"It is hard to imagine this magnificent biography ever being superseded . . . It is a stylish, splendidly erudite work." —Terry Eagleton, The Guardian"More than any other public figure of the eighteenth century, Tom Paine strikes our times like a trumpet blast from a distant world." So begins John Keane's magnificent and award-winning (the Fraunces Tavern Book Award) biography of one of democracy's greatest champions.Among friends and enemies alike...

A Moggy for MichaelOriginally published in Reader's Digest and delivered to 40 million readers worldwide in 13 languages across 40 countries. Also featured in Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul.When ten-year-old Mike Cunningham's cat disappears, he does something most kids wouldn't dare—he calls a pet detective, even though his father says it's a waste of time.Sam wasn't just a cat. He was a gift from Mike's mother before she died six mo...

When love took flight, a miracle followed.Flight of a Dog's Soul is a true story blending memoir and spiritual inspiration. It was born from the grief of losing a beloved companion—and the extraordinary miracle that followed. When Clouseau, the author's cherished dog, passed away, sorrow filled the home—until, within hours, a mourning dove appeared in a way that felt like more than coincidence. Landing on a shoulder, walking gently up an arm, and pressing its cheek...

The full chronological sweep of democracy, from the assemblies of ancient Mesopotamia and Athens to present perils around the globe. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.This compact history unspools the tumultuous global story that began with democracy's radical core idea: We can collaborate, as equals, to determine our own futures. Acclaimed political thinker John Keane traces how this concept emerged a...

'DEMOCRACY HAS A LONG, EVENTFUL PAST. DOES IT HAVE A FUTURE?The roots of democracy stretch back beyond Athens to Syria- Mesopotamia and the Indian subcontinent, where citizens' assemblies held privilege and power to account over 3,000 years before the French Revolution. In this timely and illuminating new global history, John Keane ('one of the world's leading political thinkers' ,The Times) gets to the heart of a complex, ever-evolving ideal.Today, American-style democracy may appear to b...

India is heralded as the world's largest democracy. Yet, there is now growing alarm about its democratic health. To Kill a Democracy gets to the heart of the matter. Combining poignant life stories with sharp scholarly insight, it rejects the belief that India was once a beacon of democracy but is now being ruined by the destructive forces of Modi-style populism. The book details the much deeper historical roots of the present-day assaults on civil liberties and democratic institutions. De...

We live in troubled times, marked by a sinister trend gaining the upper hand everywhere: a new despotism for the twenty-first century. John Keane's latest book rings out boldly with a powerful warning: the keyword for understanding the new threats to democracy is despotism. This peril arises not only from regimes as different as Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but also from popularly elected demagogues opposed to power-sharing, from Orbán's Hungary and Sheinbaum's Mexico to Netanyah...

In China's Galaxy Empire, John Keane and Baogang He target a development of enormous significance: China's return, after two centuries of decline and subjugation, to a position of prominence in world affairs. The daring thesis is that China is a newly rising empire of a kind never before witnessed: a galaxy empire. The first to be born of the digital communications era, this young empire is economically and politically powerful, and heavily armed. Its gravitational, push-pull effe...

Books of great political insight and novelty always outlive their time of birth and this reissued work, initially published in 1985, is no exception. Written shortly after the formation of Charter 77, the essays in this collection are among the most original and compelling pieces of political writing to have emerged from central and Eastern Europe during the whole of the post-war period. Václav Havel’s essay provides the title for the book. It was read by all the contributors who in turn r...

We live in a revolutionary age of communicative abundance in which many media innovations - from satellite broadcasting to smart glasses and electronic books - spawn great fascination mixed with excitement. In the field of politics, hopeful talk of digital democracy, cybercitizens and e-government has been flourishing. This book admits the many thrilling ways that communicative abundance is fundamentally altering the contours of our lives and of our politics, often for the better. But it a...

This authorized biography of Havel, based on unrestricted access to him, his circle, and even his enemies, is not only the first definitive account of one of the modern world's great moral and political leaders but also a vivid panorama of the tumultuous events of his times. Havel's life, like that of his African counterpart Nelson Mandela, has been shaped and determined by the large political shifts of the twentieth century. Readers will taste the moments of joy, irony, farce, and misfort...

A disturbing in-depth exposé of the antidemocratic practices of despotic governments now sweeping the world.One day they’ll be like us. That was once the West’s complacent and self-regarding assumption about countries emerging from poverty, imperial rule, or communism. But many have hardened into something very different from liberal democracy: what the eminent political thinker John Keane describes as a new form of despotism. And one day, he warns, we may be more ...