Pierre Spoerri, from Switzerland, and his wife, Fulvia, were amongst those responsible for international conferences held each year at the Initiatives of Change centre in the Alpine village of Caux. Spoerri travelled widely in Asia, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, South Africa, and post-war Germany, reporting for European newspapers and working with MRA/Initiatives of Change.

Born in 1926, he studied at the universities of Geneva and Zurich. He was 19 years old at the end of World War II. ‘Geneva, May 1945. I was dancing in the streets of Geneva, with crowds of others, full of joy and relief,’ he writes. ‘The war in Europe was over, and Switzerland had managed to keep out of it and to save its independence and freedom. I was half way through my first year of medical studies in Geneva. I enjoyed my studies, played the organ in the cathedral in my free time and took an active part in the life of the university. In spite of this, in 1945, I was not satisfied with life – on two levels. The first had to do with my religious life, the second with a barely conscious longing to do something “for the world”.’

In this engaging autobiography, Pierre Spoerri tells what he and others went on to do for the world, and reflects on the lessons learnt.

Caux Books, 140 pages, ISBN 978-2-88037-525-6, £10 plus p&p.