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£8.99
Published
4 April 2023
Paperback
978-1-91308-338-0
Ebook
978-1-91308-322-9
Press Release
Coming soon.
 

‘One of the world’s leading political thinkers’ THE TIMES

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 three millennia before the French Revolution. In his eye-opening new global history, John Keane gets to the heart of a complex, ever-evolving ideal — and suggests how we might keep it safe for future generations.

Old Street Publishing The Shortest History of Democracy

‘One of the world’s leading political thinkers’ THE TIMES

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 three millennia before the French Revolution. In his eye-opening new global history, John Keane gets to the heart of a complex, ever-evolving ideal — and suggests how we might keep it safe for future generations.

 8.99
 
 

'A whirlwind history of democracy in three acts'
—The Age

 
 
  • '[Keane is] the pre-eminent scholar of the history of democratic ideas… A gem of a book.’
    —Professor Paul ’t Hart, Utrecht University
  • ‘Remarkable… It covers a vast historical landscape while also delivering intellectual depth.’
    —Professor Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield
  • 'Thought-provoking'
    —The Saturday Paper
 
 
John Keane

John Keane founded the London Centre for Democracy, and is currently Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and the Wissenschaftszentrum, Berlin. He is the author of many acclaimed books, most recently To Kill A Democracy: India’s Passage To Despotism (2021).