Ralph Bunche: An American Life.(Brief Article)

An American Life Brian Urquhart. Norton, $27.50 (480p) ISBN 0-393-03527-1

Although it does not ignore his personal life, this substantial, sympathetic biography emphasizes the Nobel Prize-winning African American diplomat's remarkable international career. Growing up in Los Angeles, Bunche (1903-1971) credited his grandmother with instilling his respect for education; he would later study at UCLA and Harvard, pursuing his interest in the oppressed peoples of the world, whom he saw as having much in common with American blacks. The unpretentious Bunche followed his international concerns, moving from the OSS to the State Department, and finally, in 1945, to the …