"It is hard to imagine this magnificent biography ever being superseded .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 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 ...

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...

'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...

Durango is an adventure story about the great October cattle drive of Tubberlick. Set in rural Ireland during the Second World War, this novel features the themes of love, sex, money and betrayal. Durango has been produced as a film starring Brenda Fricker, Patrick Bergin and Pat Laffin.

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...

Accessible eBook: Sive is a young and beautiful orphan who lives with her uncle Mike, his wife Mena and his mother Nanna. A local matchmaker, Thomasheen Seán Rua, wants Sive to marry an old man called Sean Dóta. Thomasheen convinces Mike and Mena to organise the marriage. They will receive a sum of two hundred pounds as soon as she marries him. However, Sive is in love with a young man, Liam Scuab. But Liam is not suitable and is refused permission to marry Sive. Sive is distraught but is ...

Democracy and despotism live closer together than you’d expect—this briskly astute book reveals why that should alarm us all.We live in troubled times, marked by a sinister trend threatening democracy everywhere: the triumph of despotism not only in countries like Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, but also in states run by popularly elected demagogues—Orbán and Erdoğan, Netanyahu and Trump.Leading political thinker John Keane shows why this new despotism defies the laws of pol...

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...

Democracy urgently needs re-imagining if it is to address the dangers and opportunities posed by current global realities, argues leading political thinker John Keane. He offers an imaginative, radically new interpretation of the twenty-first-century fate of democracy. The book shows why the current literature on democracy is failing to make sense of many intellectual puzzles and new political trends. It probes a wide range of themes, from the growth of cross-border institutions and capita...

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...