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"I want to warn anyone who sees the Peace Corps as an alternative to the draft that life may well be easier at Fort Dix or at a post in Germany than it will be with us." - Sargent Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps.

Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy issued this challenge in his 1961 inauguration speech. Shortly thereafter, thousands of young Americans, myself among them, answered by joining the fledgling Peace Corps, a volunteer organization set up to "promote world peace and friendship [and] make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower." (Peace Corps Act, Public Law 87-293). In the years between 1961 and 2011, the 50th anniversary of the organization, more than 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 139 countries.

Whether you are interested in joining the organization yourself - truly a life-changing decision - or just want to sit back in your easy chair and read about Peace Corps experiences of others, here are some Kindle books to get you started. My thanks to Kindle reader Sherry Kappel for suggesting this topic. Her daughter Sarah Kappel, is currently serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia and blogging about the experience here. Reading her blog, I was amused to learn that although the life of a Peace Corps volunteer has changed - it is far more high tech than it was in my time when there were no computers or blogs - other things have remained the same. Like, for example, that craving for "exotic" American foods like peanut butter when you are far from home and supermarket. In my day, a Kindle would have been an incredible windfall. I wonder how many PCVs have Kindles today.

General

The Insider's Guide to the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go, by Dillon Banerjee. Ten Speed Press, 2010. Print Length: 287 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (12 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"If you are interested in joining the Peace Corps, you probably have questions that run the gamut from What is the application process like? to Is the Peace Corps effective as a development agency? In this updated second edition, former Peace Corps volunteer Dillon Banerjee shares candid facts and insights about the experience in a practical question-and-answer format. With input from recently returned volunteers who served across the globe, this thorough guide presents valuable information including: what Peace Corps recruiters look for in your application, items you should - and shouldn't - pack for your two-year trip, useful gadgets and technology that help volunteers stay connected from far away, real answers to personal questions about culture shock, safety, dating, homesickness, and more. ... essential reading for anyone interested in 'the toughest job you'll ever love.' " - Publisher.

When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years, by Stanley Meisler. Beacon Press, 2011. Print Length: 288 p. Amazon customer rating: Kindle edition $13.17. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...the first complete and balanced look at the Peace Corps’s first fifty years. Revelatory and candid, Stanley Meisler’s engaging narrative exposes Washington infighting, presidential influence, and the Volunteers’ unique struggles abroad. Meisler deftly unpacks the complicated history with sharp analysis and memorable anecdotes, taking readers on a global trek starting with the historic first contingent of Volunteers to Ghana on August 30, 1961. The Peace Corps has served as an American emblem for world peace and friendship, yet few realize that it has sometimes tilted its agenda to meet the demands of the White House. Tracing its history through the past nine presidential administrations, Meisler discloses, for instance, how Lyndon Johnson became furious when Volunteers opposed his invasion of the Dominican Republic; he reveals how Richard Nixon literally tried to destroy the Peace Corps, and how Ronald Reagan endeavored to make it an instrument of foreign policy in Central America. But somehow the ethos of the Peace Corps endured, largely due to the perseverance of the 200,000 Volunteers themselves..." - Publisher.

Personal Experiences

South of the Frontera; A Peace Corps Memoir, by Lawrence F. Lihosit. iUniverse, 2010. Print Length: 316 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Premature middle age escaped us and high adventure called… begins the author in this humorous memoir about how Hard-Times became Good-Times. Following a job loss, a worn picture postcard ignites adventures South of the Frontera leading to the Peace Corps. This is a vivid description of Mexico and Central America between 1975 and 1977. From basking in the Sea of Cortes alongside a pelican to learning to dance in Honduras, an original voice rings true with youthful curiosity and down-home wit and insight." - Publisher.

Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in Honduras, by Barbara E. Joe. Print Length: 316 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (25 reviews). Kindle edition $9.00. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"When the author announced her plans to join the Peace Corps at age 62, a male friend was skeptical, predicting that she would return home 'by Christmas at the latest.' However, what she found in her encounters in two towns, El Triunfo (The Triumph) and La Esperanza (The Hope), was adventure, new challenges, and the motivation to extend her service beyond the usual term. Most important, she was able to finally make peace with her son’s untimely death and, in her words, 'forge a new direction.' The author strives to offer an intimate look into Peace Corps service - both its highs and lows, its common elements and amazing surprises." - Publisher.

A Peace Corps Profile, by Kirk A. Hackenberg. Trafford Publishing, 2006. Print Length: 162 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...a detailed account of one man's experiences serving, not one, but two tours in the Peace Corps as a volunteer. He takes you from the beginning of what prompted him to join the Peace Corps and leaves nothing out of the next four years of his service. Being a volunteer in a foreign country, living at the level of those being served, provides a lifetime of experiences wrapped up in a short amount of time. Each day brought new challenges, some humorous, some rather horrific, but life lessons as never predictable. From the jungles of Nicaragua, through the civil war there, to working on the coast of Chile, the author takes you on a journey that will leave you amazed at what one person can do." - Publisher.

First Comes Love, then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life, by Eve Brown-Waite. Broadway, 2009. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (60 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Eve Brown always thought she would join the Peace Corps someday, although she secretly worried about life without sushi, frothy coffee drinks, and air conditioning. But with college diploma in hand, it was time to put up or shut up. So with some ambivalence she arrives at the Peace Corps office - sporting her best safari chic attire - to casually look into the steps one might take if one were to become a global humanitarian, à la Angelina Jolie. But when Eve meets John, her dashing young Peace Corps recruiter, all her ambivalence flies out the window. She absolutely must join the Peace Corps - and win John's heart in the process. Off to Ecuador she goes and - after a year in the jungle - back to the States she runs, vowing to stay within easy reach of a decaf cappuccino for the rest of her days. But life had other plans..." - Publisher.

Fiesta of Sunset: The Peace Corps, Guatemala and a Search for Truth, by Taylor Dibbert. iUniverse, 2011. Print Length: 208 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (30 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Born and raised in Dallas, Dibbert lived far away from the third world countries he saw on the news. Yet something called to him, and so from 2006–2008, Dibbert lived in a small, indigenous village in Guatemala, after unpredictably joining the Peace Corps. Fiesta of Sunset tells not only of the adventures of a far off land; it also provides a closer look into the back alleys and sad streets of a country struggling with poverty, corruption, crime and more. Some of the mysterious and romantic stereotypes of the Peace Corps are set to rest in this engaging example of one young American’s experience abroad and how, while there, he began to learn how mistakes often pave the path to understanding." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.