THE HIDDEN FORCE

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 1963

The 1962 San Juan Conference on middle level manpower, arranged and sponsored by the Peace Corps, was ""conducted on a scale consistent with Peace Corps traditions of dedicated austerity"", as Sargent Shriver would have us know; even though most of the delegates from the 40-odd participating countries were ""at least cabinet rank"", hotel rates were kept to $17 per day each, and there were no provisions for ""liquor or cigarettes or the other frills"". While large sections of this book comprise an extremely valuable report of much significant thought and research on the world-wide needs for skilled persons in such fields as engineering, education, medicine, and machine operation -- particularly from such authorities as Walter Heller, W. W. Rostow, and Willard Wirtz -- the tone throughout is burdened with a great deal of such self-conscious Newfrontiersmanship as the quotes from Mr. Shriver exemplify. This is a pity, because surely no economic problems loom larger today than those involving the proper distribution of properly trained personnel. One might also wish that foreign delegates had been granted more space, but after all, this volume is as much a Peace Corps brainchild -- and advertisement -- as the Conference was.

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION