Corinne Chaponniere is a biographer with a mission. It was her hope, she writes, that Dunant's example 'will serve as a reminder that single, ordinary individuals can indeed take humanity one step forward' (3). However, in the same sentence she says this does not necessarily mean that such individuals are geniuses or saints. Clearly she did not intend to write a hagiography. She praises the Red Cross movement and hails Dunant's genius in spotting its possibilities at the right moment, making special reference to his insight in insisting that aid personnel and the wounded should be treated as neutral. But at the same time she has a keen eye for his less admirable traits, which were manifold.
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