In the tense aftermath of the 1992–95 Bosnian War, U.S. diplomat Bill Farrand was assigned the daunting task of implementing the Dayton Peace Accords in the ethnically divided Balkan city of Brčko in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serb, Muslim, and Croat political leaders alike had blocked agreement over Brčko’s political status and threatened to derail U.S.-brokered peace talks at Dayton, Ohio, in late 1995. Over three tumultuous years, 1997–2000, Ambassador Farrand wielded wide authority in efforts to restore travel across former cease-fire lines, return thousands to their destroyed and confiscated homes, conduct free and fair elections, and reestablish multiethnic government bodies—all in a climate of obstruction and fear. In this book, Farrand highlights the complex challenges peace builders confront, especially the role of civilian leadership in a post-conflict zone rent by ethnic cleansing. Analytic and prescriptive, the book explains in vivid detail the groundbreaking roles of arbitration and of civilian peace workers living among the people. His story is rich in lessons for all those engaged in or studying peace building abroad.