Three Cups Of Tea
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4.4 • 22 Ratings
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- £5.49
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
'Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything even die.
Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram mountains, Pakistan
In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools especially for girls in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers' hearts.
Customer Reviews
Three Cups of Tea
So inspirational that I purchased 6 copies to give as Christmas
Presents plus two copies of Stones into Schools. If you have kids check out the younger readers version, and the beautifully illustrated children's book. I can't recommend these books too highly.
Mixed
It is inspiring, but mostly the first half of it..
Phenomenal
Something resonated with the title, I just had to buy the book, which I did, through a well-known online retailer! How pleased I was to find it early in the iBook store!
The message is clear. Greg's message is simple, no different to what anybody who puts a moment of thought into the events this world has witnessed. Yet, both 'sides' exist through ignorance, an unwillingness to listen, understand and accept that societies with different views can co-exist. After all, we are of one race!
What Greg has achieved is amazing. The book can only share some of his efforts, talents and successes.
An inspiring story, something to move us all to open ourselves to understanding and helping those less fortunate enough than we are.
Now I can donate my hard copy, knowing I can always come back to Three Cups of Tea (and a few notes added, one flagging reference to a canned drink one of my former employers manufactured in Japan. The ability to add notes has taken iBooks to the next level for me).
May Greg and CAI continue to experience more success, well deserved.