The Building Peace Initiative Reading List
Creating True Peace: Ending the Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, 2nd Edition. Marshall Rosenberg
Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct. P.M. Forni
Peace and Conflict Studies. David Barash and Charles Webel
The Better World Handbook: Small Changes That Make a Big Difference. Ellis, Jones, Haenfler, Ross and Johnson, Brett,
Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life. Karen Armstrong
World’s In Harmony: Compassionate Action for a Better World. Dalai Lama
Gandhi: On Nonviolence. Thomas Merton
The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace. Introduction by Howard Zinn
I’d Rather Teach Peace. Colman McCarthy
No Future Without Forgiveness. Desmond Tutu
Forgiveness and Revenge. Trudy Govier
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. Simon Wisenthal
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World.
Tracey Kidder
Learning True Love: Practicing Buddhism in a Time of War. Sister Chan Khong
At Hell’s Gate: A Soldiers Journey from War to Peace. Claude Anshin Thomas
Slaughterhouse-Five. Kurt Vonnegut Jr
*I have included the three history selections because they provide a lot of information which will be important when it comes to clearing up misperceptions many people have. They are challenging reads especially Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas. I would read them in the order listed.
*1. A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict. Peter Ackerman and Jack Duvall
*2. A People’s History of the United States. Howard Zinn
*3. Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas. David Cortright,
There are many life stories to read: Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchu, Nelson Mandela, Nadia Murad and so may more to inspire us in those moments when we need it.