Review of A Dream For Peace

[Macha Marumo Mphela]

[Following is a volunteer review of "A Dream For Peace" by Dr. Ghoulem Berrah.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Very few people have traversed the precarious political climate of Africa in the late 20th century and lived to tell their own stories. Dr. Ghoulem Berrah is one such person. A political activist, a storied research scientist, a personal aide to a sitting president, a deeply religious man who advocates for religious harmony... A Dream for Peace captures the life of the man when he found himself in the middle of some of history's most important political (and scientific) moments.

Born in Aïn Beïda, Algeria, Ghoulem Berrah was faced with politics at an early age, growing up in a French colony. This would lead him to become a student activist, which would fuel every fibre of his existence. The author would eventually find himself living in France, America, and eventually settling in Côte d'Ivoire. More than three quarters of the book cover the author's journey in Côte d'Ivoire when he served as President Houphoët-Boigny's personal aide.

President Houphoët-Boigny, the first president of Côte d'Ivoire, has a rather significant presence in the book. The President, whom the author affectionately called "Papa" because of the very intimate nature of their relationship (which was more father-son than that of employer-employee) shared some very important moments with the author and played the role of father figure on many occasions. This relationship was definitely my most favourite part of the whole book. It not only made me privy to some of the very interesting things that went on behind the scenes of the presidency, but it gave an in-depth look at the two men and who they were at their core.

Both men were simply merchants of peace. At every turn, the author revealed his many struggles honestly, but above everything else, his search to find peace between himself and the others, between other people of different political and religious views, made the man special. It's no wonder the title fits this narrative perfectly. At the very end of the book, I found myself thinking what was the best phrase that could best describe the author, and "Ambassador of Peace" is the only thing I could think of. Interesting, courageous, selfless, and extraordinary could also be used to describe the man because he was all of that and more. I found that this following quote captured the essence of the book really well: "I had but one ambition: to serve Africa."

There isn't much wrong with the book. I loved the pictures that accompanied the chapters. The book was excellently edited and I noted no real grammatical errors, except for the couple of times I questioned some of the usages of commas (but these I pegged down as authorial choices). I also struggled with the pace of the first few chapters because they moved too fast and seemed sporadic at times (the writing became more grounded after the fifth chapter). Other than that, this was a pretty great book that offered some of the most amazing stories I've ever read. As such, it deserves nothing less than a 4 out of 4 stars rating. It's by far one of the best memoirs I've ever come across. It's huge. It's very detailed. It's highly fascinating. It's inspiring.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs and politics. It gives profound insight into great historical moments and much, much more.

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A Dream For Peace
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