Today we talk about The Triumph of Evil, a book by Charles Petrie published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Charles Petrie to get to know him better, where he found the inspiration to write his book The Triumph of Evil, as well as the book he is particularly attached to and that has taught him something.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where did you find the inspiration to write your story?
I grew up hearing stories about the Second World War. When I would visit my grandmother in the south of France, I would hear about who had fought a “good war” and who hadn’t. These stories made me yearn to be part of something bigger than myself. The United Nations seemed an obvious calling. To be part of an institution born out of horrific violence, created to confront the scourge of war, and committed to serving people. My initial deployment to Sudan and Somalia had me witness horrific scenes, but it did not prepare me for my next assignment. The evil of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda was beyond my darkest thoughts. What made things even more complicated was my subsequent inability to get the organisation entrusted with the responsibility to guarantee the integrity of the Genocide Convention to investigate one of its own accused of having participated in the event. I wrote The Triumph of Evil as much to honour the memories of those UN officials killed as to tell my former UN colleagues that every single one of them, regardless of their rank, has individual responsibility to get the institution they serve to act according to its mandate, the UN Charter. They must resist the comfort of surrendering their responsibility to the intangible logic of a large organisation and the politics that often drive those leading the institution.
- What would like to hear from your readers?
The message I would like to convey to the reader is the importance of never giving up in doing what one considers to be the right thing. Even if one believes that one is failing, and the battle is hopeless. As the late Father Vjeko, a Bosnian priest I met in Rwanda, once told me, “If you believe in something, in something that you hold to be profoundly true, and yet feel you are failing in your purpose, don’t give up! You never know – you could be the person who holds the torch in the middle of the darkness that will guide someone else to achieve what you wanted to accomplish.” Ultimately, this is the purpose of the book and I like to hear from readers whether the story told resonates and inspires.
- Is there a book you are particularly attached to and that has taught you something? What is it?
There are two books that have marked me more than any of the other many books I have read. One is The Night (La Nuit) of Elie Wiesel, the poignant story of absolute horror narrated by a young boy. Viewing the bowels of hell through the innocent eyes of a child. I can’t quite explain why the book was so important to me, but it touched something fundamental in me. The other book is The Fall (La Chute) of Albert Camus, the existential guilt coming from not having acted to save a life. Wanting to turn the clock of time back so as not to make the same mistake. This book touched me profoundly. I recognised so much in the struggle of the protagonist. There are times in life that I too want to go back to, specific events that I could relive to ensure that they don’t unfold the way they did or do.
- How was your publishing experience?
The experience was very good. What I particularly appreciated was the total freedom to write the story I wanted to tell without having to factor in someone else’s view of what the public would like to hear.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
I have one project in mind, to honour the ordinary individuals whom I have met over the years who have demonstrated incredible courage and nobility. Examples of individual stories would include:
- One relating to a student activist in Myanmar who went from peaceful protester to urban guerrilla fighter.
- Another story would involve Sean Devereaux, a remarkable young UNICEF colleague who was killed on duty in Kismayo, Somalia, in January 1993.
- A third story would highlight a Lord of the Flies type situation involving Burmese students, who in 1988 took to the jungles to fight the military and were made to turn onto each other, and how some refused.
- Another concerning a medical doctor in eastern Congo, Dr Jackson, who refused even though threatened himself to separate the patients he was taking care of, knowing that if he did those of the other ethnic groups would be murdered in their beds.
- The heroic actions of Peter McKay who was part of the 11th and last UN convoy into the Wanni Pocket in the last phase of the Sri Lankan war.
- And finally, I would also like to honour Father Vjeko.
Europe Books thanks the author Charles Petrie once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book The Triumph of Evil. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book interest you; may the stories told here resonate with your own experiences; may this book let you remember to never give up on doing what you think is right!
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!