Age of Anger

A History of the Present

By: Pankaj Mishra

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

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 18th 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 19th 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.

©2017 Pankaj Mishra (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"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)

Extremely dense but absolutely worthwhile.

Brilliant analysis of historical roots of modern discontent. Narrator a bit over-erudite for the dense subject matter.

Frightening and revealing

Explaining the polarization of our times and the seemingly recent spin of hyper-masculinity in the 2024 Trump campaign through an analysis of world history from the Enlightenment to the present explains what we seek to understand as depressing as it all is.

good and interesting but over my head

good performance, interesting topic, but the book was lacking Ina cohesive thrust, ideally a pointed thesis). instead it read like a mish-mash of collected writings and quotes from philosophers and I struggled to follow it on a directional level.

An excellent place to start

More an argument than necessarily a history, this book nevertheless accomplishes a complex feat by providing context and even occasional empathy for the sources and products of our angry present. While not comprehensive (but then, no history that dips so close to the present can be), it provides a far more satisfying argument to the state of the present than those I had before, and has inspired me to dig deeper

Much Needed Dialogue for our Times

I loved this book and highly recommend following Pankaj Mishra and his work. However, I found some chunks to be a bit boring at times and my lackluster enthusiasm for historical details might have had something to do with that. Even so, Enlightenment ideas has a lot to do with today's social malaise and this work beings that into light and can help turn the dialogue of dualism and false dichotomies into a consultation of mutual understanding.