Description
At a time when political, environmental and social gloom can seem overpowering, this remarkable book offers a lucid, affirmative and well-argued case for hope.
This exquisite work traces a history of activism and social change over the past five decades – from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the worldwide marches against the war in Iraq. Hope in the Dark is a paean to optimism in the uncertainty of the twenty-first century. Tracing the footsteps of the last century’s thinkers – including Woolf, Gandhi, Borges, Benjamin and Havel – Solnit conjures a timeless vision of cause and effect that will light our way through the dark, and lead us to profound and effective political engagement.
Review
“An intensely personal account, a meditation on activism and hope” (Guardian)
“Like Simon Schama, Solnit is a cultural historian in the desert-mystic mode, trailing ideas like swarms of butterflies”
—(Harper’s)
“Fascinating, Inspiring and beautifully written”
—(George Monbiot)
“Hope in the Dark is great. The powerful in this world seem to want to frighten us into following their orders unquestioningly and this book offers us the key to liberation – and that key is hope”
—(Tony Benn)
“This is a book to be cherished, something to keep close at hand for those dark moments when you wonder whether the world really is a better place than it was 50 years ago”
—(Independent on Sunday)
“Her passionate defence of direct action is a refreshingly corrective, while, crucially, her celebration of people power is proactive rather than complacent”
—(Metro)
“A jewel of a book. Solnit reveals where we were, where we are, and the step-by-step advances that have been made in human rights, as we stubbornly stumble out of the darkness”
—(STUDS TERKEL)
“A book to be cherished”
—(Independent on Sunday)
“In this extraordinary book, Rebecca Solnit’s prose grows poetic wings that enable her to soar to a visionary height. The good news that she brings back is that our struggles-with persistence and courage-are indeed the seeds of kindness”
—(MIKE DAVIS)
“A slim, potent book penned in the wake of the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq; a book that has grown only more relevant and poignant in the decade since”
—(MARIA POPOVA)
