Bertha von Suttner: A Life for Peace

Brigitte Hamann's biography of Bertha von Suttner not only traces this activist's life and work but spans the political and social frontier of Austria on the eve of World War I. As founder of the Austrian and German Peace Associations and the author of many novels and works on peace, von Suttner's name became synonymous worldwide with peace activism and protest against the old world order. Ironically, von Suttner died eight days before the outbreak of World War I. Her lectures on peace and disarmament took her throughout Europe and the United States, and von Suttner enlisted the aid of luminaries such as Andrew Carnegie, Theodor Herzl, and Alfred Nobel. Her dictum "universal sisterhood is necessary before the universal brotherhood is possible" showed that her concerns were intertwined with women's issues as well. [Midwest Book Review]