An Accident of Geography: Compassion, Innovation and the Fight Against Poverty

Amazon Bestseller in Development & Growth
Amazon Bestseller in Poverty
Amazon Bestseller in Human Geography

Advances in global development have helped lift hundreds of millions of people from poverty in recent decades, but major challenges in fighting poverty remain. Billions of people continue to have little or no access to the basic necessities of life: clean water, food, shelter, education, and medical care.

The random location of their birthplace limited much of what is possible in many of their lives.

Yet legions of dedicated people today are proving that with the right approaches and resources, disciplined efforts to fight poverty can succeed—and with greater scale and impact than ever.

In An Accident of Geography, author Richard C. Blum profiles many of them while narrating his inspiring personal story—accomplished private-equity investor especially in Asia, humanitarian, public policy advocate, and creator of an unprecedented, multidisciplinary curriculum in poverty and development studies that has attracted thousands of students on the ten campuses of the University of California and beyond.

Blum offers practical guidance on what works best: giving poor people a greater voice in the field and applying key principles of 21st-century management, engineering, and development philanthropy. Put your accident of geography to work in helping others, and yourself Be the change maker you see in the mirror.

All author proceeds from the sale of An Accident of Geography will be donated to projects advancing global development.

Richard C. Blum
Richard C. Blum is a San Francisco-based private-equity investor and philanthropist. He has combined these twin passions over several decades, applying his core concepts and acumen to build companies for long-term growth at Blum Capital Partners, Newbridge Capital, and other firms, and to myriad humanitarian, higher education, and public policy projects to fight poverty and advance global development.

Among these is the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley, with branches throughout the UC system. The Center combines studies and cutting edge research to train students, sources innovations, and develops scalable solutions to address poverty. Richard also founded and chairs the American Himalayan Foundation, a humanitarian group that works in Nepal and throughout the Himalaya to improve education and health, preserve Tibetan culture, and prevent girl trafficking.  

A member and former chair of the University of California's Board of Regents, he is married to US Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Thomas C. Hayes

Thomas C. Hayes is a principal with Finsbury, a global consulting firm in strategic communications, and a former award-winning New York Times economic correspondent. This is his fourth book, collaborating on each as writer with authors in business, investing, management and philanthropy. He and his wife live in Bethel, Connecticut.