Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Listen and read as much as you want
  • Over 400 000+ titles
  • Bestsellers in 10+ Indian languages
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Subscribe now
Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

41 Ratings

4.4

Duration
21H 8min
Language
English
Format
Category

Biographies

A NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

ONE OF AUDIBLE’S BEST AUDIOBOOKS OF 2019

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF 2019 • ONE OF TIME’S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2019 • AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 • A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF 2019

“Her highly personal and reflective memoir . . . is a must-read for anyone who cares about our role in a changing world.”—President Barack Obama

An intimate, powerful, and galvanizing memoir by Pulitzer Prize winner, human rights advocate, and former UN Ambassador Samantha Power.

In her memoir, Power offers an urgent response to the question ""What can one person do?"" and a call for a clearer eye, a kinder heart, and a more open and civil hand in our politics and daily lives. The Education of an Idealist traces Power’s distinctly American journey from immigrant to war correspondent to presidential Cabinet official. In 2005, her critiques of US foreign policy caught the eye of newly elected senator Barack Obama, who invited her to work with him on Capitol Hill and then on his presidential campaign. After Obama was elected president, Power went from being an activist outsider to a government insider, navigating the halls of power while trying to put her ideals into practice. She served for four years as Obama’s human rights adviser, and in 2013, he named her US Ambassador to the United Nations, the youngest American to assume the role.

Power transports us from her childhood in Dublin to the streets of war-torn Bosnia to the White House Situation Room and the world of high-stakes diplomacy. Humorous and deeply honest, The Education of an Idealist lays bare the searing battles and defining moments of her life and shows how she juggled the demands of a 24/7 national security job with the challenge of raising two young children. Along the way, she illuminates the intricacies of politics and geopolitics, reminding us how the United States can lead in the world, and why we each have the opportunity to advance the cause of human dignity. Power’s memoir is an unforgettable account of the power of idealism and of one person’s fierce determination to make a difference.

“This is a wonderful book. […] The interweaving of Power’s personal story, family story, diplomatic history and moral arguments is executed seamlessly and with unblinking honesty.”—THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, The New York Times Book Review

“Honest, personal, revealing… about the development of a young woman’s inner strength and self-knowledge.”—COLM TÓIBÍN, author of Brooklyn and Nora Webster “Truly engrossing.”—RACHEL MADDOW

© 2019 HarperAudio (Audiobook): 9780062956484

Release date

Audiobook: 10 September 2019

Others also enjoyed ...

  1. Permanent Record: A Memoir of a Reluctant Whistleblower Edward Snowden
  2. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz Erik Larson
  3. Just Kids Patti Smith
  4. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Roxane Gay
  5. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Yuval Noah Harari
  6. Bad Feminist: Essays Roxane Gay
  7. These Precious Days: Essays Ann Patchett
  8. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari
  9. Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir Dolly Alderton
  10. The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir John Bolton
  11. Crying in H Mart: The Number One New York Times Bestseller Michelle Zauner
  12. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
  13. Blue Nights Joan Didion
  14. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty Patrick Radden Keefe
  15. Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland Patrick Radden Keefe
  16. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement Angela Y. Davis
  17. Finding Me: A Memoir Viola Davis
  18. Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
  19. Let Me Tell You What I Mean Joan Didion
  20. So You Want to Talk about Race Ijeoma Oluo
  21. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion Jia Tolentino
  22. Trust: the dazzling twisty story of power, greed and love that begins in 1920s New York Hernan Diaz
  23. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
  24. The Underground Railroad: LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 Colson Whitehead
  25. Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli
  26. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel Milan Kundera
  27. We Should All Be Feminists Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  28. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor Adam Kay
  29. The Song of Achilles: A Novel Madeline Miller
  30. Free Will Sam Harris
  31. James: Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Percival Everett
  32. Human Universe Professor Brian Cox
  33. Exhalation Ted Chiang
  34. Crossroads Jonathan Franzen
  35. Pachinko Min Jin Lee
  36. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism 2nd Edition Bell Hooks
  37. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World Melinda French Gates
  38. The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Kolbert
  39. How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Jenny Odell
  40. Purity Jonathan Franzen
  41. Luster Raven Leilani
  42. Sea of Tranquility Emily St. John Mandel
  43. Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  44. Brave New World Aldous Huxley
  45. The Dutch House: A Novel Ann Patchett