we need new stories the myths that subvert freedom

The passages reflecting on this, looking at US foreign and domestic policy and examining the lead-up to Trump’s election as 45th president are brilliant, informative and thought-provoking, condensing many strands and a lot of research into beautifully palatable sections.

The second is a work of American history, from Bush Sr onwards. But the personal foreword has a lightness, insight, depth, global perspective and power all of its own. This is not to undercut her engagement with the political assumptions she deconstructs so exhaustively in this book. The first is a memoir of Malik’s personal and political awakening as a gifted, driven woman born in Sudan, growing up in Kenya, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and later coming to London, where she worked in finance for a decade before switching to journalism. At the same time, I felt two further books were trying to emerge or, rather, revealed their stubs within the manuscript. She has an excellent nose for hypocrisy and doublethink, the crude prejudices and bigotry that underlie political decisions. Malik steers refreshingly clear of journalese and the book resembles a solid work of social science or political philosophy more than a common grab bag of extended articles. With careful analysis and a great historian’s expertise for synthesising a huge amount of information into a clear arc, she engages in a powerful and persuasive debunking exercise. Malik takes each claim, peels back its fallacies and exposes its roots. Malik’s new book stares into the heart of our current seething political volcano and gives it a cool hosing down.

We need new stories the myths that subvert freedom