Culture, politics, education, religion, flora, fauna, and vivid descriptions of many exotic landscapes are explored with a large dash of humor as the author takes us along for a fascinating tour of twelve countries that have been a vital part of his life and career. Starting in India in 1984 with the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the author ignores the usual "tour" theme and concentrates on people and events that provide substantive meaning and a place in history. In the Sudan, the Sharia legal system comes alive in a Moslem country. We have a front row seat as the author describes...

Former ambassador to Kenya and president of Lincoln Center Glenn W. Ferguson has kept a journal for 22 years. One issue that has sustained his interest throughout the decades is the conflicting views of nonbelievers and religious believers, and the paradoxical attitudes that result from the clash of increasingly secular, international trends with traditional belief systems. This book is a compilation of brief essays culled from this journal, all on the subject of religion.
Ferguson begins with a "Credo of the Ignored," a profession of nonbelief to counter the oft-heard professions of faith...