The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger [Hardcover]

Leon Hesser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

The Man Who Fed the World provides a loving and respectful portrait of one of America's greatest heroes. Nobel Peace Prize recipient for averting hunger and famine, Dr. Norman Borlang is credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives from starvation-more than any other person in history? Loved by millions around the world, Dr. Borlang is recognized as one of the most influential men of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for the remarkable efforts begun 30 years earlier, and which continue to this day, agriculturalist Norman Borlaug most recently joined Jimmy Carter working in Africa and in recent years tackled successful projects in China. But his earliest claim to fame was his painstaking fieldwork in Mexico during the 1940s, when the prairie-raised Iowan developed strains of disease-resistant wheat, training local scientists to spread his breakthrough methods to other countries. Working over the years with the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, he was later responsible for averting famine in Pakistan and India, where hope for feeding their huge populations was almost nonexistent; characteristically, Borlaug maintained his sense of humility and wonder throughout: "The enthusiasm everywhere bordered on mania. I have never seen anywhere in agriculture such euphoria...." Author Hesser, an old friend and colleague of Borlaug, is well versed in the food production revolution that Borlaug helped create (encompassing wheat, rice and maize, and still branching out), and an able writer whose direct voice evokes the Midwest spirit of its subject.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 297 pages
• Publisher: Durban House; 1ST edition (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930754906
• ISBN-13: 978-1930754904
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #568,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Leon Hesser went from being an Indiana farm boy during the Great Depression -- he actually operated his own farm business until he was 30 -- to the world stage where he helped alleviate global hunger. Then, in his retirement years, he started writing books.

From 1966 to 1973, Leon was Foreign Service Officer in Pakistan, where he directed U.S. programs to help increase food production in that hungry nation; he collaborated with Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug to help start the Green Revolution in South Asia. From Pakistan, he went to State Department in Washington DC where he directed worldwide programs to increase food production in developing countries. Following early retirement from State Department, he consulted in twenty countries of Asia, Africa and the former Soviet Union.

Leon, who earned a Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1962, retired in 2000 to sunny Naples, Florida, where he has written three books (see bibliography) and is currently writing ZigZag Pass: Memoir of a Teenage Soldier in World War II. He and his wife Florence celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in August 2006. They have a son, daughter, and four granddaughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Quiet Heros, November 16, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger (Hardcover)

In Jimmy Carter's introduction to this book he points out the Norman Borlang has the distinction as one of the 100 most influential individuals of the 20th century.

Dr. Borlang was the 1970 recipient of the Nobel Peace Price. This was awarded for his work in saving the lives of more people - hundreds of millions, perhaps over a billion - from starvation than any person in history.

He, as much as any other individual deserves the title, The Father of the Green Revolution. In the late 1960s, most experts said that global famines in which billions would die would soon occur. Biologist Paul R. Ehrlich wrote in his 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb, 'The battle to feed all of humanity is over... In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.' Ehrlich also said, 'I have yet to meet anyone familiar with the situation who thinks India will be self-sufficient in food by 1971,' and 'India couldn't possibly feed two hundred million more people by 1980.'

Thanks to Dr. Borlaug, Paul Erlich was wrong.

Note that this doesn not mean that the problems are over. The Green Revolution plants take more water, more fertilizer (made from oil) than the older plants. There is an ongoing debate about biotechnology and food supplies. And of course, population growth cannot continue forever. But without Dr. Borlaug there would have been a lot more dying. And besides this just might sound like Paul Erlich.

Dr. Borlaug (now 91) lived a life filled with satisfaction, awards, and the knowledge that he has helped to feed millions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A life-changing read, March 24, 2007

By 

Marsha A. Johnson (www.marshajohnson.net) "Au... (Tulsa, Ok) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger (Hardcover)

The Man Who Fed The World an authorized biography by Leon Hesser

Norman Borlaug's life, written by Leon Hesser, is more than magnanimous. It is impressively humble.
Hesser's remarkable, well-written book, is a wonderful story of the simple life of an Iowa farm boy whose extraordinary determination led him on a lifelong journey to feed a starving world. A young Norman Borlaug, scarred by the effects of the Great Depression witnessed, first hand, how food changes peoples lives.

The Man Who Fed The World is an inspiring book of one man's hope, vision, and the intestinal fortitude to relentlessly pursue his goal to relieve human suffering. And for the millions of the world's starving who were unable to personally express their gratitude Norma Borlaug, on October 20, 1970, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

A huge thank you to Leon Hesser for bringing the world this book!


Marsha is a writer, speaker, and author of Emerald's Garden How to grieve, mourn and recover from loss. See [...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring book, February 21, 2007

By 

reviewer06 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Fed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug and His Battle to End World Hunger (Hardcover)

Nice work! This book captures the spirit of a man that passionately seeks ways to help people in other geographies. The author shows how Norman empowered those he wanted to help by giving them new tools to succeed, a far superior approach to charity.