In December 2007, following a bitterly disputed presidential election, violence rippled out across Kenya, exposing entrenched ethnic divisions fuelled by social and economic exclusion, corruption, and winner-takes-all politics. This book describes the remarkable intervention of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities. Convened by the African Union while violence was still spreading, Kofi Annan, Graça Machel and Benjamin Mkapa were asked to mediate between the parties, create the conditions for peace, and negotiate a political settlement that would tackle the root causes of conflict, mend Kenya’s failing institutions and reduce its profound inequalities. With the advantage of an insiders’ account, Back from the Brink describes how the Panel deployed their diplomatic and peace-making skills to stop the bloodshed, and how, from 2008 to 2013, Annan, Machel and Mkapa remained deeply engaged in Kenya’s efforts to build a durable peace.