Here’s a list of books that you may find helpful.  If you wish to see more information about a particular book, or if you wish to purchase a copy, click on the title or the book cover art.   If you know any I should add, please let me know.

Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the U.S. Foreign Service

Career Diplomacy

“Career Diplomacy is a fascinating and readable book about one of America’s lesser known assets–the diplomatic service. As Ambassador, I recognized how critical these foreign service people are to America’s place in the world. This tells that story.”–James R. Jones, former U.S Ambassador to Mexico and chairman of the World Affairs Councils of America”

“[Career Diplomacy] is the best description of life in the foreign service–its challenges, dangers, satisfactions, and fun–I have ever seen. It paints a superb picture of life abroad and at home, including both its good and bad aspects, and does a brilliant job of pointing out how our diplomacy must change if it is to meet the tremendous changes and challenges of the twenty-first century.”  –Lawrence S. Eagleburger, former Secretary of State.

Realities of Foreign Service Life

Realities of Foreign Service Life

Mention a diplomatic career and most people imagine high-level meetings, formal dress and cocktail parties. Few stop to think that behind the occasional glitter of official functions are thousands of families facing all the routines and crises of life — births, deaths, childrearing, divorce — far from home, relatives, and friends, in an unfamiliar and sometimes unfriendly country and culture. This book provides reflections and perspectives on the realities of Foreign Service life as experienced by members of the Foreign Service community around the world. The writers share their unvarnished views on a wide variety of topics they care about: maintaining long-distance relationships, raising teens abroad, dealing with depression, coping with evacuations, readjusting to life in the United States, and many others. These are stories from the diplomatic trenches — true experiences from those who have lived the lifestyle and want to share their hard-learned lessons with others.

•If you are new to the Foreign Service, this book will offer insights and practical information useful in your overseas tours and when you return home. Even if you are a seasoned veteran of the Foreign Service, the reports and reflections of others may encourage you to compare and evaluate your own experiences.

•If you (or your partner) are contemplating joining the Foreign Service, this book can serve as a reality check, giving you honest, personal perspectives on both the positive and negative aspects of Foreign Service life.

•If you are a student wondering what the Foreign Service is all about, this book will broaden your knowledge and provide you with an insider’s view not found in any textbook.

Realities of Foreign Service Life, Volume 2

Realities of Foreign Service Life, Volume 2

Realities of Foreign Service Life, Volume 2

In this second volume of AAFSW’s Realities of Foreign Life, 29 members of the U.S. diplomatic community – including employees, spouses and one articulate teen – share their knowledge, research and personal perspectives, broadening and extending the first book’s candid insights into the Foreign Service lifestyle. Focusing on the “realities” faced by diplomats and their families outside the embassy or consulate walls, the authors explore topics such as schooling and housing abroad, intercultural marriage, medical evacuations, employment for accompanying partners, and the growing number of unaccompanied assignments. – If you are already a member of the Foreign Service community (and especially if you have recently joined), this book will provide useful and practical information for the fascinating but often challenging journey ahead. – If you (or your partner) are thinking about entering the Foreign Service, this book joins the first volume in serving as a “reality check,” offering a clear view of both the positive and negative aspects of Foreign Service life, for partners and children as well as employees. – If you are a student contemplating a career in diplomacy, a friend or relative of a Foreign Service member – or if you are simply curious about the lives of U.S. diplomats and their families overseas – this book will give you an insider’s perspective found nowhere else.

Inside a U.S. Embassy:
How the Foreign Service Works for America

Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America

Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America

Who works in an embassy? What do diplomats actually do? Inside a U.S. Embassy is the only book that truly answers these questions. Inside a U.S. Embassy is a unique resource, taking readers inside embassies and consulates in over 50 countries, providing detailed descriptions of Foreign Service jobs and first-hand accounts of diplomacy in action.Gain a sense of the key role played by each member of an embassy team from Paris to Kabul, from Bogota to Beijing, and places in between. Travel into the rainforests of Thailand with an environmental affairs officer, face rampaging militias with a political officer in East Timor, and join an ambassador on a midnight trip into a Macedonian refugee camp to quell a riot.

The book includes profiles of diplomats and specialists around the world serving in Foreign Service positions — from the ambassador to the security officer to the IT professional. Also included is a selection of day-in-the-life entries from 17 different countries, each describing an actual day on the job in an embassy. The story section includes 26 tales from the field that give a sense of the extraordinary: the coups, the evacuations, the civil wars, the hardships and rewards of representing America to the world.

Inside a U.S. Embassy was published by the American Foreign Service Association and edited by a former Foreign Service Political Officer. Updated and revised for 2005.

Foreign Service Officer Examination
Study Material