Short Synopsis
One of our most important public intellectuals reveals the hidden history of our current global crisis.

Full Synopsis
How can we explain the origins of the great wave of paranoid hatreds that seem inescapable in our close-knit world—from American shooters and ISIS to Donald Trump, from a rise in vengeful nationalism to racism and misogyny on social media? In Age of Anger, Pankaj Mishra answers our bewilderment by casting his gaze back to the eighteenth century before leading us to the present.

As the world became modern, those who were unable to enjoy its promises of freedom, stability, and prosperity were increasingly susceptible to demagogues. It was from among the ranks of the disaffected that the militants of the nineteenth century arose—angry young men who became cultural nationalists in Germany, messianic revolutionaries in Russia, bellicose chauvinists in Italy, and anarchist terrorists internationally.

Today, just as then, the embrace of mass politics and technology and the pursuit of wealth and individualism have cast many more billions adrift, uprooted from tradition but still far from modernity—with the same terrible results.

Making startling connections and comparisons, Age of Anger is a book of immense urgency and profound argument. It is a history of our present predicament unlike any other.

"The book is read by Derek Perkins, and it is flawlessly executed." ---Library Journal Audio Review

"Perkins's voice is reminiscent of WWII documentary narrators of the BBC, full of ominous portents but somehow vaguely reassuring that truth win out in the end. His pacing and diction are exemplary." ---AudioFile

“In this urgent, profound and extraordinarily timely study, Pankaj Mishra follows the likes of Isaiah Berlin, John Gray and Mark Lilla by delving into the past in order to throw light on our contemporary predicament, when the neglected and dispossessed of the world have suddenly risen up in Nietzschean ressentiment to transform the world we thought we knew.” ---John Banville

"Perkins puts his erudite but approachable speaking style to good use in the audio edition of Mishra’s title on the philosophical heritage behind a recent wave of aggressive nationalism around the globe." ---Publishers Weekly Audio Review

"Perkins’ gravelly baritone moves through this disturbing text with all the quiet urgency and clarity that it deserves." ---Booklist Audio Review

"A disturbing but imperatively urgent analysis." ---Booklist Starred Review

"Important, [and] erudite . . . [Mishra] has a highly developed understanding of the psychic and emotional forces propelling illiberalism’s spread across the globe." ---New York Times

Booklist Review