agency.

David Searles, who served three years as the country director for the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and two years at Peace Corps headquarters as a Regional Director for North Africa, Near East, Asia, and Pacific (NANEAP) and as Deputy Director under John Dellenback, provides an insider's look at the Peace Corps as well as a revisionist history of the Peace Corps in the 70's which emphasizes the political imperatives that drove many of the decisions made.

The recounting of the Action Corps' shortcomings and problems is especially timely as history repeats itself with President George W. Bush's Executive Order in February, 2002 creating the USA Freedom Corps with the Peace Corps as one of the main components.

Highly recommended.

I enjoyed the first hand experience by Searles and his family in the Philippines. A great history lesson of those times and experiences. A wonderful account of a successful business man who took to heart the words of JFK. Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your county. P. David Searles embraced that philosphy and volunteered and moved his entire family to a different country. A first hand account of all the adventures the family had while there. JFK would have been proud.