Race Against Time

By Stephen Lewis

Book Overview

"I have spent the last four years watching people die." With these wrenching words, diplomat and humanitarian Stephen Lewis opens his 2005 CBC Massey Lectures. Lewis's determination to bear witness to the desperate plight of so many in Africa and elsewhere is balanced by his unique, personal, and often searing insider's perspective on our ongoing failure to help.

Lewis recounts how, in 2000, the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York introduced eight Millennium Development Goals, which focused on fundamental issues such as education, health, and cutting poverty in half by 2015. In audacious prose, alive with anecdotes ranging from maddening to hilarious to heartbreaking, Lewis shows why and how the international community is falling desperately short of these goals.

This edition includes an afterword by Lewis, covering events after the lectures were delivered in fall 2005.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887847536
• ISBN13: 9780887847530
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: House of Anansi Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Very Insightful

This book was a riveting read. I think the combination of Stephen Lewis's excellent oratory skills mixed with a pertinent topic has created a powerful, compelling book. In this book the author takes the reader inside major organizations such as the UN, WHO, etc. showing the reader the workings and failures of the international response to Africa's needs and crisis's concerning famine and HIV. He successfully intertwines his professional and personal experiences in the UN and Africa. I really enjoyed reading this book for a number of reasons. First of all, Stephen Lewis has such a vast and unique perspective on Africa the UN as well as HIV/AIDS. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about what is going on with the G8 concerning Africa as well as the Millennium Development Goals. Don't get me wrong, I was horrified to hear the unfortunate details, I was just intrigued as well as enlightened by his narration of current day events. I also whole-heartedly agree with his perspectives on women and his desire to see an international representation of women's rights. What gives Stephen Lewis such authority to adequately articulate this tragedy is his incredible 30 years of international experience, he is the UN Secretary-General's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, a former Canadian ambassador to the UN, as well as former deputy executive director of UNICEF. Although I did not agree with all of his policy views on solutions, I did agree with the vast majority of his perspectives and highly recommend this book for insight into Africa and the horrendous impact of HIV/AIDS.

Powerful Read

Stephen Lewis is an amazing articulator of the imperative race against time to fight the AIDS epidemic. His book is at times angry, hopeful, practical and inspiring. I can't imagine the grief he has seen and experienced to write with such power and urgency. The book is an easy read yet so powerful, definitely recommend it for everyone who is interested in learning more about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and why it is so imperative for the global community to respond and care.

A critical review, but also an offer of hope.

In June 2005, the new deputy prime minister of Namibia said that the nation was "on its knees." In Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis discusses the causes of the African AIDS epidemic. Through wrenching personal stories, he describes the problem and how horrible its effects are to individuals and to communities in Africa. He faults individuals and organizations who place their own economic or moral agendas ahead of ending the suffering and then offers suggestions to get both the international community and private groups involved to end the epidemic. This book will frustrate you over what little has been done so far, yet it still offers hope for the future of Africa.

The Real Face of Africa

This book is the latest revelation in the tragic story of the plight of African nations. As special envoy for the UN Stephen Lewis has traveled extensively in Africa and has had first hand experience of the AIDS/HIV disaster as well as the effects of drought, hunger, war and the growing mortality rate due to disease. A very honest account, Stephen Lewis takes a critical and objective look at the part the UN and other institutions are playing in allowing this tragic situation to continue. If you are interested in developing a world view, read this book.

Enduring vibrato...profoundly stirring!

Every now and then, there is a book everyone must read. Racing Against Time, by Stephen Lewis, is that book. His eloquent oratory on Africa's AIDS pandemic (and the world's complicity) makes riveting reading-the page takes nothing of his voice away: it amplifies it, it adds vibrato to his plea for every person & nation to hear it and respond. Stephen Lewis gives a highly personal account of a numbing-scale disaster, in a tone as immediate as the mega-tragedy of our times. Profoundly stirring.