Our Daily Bread, The Essential Norman Borlaug [Hardcover]

Noel Vietmeyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2011

Having received the Nobel Prize for Peace, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal, Norman Borlaug ranks beside Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. But few people know his name.

Our Daily Bread shows why Borlaug should also be a household name. It is the story of how one man saved billions from certain hunger. And it shows how we too got our daily bread.

In these pages you'll find a gripping journey complete with chance, change and endless challenge. Norman Borlaug followed his own course in his own fashion. Frequently he put himself at odds with authority. Precedents that got in the way were ignored. Having found how to lift food production, he stuck to his mission, regardless of all those who declared him wrong.

That is the thrill ride to be found herein as the Borlaug saga unfolds, teetering forever on the verge of failure only to be saved by some saintly stranger or improbable coincidence. It's been called the greatest story never told. It's also been called the world's first cereal thriller.

This book arose out of the author's Borlaug trilogy. It provides the essence of this agricultural scientist's amazing life story in a single volume that is fast-paced and that employs a simple direct style and includes many new details.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

During a long career at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Noel Vietmeyer produced over 30 books describing innovations that can benefit Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He was also a prolific freelance writer, producing some 200 articles for publications such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Smithsonian, Encyclopaedia Britannica, World Book, International Wildlife and Ranger Rick.

Through his National Academy of Sciences service Vietmeyer met Norman Borlaug, the hero of our age and the main reason why the world can feed 7 billion people. Borlaug's life was packed with adventure and drama, and in this book Vietmeyer relates it all. The result is the suspense-filled saga of how we got our daily bread.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: Bracing Books; First edition (October 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0578095556
• ISBN-13: 978-0578095554
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,127 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars He Only Saved 6 Billion People. February 13, 2012

By philip j. mcguire

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Borlaug exemplifies the best of the American Spirit. His obituary in the N.Y. Times read "He Only Saved Six BILLION People". A poor Iowa dirt farmer (from a pre-Depression area and era that had not yet had contact with the industrial revolution) who with an iron will and a belief in himself and all human beings changed the world and gave it the Green Revolution. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and deserved it more than any other nominee. And in his spare time he created Little League baseball in Mexico culminating in the 1957 LL World Series championship won by the Monterrey, Mexico team, the first foreign team to enter the Little League competition. His life story should be made into a movie so that more people can see what he did, and what he went through to do it. This book is a road map to international cooperation in the service of all mankind. There is a quote on the back dust jacket of the book from M.S. Swaminathan, a member of the Indian parliament that reads, "There is a saying in Gita that, from time to time, God appears on earth in disguise. When the world was in a serious food crisis one of the godly forms who appeared was Norman Borlaug."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A biography that's a page-turner! December 18, 2011

By agwallah

Format:Hardcover

This is a gripping, touching, meticulously researched biography of one of the genuine geniuses and heroes of the 20th Century. Norman Borlaug (whom I had the privilege to know personally) had the kind of idealism, tenacity and courage epitomized by Jimmy Stewart in the title role of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and Gary Cooper in "High Noon."

"Our Daily Bread" conveys how difficult much of Borlaug's life was and the odds against which he accomplished so much in cereal genetics and agronomy.

What especially surprised and impressed me about this book is that the author managed to make it a genuine page-turner. There was real uncertainty and suspense about whether the introduction of Borlaug's new wheat varieties and agronomic practices would come in time to prevent massive starvation in India and Pakistan.

Terrific book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Daily Bread - an excellent narrative, a compelling read December 8, 2011

By Paul Vasold

Format:Hardcover

Through a busy month, I just finished reading Our Daily Bread and declare it an excellent narrative. With much of it in Norman Borlaug's own words, it moves forward in a continuous rush. I like this format very much. It reads well and it reads fast and that demands attention. It will be well received.

I would like to have seen an index. I'm an index scanner. I like to know who's there, who's not, and how often they appear or disappear by page number. Perhaps something for a second edition? Its absence is easily overcome with a highlighter and margin notes.

From Iowa to India, Mexico to Pakistan, Our Daily Bread, The Essential Norman Borlaug by Noel Vietmeyer is a worthy original historic account of the early years of what has become known as the "Green Revolution" -- in addition to being a compelling read.

I highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational May 16, 2012

By SC

Format:Hardcover

This is a very inspiring book about a man who saved over a billion lives through sheer grit, determination, optimism, scientific brilliance and plain old common sense. As humble as they come, Borlaug overcame the grinding poverty of his youth to be the first to go to college in his family. He left a good job with Du Pont in the US and toiled alone and unsung in rural Mexico in the 1940s for years when mere mortals would have long given up. Years of hardwork resulted in new varities of wheat that literally saved humanity in the hungriest parts of the world. The book is full of riveting accounts of his exploits. The author knew him well and makes the book highly readable by providing vignettes of his experiences. Hollywood should consider this book for a major motion picture.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Our Daily Bread; The Essential Norman Borlaug November 13, 2012

By TQ

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Excellent and timely read. An account of the kind of life it used to take to earn a Nobel Peace Prize, saving perhaps as many as 100 Million lives from starvation. The contrast with recent, politically expedient Nobel Prize pretenders is stark.
Early chapters are a sobering reminder of how difficult life was in rural America a hundred years ago, with malnutrition and disease even in America's breadbasket. Also a story of how very far we have come with modern agriculture and how much we take for granted, as well-fed we can obsess over trivial risks.
later chapters are a compelling story of an action-oriented visionary struggling against socialist political bureaucracies and lazy, self-satisfied academics hiding behind their credentials and protecting their feathered nests.
This should be the basis for a powerful screenplay, but probably won't be given it's politically incorrect messages.
purchase and enjoy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a deal for a terrific book about an American hero! September 5, 2012

By Al P from Northern Virginia

Format:Kindle Edition

I have happily read all of Noel Vietmeyer's outstanding books on Norman Borlaug. They are written in a wonderful style telling a terrific story about Norman Borlaug who truly did more than his part to help feed the world particularly those who did not have much food available to them. Among many extarordinary characteristics Borlaug's perseverance, high moral values and life-long beliefs are something to admire. The Vietmeyer tribute to Borlaug is awesome.

Noting the price of the Kindle version, I would say you would be remiss if you didn't capitalize on it. One can never know how long such an extemely low price for such a valuable treatise and easy read will be available at this price. The hardback version is worth the price too!You won't be sorry if you click buy on this one.