Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power

At a time when political, environmental and social gloom can seem overpowering, this remarkable work offers a lucid, affirmative and well-argued case for hope. Tracing a history of activism and social change over the past five decades – including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Zapatista uprising in Mexico to Seattle in 1999, and the worldwide marches against the war in Iraq – Solnit proposes a vision of cause-and-effect relations that provides new grounds for political engagement. Solnit’s book is accessible and essential reading. Drawing from thinkers of the last century – including Woolf, Ghandi, Borges, Benjamin and Havel. She creates a manifesto for optimism for the twenty-first century and gives us all true reasons to never surrender.

Reviews of Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power

* 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 short, elegant, passionate polemic on the history and future of progressive political engagement. — Robert Macfarlane Guardian