Customer Reviews

Consular Tales

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William Shepard tells us that when a colleague in the Foreign Service once asked him why, with a Harvard Law School degree and the prospect of a highly lucrative law career, he'd chosen the consular life, he said that it was because he "didn't want to wake up one morning later in life and wonder what living in Singapore would have been like." How fortunate for the United States that a man with Shepard's intelligence, compassion, humor, and grace chose the path he did, and so clearly relished it. This fascinating view of the consular life takes us around the world and across the decades: from Budapest, where Shepard regularly strolled the American Embassy courtyard with Cardinal Mindszenty during the prelate's years in residence there in sanctuary from Hungary's Communist regime; to Saigon, doing staff work for the secret negotiations that led to the Paris Peace Talks; to Singapore, where he tossed back a few San Miguel beers with the original Bill Bailey of the song; and finally to Bordeaux, where as Consul General he found money where there was none to fund a commemorative plaque for a French Resistance fighter by holding one less Consulate dinner party.

What struck me again and again in my reading was Shepard's commitment not only to the welfare of his country and its citizens abroad but his understanding, sympathy, and affection for the countries in which he served and for their citizens. This is a vivid tale of a life lived well and vibrantly, recounted with wit and elegance. It's sometimes surprising and always instructive, not only about what a consular job requires but also about the way to do it right. Shepard says that his hope in writing this book was to inspire young people to take the path of service he'd traveled. If I were a few years younger, I'd be filling out an application and packing my bags.

I recently passed the Oral Assessment portion of the Foreign Service Exam and can attest to the relevance of William Shepard's experiences in "Consular Tales" to the type of hypothetical situations raised by the examiners. A Foreign Service candidate will learn not only from the specific examples cited in the book, but more importantly from Mr. Shepard's thought process while handling a wide variety of issues facing members of the diplomatic corps.

Page for the page, Consular Tales is the best study guide for preparing yourself to take the Foreign Service Exam.

I have been thinking about joining the U.S. Foreign Service and this first-hand account was absorbing and illuminating. I found the personal insight into an often challenging and dangerous career most impressive. It is written in a forthright manner with welcome touches of humor. I would recommend this book to anyone interested not only in traveling and working abroad but also to those who have already done so. It is also for those who like adventures and enjoy autobiographies. More from this author, please!

I thought that Consular Tales was a delightful book. It was fun, and imformative as well. It was the kind of book that I didn't want to put down and was sorry when it ended that I read it so fast. So many books nowadays are not well written but this was obviously written by a scholar and seasoned auther. Is this someone who has previously been published under another name? I hope that I will be able to read more fiction or non-fiction from this very accomplished author. Do we have another Sir Jeffrey Archer in William Shepard? I think Archer is a suburb storyteller as is Mr. Shepard. Lets have somemore tales from Mr. Shepard soon.