Summary

Kristof and WuDunn refer to America’s struggle with equal rights for African-Americans. With the emergence of important high-profile figures like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., and books like John Griffin’s Black Like Me, the injustice that had been ignored was in everyone’s face. Kristof and WuDunn point out that the pollution of air, land and sea seemed to be inevitable with the advancement of man. However, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring changed all that. The book led to the banning of DDT and other harmful pesticides and herbicides and to the eventual establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency. The authors parallel these societal shifts to the need for the world to face the horrors that women face especially in developing nations. They believe that a far-reaching movement for women’s equality must be launched...