Description

This bold new take on the life and ideas of political philosopher Hannah Arendt explores her lessons for living in an age of uncertainty.

‘Compelling and original’ OBSERVER

‘Invigorating and insightful’ FINANCIAL TIMES

Born in the first decade of the last century, Hannah Arendt escaped fascist Europe to make a new life for herself in America, where she became one of the world’s most influential – and controversial – public intellectuals.

She wrote about power and terror, exile and love, and above all about freedom. Questioning was her first defence against tyranny. In place of the forces of darkness and insanity, she pitched a politics of plurality, spontaneity, and defiance. Loving the world, Arendt taught, meant finding the courage to protect it.

Written with passion and authority, Lyndsey Stonebridge’s We Are Free to Change the World illuminates Arendt’s life and work and its urgent dialogue with our troubled present. It calls on each of us to think our way, as Hannah Arendt did – unflinchingly, lovingly, and defiantly – through our own unpredictable times.

Publisher Review

An exhilarating, brilliant and utterly original read; an iconic 20th century figure brought to life in all her facets, splendours and complexities -- Philippe Sands, author of East West Street In this extraordinary book, Lyndsey Stonebridge details the life and thought of Hannah Arendt in ways that speak to our troublesome times. We get a sense of the expansiveness of Arendt's thought - her vulnerabilities and her complexity - with stories and intimate details that reveal Stonebridge's love of her. Beautifully written, We Are Free to Change the World is biography at its best -- Eddie Glaude, author of Begin Again Expertly analysed and beautifully written, Stonebridge on Arendt is a rare gem, combining complex history and stark contemporary resonance with sparks of hope that we really are free to change the world -- Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, author of On Liberty Both a warmly engaging intellectual biography and a tract for the times, this is a needful reminder of what political thinking looks like when it is humane, literate and radical all at once -- Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury A passionate, original defence of the politics of thinking, and especially of women thinking in public, We Are Free to Change the World is witty, moving and inspiring, at once fiercely angry and a work of deep moral wisdom -- Sarah Churchwell, author of Behold, America We Are Free to Change the World lightens both the darkness of the times we live in and the burdens we carry on our shoulders. Both serious and joyful, readers of this wonderful book will think and laugh -- Jerome Kohn, Trustee, Hannah Arendt Blucher Literary Trust An invigorating and fresh invitation into the world of Hannah Arendt. Stonebridge's accessible and thoughtful writing allows the reader to glide into a complex engagement with ease and joy -- Sarah Schulman, author of Let the Record Show A bold and exhilarating book. It sparkles with ideas and plumbs new depths in the great Hannah Arendt's thinking. Stonebridge brilliantly brings our own troubled times and Arendt's face-to-face with one another to wake us into urgency and into greater appreciation of an iconic woman -- Lisa Appignanesi, author of Mad, Bad and Sad In this this brilliantly imagined and compulsively readable book, Lyndsey Stonebridge reveals how Hannah Arendt's life and thought across the twentieth century matter to our own time - how she dramatised the interplay of love and loneliness, teaching us how not to miss what is under our noses, and that no freedom survives without the presence of others. For its contemporary relevance and exquisite prose, this is a breathtaking triumph -- Samuel Moyn, author of The Last Utopia Lyndsey Stonebridge walks the world in Hannah Arendt's footsteps, reaching back a hand to bring us along. One feels Arendt is still with us, still commenting on events, still cross, ironic, or ebullient, still brilliant, but also always a person... A brilliant and wonderful book -- Bonnie Honig, author of Public Things