博客來In the cool mists of the Kenyan highlands, a young girl once fetched water from streams guarded by sacred fig trees. She did not know then that she would one day stand before the world as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, having sparked a movement that planted fifty million trees and toppled a dictatorship. This is the definitive account of Wangari Maathai, a woman whose life became a testament to the idea that the health of the earth and the freedom of its people are one and the same.
From the red soil of Nyeri to the laboratories of Pittsburgh and the dangerous streets of Nairobi, her journey was marked by a relentless pursuit of truth. Often labeled a difficult woman by those in power, she refused to be silenced by the batons of paramilitary police or the suffocating expectations of a patriarchal society. She saw what others ignored: that the drying of a stream was a symptom of a deeper political malady, and that a single seedling could be a weapon of democratic revolution.
This biography traces the evolution of her radical philosophy, the three-legged stool of stability, which weaves together environmental stewardship, democratic space, and a culture of peace. Through detailed analysis and intimate anecdotes, it reveals the intellectual rigor and moral courage of a scientist who stepped out of the classroom to lead an army of mothers and foresters. It is a story of resilience and replenishment, offering a blueprint for grassroots change in an era of global crisis. Approx. 150 pages, 37700 word count
