Main lesson I took from this book: there are plenty of warning signs before genocides. Just like pandemics, we don't hear much about the genocides that are prevented. Sam Power was the US Ambassador to the UN during Obama's second term. She met Obama when he was a senator, after she sent him a copy of her first book, an investigation into whether it is possible to prevent genocide. This book is her memoir from childhood up through the end of the Obama administration. It's probably too long for most people, but I am particularly interested in so many of the themes in her story: emigration from Ireland to the US, dealing with a strong ethical sense in a corrupt world, being female and smart in a male dominated world, being proud of what's best about the US and horrified by what is worst about it.