Three Cups of Tea

One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations

By: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson's incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built 55 schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world, one school at a time.

©2006 Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (P)2006 Tantor Media Inc

Critic reviews

"Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time....Not only a thrilling read, it's proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." (Tom Brokaw)

I don't really get it...

There are some parts of this book that I liked, and Mortenson has done great work (who can short him for educating girls) but I have a problem with any nonfiction book that put a disclaimer (and I am paraphrasing) of 'you can't judge him by normal standards, because he is not a normal man' in its thesis. As someone already stated this is one long advertisement for his cause.

A Bit Slow Going

Boy, it was slow going to get through this book. The fact that there is this incredible person out there making so much good happen with so little is admirable and the reason I persevered. It was interesting to a point, but just not my cup of tea, even though the narrator was fine. I've read books similar, such as Half the Sky, Infidel, A Long Way Home, Say You are One of Them, What is What - although not about Pakistan, school building or Afghanistan, they were much more interesting in terms of reading, in my view -- however, many others disagree with me on this :)

Wonderful book

This book was a little slow at times, but I still highly recommend this book. It helped me understand the people of Pakistan and the Islamic people better.

I learned so much.

An amazing story. Well written. Couldn't put it down. Learned so much about history, geography & cultures. Fantastic read.

A hard listen

Didn't meet up to the hype. Goes into detail on every boring little thing.

Quite listening when I wasn't into the book after 5 hours of listening.

This story is fiction - it's really a pack of lies

What would have made Three Cups of Tea better?

Please stop selling this as non-fiction. It is an outrage what lies this man has told.

Do the research!

This author most likely is a fraud, but do the research yourself. The story would have been great, but there are some big holes in the story. So sad!

Disappointing to Learn of its Falsehoods

A 60 Minutes investigation challenges Mortenson's integrity.

I *want* Mortenson's stories to be true, and I enjoyed listening to this book. But after learning that he has most likely fabricated many of his stories, I now have no confidence in which parts of his stories are true, and which are false.

Waste of Time

This is no more than a book of the author patting himself on the back. Long, boring and a waste of time.

Enlightenment not Entertainment

I would not have read this except that it was chosen by my book club. Although anyone must be impressed by the accomplishments of Mr. Mortensen, (he certainly is) I didn't need the depth of detail. I agree with many other reviewers who did not enjoy the voice of the reader, I found it whiney and annoying. I could have learned all I needed to know about this man and his mission in about half the words.