Nurture the Heart, Feed the World is a very detailed memoir by Leon Hesser, who began life as a tenant farmer, earned doctorates and worked with the U.S. government to establish third world food programs.

The book starts with his experiences in World War II and then delves into his personal life, meeting and marrying his wife. He details his work in South Asian countries like Bangladesh and his interactions with Nobel Prize laureate Normal Borlaug, who also wrote a forward for the book.

Throughout, the book is chock full of specific dates, places, and photographs, but it needs shaping. For one thing, it takes far too long to get to his life's most important work, instead focusing on the minutiae of his educational process and interpersonal relationship with his wife. The chapters on relieving world hunger make up barely a third of the book.

As it stands, this book would be very useful to a genealogist or perhaps an historian who is interested in the programs he discusses, but it offers little for the general reader. However, the book is very beautifully produced and would probably be a welcome addition to the libraries of any number of historical societies or government agencies.

If he's interested in appealing to a general audience, the author should focus on his efforts to relieve world hunger, describing his work in greater emotional detail, helping the viewer to experience it through his eyes. By telling more about the people he met, the places he visited, and the challenges he faced in his important work, he could make others appreciate just how crucial that work is.

Synergy Books, 2004: ISBN 0-9744668-8-3