Democracy (Paperback)

Eleven writers and leaders on what it is – and why it matters

Margaret Atwood, Mary Beard, Erica Benner

In collaboration with the Financial Times: powerful, urgent reflections on the value of democracy from eleven women writers and thought-leaders

A WATERSTONES BEST POLITICS BOOK OF 2024

This is an exceptional moment for democracy.

In the year of elections, read Margaret Atwood, Mary Beard, Lea Ypi, Elif Shafak and more on what democracy means - and why it matters.

In 2024, nearly half the world will take part in a national election, with billions heading to the polls. It's a thrilling, unprecedented opportunity for change - yet democracy is also under threat.

Women are at the forefront of the fight for democratic rights, as well as being the most vulnerable when those rights disappear. Here, eleven extraordinary women - leaders, philosophers, historians, writers and activists - explore democracy's power to uplift our societies. Between its ancient origins and its modern challenges, they share a vision for a better future - one we can build together.

Publication date: June 6, 2024

£7.99

ISBN: 9781805223719

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, Current Affairs, Philosophy & Ideas, Politics & Economics

Democracy (Ebook)

Eleven writers and leaders on what it is – and why it matters

Margaret Atwood, Mary Beard, Erica Benner

In collaboration with the Financial Times: powerful, urgent reflections on the value of democracy from eleven women writers and thought-leaders

A WATERSTONES BEST POLITICS BOOK OF 2024

This is an exceptional moment for democracy.

In the year of elections, read Margaret Atwood, Mary Beard, Lea Ypi, Elif Shafak and more on what democracy means - and why it matters.

In 2024, nearly half the world will take part in a national election, with billions heading to the polls. It's a thrilling, unprecedented opportunity for change - yet democracy is also under threat.

Women are at the forefront of the fight for democratic rights, as well as being the most vulnerable when those rights disappear. Here, eleven extraordinary women - leaders, philosophers, historians, writers and activists - explore democracy's power to uplift our societies. Between its ancient origins and its modern challenges, they share a vision for a better future - one we can build together.

Publication date: June 6, 2024

£5.99

ISBN: 9781805223726

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B0CZ1ZMGL1

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Arts, Language & Literature, Current Affairs, Philosophy & Ideas, Politics & Economics

Reviews for Democracy

'A passionate and persuasive case for the ideals of democracy'

Waterstones 'Best Politics Books of the Year' 2024 

'2024 is a year of elections. But will it be remembered as a year of democracy? That is in the balance. Democracy cannot be limited to a campaign, a vote, a victory speech. It is a process - or, to be more precise, a series of processes - that go to the heart of what a society really is. It depends on our shared understandings and on our commitment to making it work'

Juliet Riddell Financial Times

'Democracy features reflections from 11 women, including Margaret Atwood, Erica Benner and Lea Ypi, on the threats facing democracy in 2024, the "year of elections"'

'Best summer books of 2024' Financial Times

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than 45 countries, is the author of more than 50 works of fiction, poetry, critical essays and graphic novels, including The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye and The MaddAddam Trilogy. Her latest novel, The Testaments, is a co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. She is the recipient of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize and the PEN Centre USA Lifetime Achievement Award, among others. Her latest collection is Old Babes in the Wood.

Mary Beard

Mary Beard

Mary Beard is the most acclaimed classicist working today. She is the Professor Emerita of Classics at Cambridge and is the Classics editor of the TLS. She is also the co-host, with Charlotte Higgins, of the podcast Instant Classics. Her previous books include the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii as well as Confronting the Classics, SPQR, Women & Power and Emperor of Rome. Her work has been published in over 35 languages.

Erica Benner

Erica Benner

Erica Benner is a political philosopher and historian of ideas. She has taught at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and is the author of, among others, Really Existing Nationalisms, Be Like the Fox, and Adventures in Democracy. She currently teaches at the Hertie School for Governance in Berlin, LSE Ideas in London and for academic programmes in Sweden and China.

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