Chasing The Flame was one of the most depressing and tragic books I've ever read. Sergio Vieira de Mello dedicated his entire life to The United Nations, striving to improve the lives of millions of persecuted and impoverished people throughout the world. And Vieira de Mello didn't spend decades behind a desk in New York or Geneva like many other UN workers. He risked his life, time and time again, in some of the most war torn corners of the world. How many can say they gave personal hand to hand, man to man, right in the trenches, help to the people of Lebanon, Cambodia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo,Rwanda, East Timor, Iraq ... ?
The book is depressing on many levels levels . Sergio had to fight tooth and nail for every accomplishment he was able to achieve in these countries. Firstly, of course, he had to deal with the sadistic despots who ruled these countries. But often, almost as frustrating; he had to deal with in-fighting within the U.N.. Not to mention the blatant incompetence of some of his fellow U.N. workers. Then of course, there was the lack of support from the most important and influential Member Countries when Vieira de Mello and the U.N. needed or requested it. Nowhere was this more evident than in Iraq. Remember of course, that the U.S.A. violated international law by waging war on Iraq without approval of the U.N. Security Council. Despite this, the U.N. did agree to enter Iraq and offer assistance to the "coalition" in an attempt to help rebuild a devastated Iraq. Vieira de Mello was chosen to head this U.N. mission and this final gut wrenching final chapter is when the book truly became tragic.
After a terrorist bomb destroyed The Canal Hotel which The U.N. was using for their headquarters , Veira de Mello lay alive, but trapped and unreachable, for several torturous hours before succumbing to his injuries. I'll end my review with 2 quotes from the book :

"As a result, while the U.S. military possessed state-of-the-art war-fighting equipment, from the time of the blasts at 4:28 p.m. to the time the rescue effort was terminated after dark, the most powerful military in the history of mankind was forced for rescue on brute force, a curtain rope, and a woman's handbag."


"But as his life seeped slowly out of him, there must have been a moment--hopefully not a long one-- when he realized he was every bit as helpless in his time of need as millions of victims had been before him. He died under the Canal Hotel's rubble -- buried beneath the weight of the United Nations itself."
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Sergio Vieira de Mello-a humanitarian, peacemaker and state builder -was at centre of the most significant geopolitical crises of the last half-century. Born in 1948, just as the post-World War II order was taking shape, he died in a terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Iraq in 2003 as the battle lines in the twenty first-century's first great polarizing struggle were being drawn.

Samantha Power does justice to Sergio Viera de Mello. A riveting and unforgettable biography of a man - despite his flaws - will be remembered as a fearless and compassionate human being. ( )

When you combine such a masterful writer as Samantha Power with such a charismatic, intelligent and dedicated statesman like Sergio Vieira de Mello, and add events that have shaped the world so that only the location need be named (Cambodia, Iraq) you should expect one of the best biographies you've ever read. And you won't be disappointed in this case.

Samantha Power is a journalist and her skills of observation and story telling are at a peak as she presents this biography of a man who spent his life working in the UN and serving in some of the most dangerous places in the world.

Sergio Vieira de Mello was the best of what international representatives should be. He was dedicated to his organization, and to the well being of those he was sent to work with. He was committed to improving the lives of ordinary people. He was also a philosopher who strove to understand both the opressed and the oppressors.

This book is an interesting look at some of the major challenges facing countries after civil war or invasion. It also provides deep insight into the workings of the UN and the capacity of the international community to address challenges.

Above all, it's a biography. The chapter on "August 19" is so moving with all the personal impacts of war described in a way that will bring tears to your eyes. Not only the deaths of Sergio and other UN workers, but the courage of the rescuers and the tragic way Sergio's fiancee Carolina was treated.

Read this! ( )

Fascinating. ( )

Sergio Vieira de Mello of Brazil (simply "Sergio" to many) was the personification of what the United Nations could and should be. As Paul Bremer's adviser Ryan Cocker once said, "Sergio is as good as it gets not only for the UN, but for international diplomacy." Sergio was the UN Secretary Generals "ultimate go-to guy", a nation builder in the world's toughest spots like East Timor, Cambodia, Kosovo. No one who met him - from George W. Bush on the eve of the Iraq War, to the Khmer Rouge, to Slobodan Milosevic - came away untouched by his intelligence, physical bearing, charisma and integrity. It was a major blow to the world when he and 14 other UN staff were killed on August 19th 2003 by an al-Qeada suicide bomber at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, an event that has become known as the UN's "9/11". He was often spoken of as candidate for the position of UN Secretary General, but his career was cut short before he had a chance to become the world-renowned elder statesman he was destined to be. This biography by Pulitzer Prize winning Samantha Power is a monument to his legacy and should connect with a wide audience. Not only an enthralling story of adventure (Sergio was almost always in the field in dangerous situations and places), but equally a revelation of what was happening behind the headlines in major crisis around the world over the past 30 years - and it is the story of the UN itself, as mirrored in the ups and downs of Sergio's life and character, its faults, weaknesses and strengths.

Power has managed to convey Sergio's persona with utmost sympathy, seductively drawing the reader into Sergio's world. His younger staff members were often likened to puppy dogs who followed him around, at one point even into the bushes to take a leak - I often felt this way reading his biography, like a puppy dog I didn't want him to leave or for the book to end, for the inevitable to happen. I dreaded the last chapter titled "August 19 2003" - it is the most thrilling chapter in the book, a masterpiece of journalistic writing - it can bring the reader to tears in a way no fiction could achieve. Samantha Power is an adviser to Barak Obama "the person whose rigor and compassion bear the closest resemblance to Sergio's that I have ever seen," she says in the credits. Power also knows Terry George, director of Hotel Rwanda, who advised her on this book and who expressed an interesting in making a movie version, we can only hope.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd ( )