The Peace Corps Experience: Challenge and Change, 1969-1976 [Hardcover]

P. David Searles (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Not only took me back to my memorable days as a volunteer, but also gave me a perspective on the era in which I served." -- Pamela Tripp-Melby, former Peace Corps Volunteer

"Searles reflects on the direction taken by the Peace Corps during Nixon's presidency. He rebuts the criticisms that his generation of volunteers violated the idealistic ethos of the early days through their technocratic emphasis on skills, and examines the difficult process of cultural acclimatization endured by volunteers as they tried to define roles for themselves in remote parts of the world." -- Times Literary Supplement

"Offers insightful amendments to the history of the Peace Corps." -- Journal of American History

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (February 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813120098
• ISBN-13: 978-0813120096
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,130,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Peace Corps in the 1970's, May 13, 2002

By 

Hugh Pickens (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Peace Corps Experience: Challenge and Change, 1969-1976 (Hardcover)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and informative look at the history of the PC, April 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Peace Corps Experience: Challenge and Change, 1969-1976 (Hardcover)

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.