Review of A Dream For Peace

Ordan Brouwn · Post by **Ordan Brouwn** » 03 Aug 2022, 17:02

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

4 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

A Dream For Peace is such a fitting title for this autobiography. What Dr. Ghoulem Berrah wanted in this life was for peace to prosper, and this is the common thread that permeates all facets of the man's life. Whether he was fighting colonialists and oppressive laws, his mission was bigger than just to fight for the sake of fighting. Even in his personal relationships and his role as an aide to a sitting president, that "peace be upon you" attitude he learned as a young boy informed his stances and ideas. "Extraordinary" is an understatement when describing the man that is revealed in this high-quality read.

Some of my favourite books of all time are memoirs because of the very real life lessons that can be learned from them. Here we see a man passionate about his people that it would inspire him to join revolutions and be a part of change. This led me to think of my own passions and how they are fueling my life. When a book brings you to self-introspect, then you know you have connected with its message and its messenger. Ghoulem Berrah travelled the world in search of education and financial success because he knew that that would help elevate those around him from poverty. And he could have been satisfied by his success as a research scientist, but his service to the people meant that he took a more political role so that he could inspire real change.

Although he was born in Algeria, studied in France, and found life in America and Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire became his spiritual settlement. A lot happened in his life when he moved to this "politically new" country which had just elected its first president, Houphoët-Boigny. The president features a lot in the book and his relationship with the author is dissected into its most basic form. This is where the author took charge of his life and saw real personal change in the way he related with those close to him. This was my favourite part of the book. His marriage to a black Christian woman also showed that people of different religions can come together and love each other without any malice. You cannot help but be hopeful when you encounter such honest relationships. These two people could have given up on each other when others made it difficult for their union to be peaceful, but they endured and placed love in the forefront and proved everyone who doubted wrong.

This is simply one incredible book. It not only showed the amazing things that the author was able to influence and achieve, it also made it intimate by showing the highs and lows of his personal relationships. The idea to also share some pictures made it even more intimate and special. I hated nothing about it. The editing was professionally done because it was perfect, yielding no errors at all. It's hard to not think of this as a perfect memoir, which I will rate accordingly and hand it a well-deserved 4 out of 4 stars.

The tone of this book, its concentration on politics and romance make me feel comfortable recommending it to readers above thirty years in age. I don't think young adults would resonate with the man at its centre, and so I would think that a more mature crowd could get into it more and relate better.

******
A Dream For Peace
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon