Books by Wangari Maathai

Replenishing the Earth cover

Replenishing the Earth


It is so easy, in our modern world, to feel disconnected from the physical earth. Despite dire warnings and escalating concern over the state of our planet, many people feel out of touch with the natural world. Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai has spent decades working with the Green Belt Movement to help women in rural Kenya plant--and sustain--millions of trees. With their hands in the dirt, these women often find themselves empowered and “at home” in a way they never did before. Maathai wants to impart that feeling to everyone, and believes that the key lies in traditional spiritual values: love for the environment, self-betterment, gratitude and respect, and a commitment to service. While educated in the Christian tradition, Maathai draws inspiration from many faiths, celebrating the Jewish mandate tikkun olam ("repair the world" and renewing the Japanese term mottainai ("don’t waste"). Through rededication to these values, she believes, we might finally bring about healing for ourselves and the earth.


The Challenge for Africa (UK & US Covers)

The Challenge for Africa

(New York: Pantheon, 2009)
The challenges facing Africa today are severe and wide ranging. Yet what we see of them in the media, more often than not, are tableaux vivantes connoting poverty, dependence, and desperation. Wangari Maathai presents a different vision, informed by her three decades as an environmental activist and campaigner for democracy. She illuminates the complex and dynamic nature of the continent, and offers "hard-headed hope" and "realistic options" for change and improvement. With clarity of expression, Maathai analyzes the most egregious "bottlenecks to development in Africa" occurring at the international, national, and individual levels—cultural upheaval and enduring poverty, among them—and deftly describes what Africans can and need to do for themselves, stressing all the while responsibility and accountability.

Buy The Challenge for Africa
Click on the links to buy The Challenge for Africa in the following countries:
North America (April 2009) || UK (April 2009) || France (Summer 2009)


Unbowed: A Memoir (UK & USA versions)

Unbowed: A Memoir

(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006)
In Unbowed, Wangari Maathai offers an inspiriting message of hope and prosperity through self-sufficiency. We see her studying with Catholic missionaries, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in the United States, and becoming the first woman both to earn a Ph.D. in East and Central Africa and to head a university department in Kenya. We witness her numerous run-ins with the brutal Moi government and she makes clear the political and personal reasons that compelled her, in 1977, to establish the Green Belt Movement.

Nominated for an NAACP Image Award
Winner of Best Biography of 2007 in the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

Sample Contents and Press Materials

What They Are Saying about Unbowed
  • "[An] engrossing and eye-opening memoir, a work of tremendous dignity and rigor."—Booklist (Starred Review)
  • "An autobiography written with honesty, humility, and depth."—Library Journal
  • "[E]ssential reading."—Sunday Times (London)
  • "Honest, compelling, and heartfelt. . . . A well-told history lesson. . . . Maathai's prose is spare and simple. But her passion comes through clearly."—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  • "Eloquently written."—Philadelphia Inquirer
  • "[Maathai's] story provides uplifting proof of the power of perseverance—and of the power of principled, passionate people to change their countries and inspire the world."—Washington Post
  • "[T]his memoir. . . documents the remarkable achievements of an influential environmentalist and activist."—Publishers Weekly
  • "Compelling."—Weekend Australia
  • "A powerful autobiography of personal and political struggle, this book is colourful and nostalgic, but with strong, underlying messages, which have shaped Maathai's political and environmental cause."—New Agriculturalist
Individual Responses
  • "Direct, honest, and beautifully written."—Bill Clinton
  • "Mesmerizing, Unbowed is the story of resistance, a refusal to be bowed down by oppression and humiliation in the pursuit of the excellent and the heroic in society."—Ngugi wa Thiong’o
  • "A call to arms for all of us who feel that the planet is overwhelmed by careless, corrupt or violent leadership. . . .Read this book and pass it on."—Alexandra Fuller
  • "An extraordinary account of an extraordinary woman’s life. The courage, compassion and natural wisdom that shine out from these pages are hugely inspiring for campaigners the world over."—Jonathon Porritt
  • "This book is a remarkable account of one woman's pioneering work to show that poverty can only be solved by linking development, environmental protection and good governance. Driven by a passion for her country and continent , Wangari Maathai has fought all her life against the odds for justice and shown that with hope, determination and drive anything is possible. As one of the women leaders that are changing Africa she is an inspiration to us all."—Gordon Brown

Blog Reviews

Buy Unbowed
Click on the links to buy Unbowed in the following countries:
North America || UK & Commonwealth || Netherlands (April 2007) || Spain (May 2007) || Italy (January 2007) || France (October 2007) || Finland (February 2008) || Japan (April 2007) || Greece (March 2008) || Germany (February 2008)


The Green Belt Movement

The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience

(New York: Lantern Books, 2003, revised 2006)
In The Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai tells why she began her movement, how it operates, and where it is going. She includes the philosophy behind it, its challenges and objectives, and the specific steps involved in starting a similar grassroots environmental and social justice organization.

The Green Belt Movement in university courses.

Buy The Green Belt Movement
Click on the links to buy The Green Belt Movement in the following countries:
North America || Lantern Books || UK || France || Japan || Korea || German


Other Publications

Learn about other titles featuring Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement.