Former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos provides a fascinating portrait of Chile's rise on the world stage and its role in today's global community.

As a leader in the underground resistance movement against Augusto Pinochet and his Dirty War, Ricardo Lagos burst onto the national stage in 1988 when he gave a speech denouncing the dictator, the first of its kind. Revolution soon followed, as Chileans took to the streets to oust a criminal despot and pave the way for democracy. In The Southern Tiger, President Lagos chronicles Chile's journey from terror and repression to a thriving open society, and from crushing poverty to one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America. President Lagos’ thrilling stories of surviving Chile's political prisons, standing up to President George W. Bush over the war in Iraq, and rebuilding Chile's education system demonstrate why President Obama recently called Chile “a model for the region and the world.