A book called "Three Cups of Tea" has been on the best seller lists in the United States for more than a year. It has sold more than one million copies. The book tells the true story of how one person can make a difference in the lives of many people.

The subtitle of "Three Cups of Tea" is "One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time." That man is Greg Mortenson. He wrote the book with reporter David Oliver Relin.

Greg Mortenson was born in the state of Minnesota and grew up near Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. His parents were religious workers who started a teaching hospital and international school there.

Mortenson became a nurse who worked in hospital emergency rooms. He loved to climb mountains. In nineteen ninety-three, he attempted to climb K2 in Pakistan, the second highest mountain in the world. He failed to reach the top. And he became separated from his climbing group on the way down. He was extremely tired, sick and lost. He had no food, water or shelter.

Mortenson finally reached a poor village called Korphe in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan. The villagers had never seen a foreigner before. They provided food and a place to sleep and nursed him back to health. Mortenson became friends with the villagers and asked to see their school. But they had no school.

Greg Mortenson promised to return and build a school for the children of the village. This was not easy. He had to return to the United States, ask people for money, purchase materials in Pakistan, transport them to the village and supervise the building.

But he finally carried out his promise after more than three years. That first school in Korphe was so successful that he decided to continue building schools in Pakistan and later Afghanistan. It turned out to be a remarkable humanitarian campaign.

"Three Cups of Tea" tells about the many interesting people Mortenson met and the problems he faced. He survived a kidnapping by the Taliban and a firefight between opposing Afghan groups. He also faced opposition by Islamic religious leaders, death threats and long separations from his wife and children.

To date, Mortenson and his foundation, the Central Asia Institute, have built more than sixty schools. The schools are teaching more than twenty-five thousand children, more than half of them girls. The schools were built in rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan where some people have turned to extremism and terrorism.

Mortenson believes that education is the best weapon against terrorism and the influence of Islamic militants. "Three Cups of Tea" tells the story of how his efforts have given thousands of children a chance for a better life. Many people have called Greg Mortenson a true American hero.

The title of his book comes from something Haji Ali, the village chief of Korphe, tells Mortenson: "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea you become family ... You must make time to share three cups of tea."