Abraham George Books: A Reader's Guide

Abraham George books fall into two groups: three works on international corporate finance published between 1978 and 1996, and later books drawn from his social work, including India Untouched (2004) and the memoir Mountains to Cross (2026). Abraham George is the founder and CEO of Shanti Bhavan, which educates children from India's lowest socioeconomic class, and all author proceeds from the memoir support it.

Before he wrote about poverty, Abraham M. George served as an artillery officer in the Indian Army, rising to Captain, and then built a career in New York as a banker and founder of a financial software company. In 1995 he returned to India and set up The George Foundation in Bangalore. His books appeared in the same order: finance first, then India.

What books has Abraham George written?

His own website says he has authored three books on international finance and three on social service. In order of publication, the main Abraham George books are:

• Foreign Exchange Management and the Multinational Corporation: A Manager's Guide (Praeger, 1978)
• International Finance Handbook, two volumes, edited with Ian H. Giddy (John Wiley & Sons, 1983)
• Protecting Shareholder Value: A Guide to Managing Financial Market Risk (Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996)
• India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty (East West Books, Chennai, 2004; US edition from Writers' Collective, 2005)
• Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2026)

The finance books

Foreign Exchange Management and the Multinational Corporation (1978)

George earned an MBA (1973) and a PhD (1975) from New York University, then joined the international division of Chemical Bank. His dissertation dealt with managed foreign exchange rates.

Praeger published his first book in New York in 1978, a 277-page volume with George as sole author. The subtitle, A Manager's Guide, names its audience: managers handling foreign exchange inside multinational companies.

International Finance Handbook (1983)

In 1983 John Wiley & Sons published the two-volume International Finance Handbook, which George edited with the finance scholar Ian H. Giddy. By then George was running Multinational Computer Models, Inc. (MCM), his currency-risk software company. The handbook is an edited reference work, useful to readers who want a broad survey of international finance as practitioners understood it in the early 1980s.

Protecting Shareholder Value (1996)

The third finance title, Protecting Shareholder Value: A Guide to Managing Financial Market Risk, was published by Irwin Professional Publishing in Chicago in 1996 and runs to 470 pages.

The book is aimed at finance managers and students who want to understand how companies protect themselves against currency and market movements. It was the last of his finance books.

India Untouched: Abraham George on rural poverty

India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty was published in India by East West Books in Chennai in 2004, nine years after George moved back to the country. The Indian edition runs to about 400 pages. A US edition of 347 pages from Writers' Collective of Cranston, Rhode Island, followed in 2005.

As the subtitle signals, the book is about poverty in rural India, written from his first years of foundation work there. He returned to the title's key word in 2006, describing India to NYU's business magazine. "The prosperity so far is only for a few," he said, adding that for approximately 700 million people, "their lives are untouched."

Dilip D'Souza reviewed the book in The Hindu. He singled out a passage in which George describes refusing to pay a bribe to a customs officer to release a shipment of American wheat meant for the children of Shanti Bhavan, a decision he made on principle. India Untouched is for readers who want a firsthand account of development work in rural India.

Mountains to Cross: the Abraham George memoir

Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service is the newest of the Abraham George books. Greenleaf Book Group Press in Austin published it on January 13, 2026, as a 336-page hardcover and as an ebook.

George has kept the description short: "It is fairly simple; it is my own story from childhood to date." Writing about himself did not come easily, he said in the same interview: "I felt it was easier writing about someone else."

According to reviews of the book, he writes of being born into a Syrian Christian family in Trivandrum, of a father who served as a Kerala High Court judge, and of joining the army's Artillery Corps as a second lieutenant. From there the story moves to his posting at the Se La pass on the India-China border, his move to the United States in December 1968, his banking career in New York and his return to India in 1995.

"I aim to reach those searching for a purpose in life beyond simply making money," George told interviewer Lisa Haselton in January 2026. The publisher's description puts the argument in one line: "The rewards of turning a life of success into one of compassion in action are worth the risk."

In March 2026 George appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show with a Shanti Bhavan graduate, and in June the book received a Silver award in the Nonfiction Authors Association Book Awards.

Is there an Abraham George book on lead poisoning?

Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment: Implementing a National Program in Developing Countries comes out of his public health work. It grew out of an international conference The George Foundation organized in Bangalore on February 8 to 10, 1999. The conference was part of the foundation's Project Lead-Free, which began in 1997 and contributed to public-health advocacy around India's April 2000 phase-out of leaded petrol.

Where to start with Abraham George books

Start with Mountains to Cross, his own account of his life so far. India Untouched comes next for his view of rural India after nearly a decade of work there. The finance titles are the most specialized of the Abraham George books, written for people in corporate treasury and for students of currency risk management.

Frequently asked questions

How many books has Abraham George written?

Abraham George's own website says he has authored six books: three on international finance and three on social service. The finance titles were published in 1978, 1983 and 1996. His books on social work include India Untouched (2004) and the memoir Mountains to Cross (2026).

When was Mountains to Cross published?

Greenleaf Book Group Press published Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service on January 13, 2026. It is Abraham George's memoir, released as a 336-page hardcover and as an ebook.

What is Mountains to Cross about?

Mountains to Cross is Abraham George's memoir of his life from childhood in Kerala through army service, a finance career in New York, his return to India and the founding of Shanti Bhavan. He has said he wrote it for readers looking for a purpose in life beyond making money.

Where do the proceeds from Mountains to Cross go?

All author proceeds from Mountains to Cross support Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. Abraham George founded Shanti Bhavan in 1997 and is its CEO. The school supports children from about age four through college.

Did Abraham George appear on The Kelly Clarkson Show?

Yes. Abraham George was a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show in March 2026, joined by a Shanti Bhavan graduate for a segment on the school. The appearance came two months after Mountains to Cross was published.