An Aid Memoir

When twenty-two-year-old Ian Smillie landed in Sierra Leone in August 1967 to teach at Koidu Secondary School, the volunteer with Canadian University Service Overseas could not have known he was beginning an extraordinary life of adventure and purpose.

Within a year, he was in charge of CUSO’s largest program in newly independent Nigeria, a vast nation of 39 million, deeply divided along religious, linguistic, and cultural lines. He was responsible for more than forty-five young volunteers, overseeing “their placement, their health, and their safety.” Later he became CUSO’s executive director and worked as a consultant to numerous governments and aid agencies.

In addition to providing a history and analysis of postwar foreign aid, Under Development is a witty and insightful memoir and among the best overviews of an optimistic era in global affairs, when this country still played an important role. Smillie eventually co-founded Inter Pares, one of...