The birth of South Sudan was celebrated world-wide, a triumph acclaimed not only by its long-oppressed people, but by three presidents and millions of Americans. But just two years later, South Sudan's freedom-fighters plunged their new nation back into chaos, shattering the promise of liberation and exposing the hubris of their American backers.This is the epic story of paradise won, then lost. Vertin's firsthand accounts--from war zones to the halls of Washington power--bring readers inside the untold story of how an exalted American victory ended in conscience-shocking violence. This gripping tale follows an unlikely cast of liberators from the bush to the palace and back, and a zealous alliance of Democrats and Republicans, evangelicals and celebrities, who watched in horror as their chosen heroes turned their guns on each other. Filled with with hope, loss, greed, and compassion, this is also a story about the best and worst of America--big-hearted ideals combined with the difficult reckoning with the limits of our influence in a changing world order. From moonlit battlefields to hotel ballrooms, blood-soaked villages to the emerald marshes of the Nile, A Rope from the Sky is brilliant and breathtaking, and will challenge our perspectives on global politics.