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Coming of Age at the End of History

Author: Lea Ypi  

Free
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An unforgettable coming of age story exploring the meaning of freedom - personal, collective, political - from an extraordinary new voice

Coming of Age at the End of History.

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Summary

An unforgettable coming of age story exploring the meaning of freedom - personal, collective, political - from an extraordinary new voice

Coming of Age at the End of History.

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Description

An unforgettable coming of age story exploring the meaning of freedom - personal, collective, political - from an extraordinary new voice*SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION*SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDLea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. There was community and hope.Then, in December 1990 everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished. There was no longer anything to fear from prying ears. But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy on crowded ships, only to be sent back. Predatory pyramid schemes eventually bankrupted the country, leading to violent conflict. As one generation's aspirations became another's disillusionment, and as her own family's secrets were revealed, Lea found herself questioning what freedom really meant.Free is an engrossing memoir of coming of age amid political upheaval. With acute insight and wit, Lea Ypi traces the limits of progress and the burden of the past, illuminating the spaces between ideals and reality, and the hopes and fears of people pulled up by the sweep of history.

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Critic Reviews

“A lyrical memoir, of deep and affecting power, of the sweet smell of humanity mingled with flesh, blood and hope”

If you read one memoir this year, let it be this Sunday Times, Books of the Year
A magical, timeless and important account of what life was really like under communism. Free brims with diamond-studded details, it lays bare the compromises, fear and betrayals of a secret police state, but is also an uplifting and humorous reminder of how much the human spirit can endure -- Alec Russell Financial Times
Lea Ypi's Free is the first book since Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend that I have pressed on family, friends and colleagues, insisting they read it. . . a truly riveting memoir and a profound meditation on what it means to be free -- Ruth Scurr Spectator, Books of the Year
Enthralling. . . a classic in the making -- David Abulafia TLS, Books of the Year
Ypi's deliciously smart memoir of her Albanian girlhood at the end of the Cold War is a brilliant disquisition on the meanings of freedom - its lures, false hopes, disappointments and possibilities - in our time -- Lyndsey Stonebridge New Statesman, Books of the Year
A tart and tender childhood memoir. But also a work of social criticism, and a meditation on how to live with purpose. . . A quick read, but like Marx's spectre haunting Europe, it stays with you The New Yorker, Best Books of 2021
An absorbing memoir of Ypi's Albanian childhood and its ideological delusions. The freedom she discovers is far more complex than we might expect -- Terri Apter TLS, Books of the Year
A strange world and its legacy is now stunningly brought to life. Lea Ypi offers a moving and compelling memoir of growing up in turbulent times, as well as a frank questioning of what it really means to be "free" -- Frederick Studemann Financial Times, Books of the Year
Lea Ypi's Free: Coming of Age at the End of History is a beautifully written account of life under a crumbling Stalinist system in Albania and the shock and chaos of what came next. In telling her story and examining the political systems in which she was raised, the author and LSE professor asks tough questions about the nature of freedom Guardian, Books of the Year
An astonishing and deeply resonant memoir about growing up in the last days of the last Stalinist outpost of the 20th century. . . What makes it so unforgettable is that we see this world, one about which we know so little, through the eyes of a child.. . It is more fundamentally about humanity, and about the confusions and wonders of childhood. Ypi weaves magic in this book: I was entranced from beginning to end -- Laura Hackett Sunday Times

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About the Author

Lea Ypi is a professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics. Her first trade book, Free was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Costa Biography Award and the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize. It is being translated into nineteen languages.

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Product Details

Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd
Published
1st June 2022
Pages
336
ISBN
9780141995106

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