There is no more touching tragedy than the premature death of a truly great man. Dag Hammarskjold, world renowned champion of world peace, was killed within sight of his crowning achievement—peace and unification of the Congo. Flying over Rhodesia, to arrange cease-fire negotiations  between Katanga and the United Nations, his plane exploded in mid-air. A horrified world waited in mystified silence for details regarding his untimely death. Was it sabotage? And who was this man a whole world mourned?

Dag Hammarskjold grew up in an atmosphere of politics and diplomacy. His father, Prime Minister of Sweden during World War I, was one of the great statesman in Swedish history. From him Dag inherited qualities of statesmanship that led to one of the most exciting jobs in world leadership—Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1953.

It was Dag Hammarskjold who picked up the threads of a strife-torn, faction-riddled UN and tied them into a powerful organization for world peace. His dynamic leadership set up the first international peace force in the history of the world. His guidance brought an early end to the Korean War. He effected an Israeli-Arab cease-fire, designed a blueprint for aid to the Arab and African nations, and became posthumous winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.

The author brings to the book a perceptive delineation of a great man, and a skillful study of current world history that makes for better understanding of some of the turbulent affairs of the present.

From the dust jacket