Cyclopaedia of American Biography Comprising the Men and Women of the United States Who Have... Book

I came across the story of Mechai Viravaidya in Alan Weisman's COUNTDOWN: OUT LAST BEST HOPE FOR A FUTURE ON EARTH which I read this spring. Weisman's book deals with the PRESSING (my capital letter, his thesis) issue of population control, and he tells the story of Mechai Virsvaidya's work in Thailand as a prime of example of how it can be done well.

CONDOMS TO CABBAGES is a biography written by a colleague of Mechia's at Population and Community Development Association (PDA). Mechai is an interesting character but the book is not emotionally compelling, especially when Viravaidya becomes immerse in the world of NGO's, government agencies, politics and international finance. The fact that book starts out with two and half pages of abbreviations and acronyms is a bit of tip-off that there will be a bit of slogging along the way. D'Agnes tells the story well enough, but with the tangle of players and agendas he has to deal with, Mechai the man gets a bit lost.