The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publish date: 6 November 2025
Pages: 384
Binding: Paperback
Language: English

Subjects: Business & Economics, Labor, Literary Collections, Essays, Political Science, History & Theory, Political Freedom, Political Ideologies, Anarchism, Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Sociology

Drawn from more than two decades of pathbreaking writing, the iconic and bestselling David Graeber's most important essays and interviews.

'David Graeber has always been an inspiration to me. Reading him fills me with both hope and joy... The tools he has shared to help all of us deconstruct the current reality we inhabit are invaluable. The more people that we can reach the more chance of a reimagined world is possible'- Clive Lewis MP

'The ultimate hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently,' wrote David Graeber. This new collection brings together the renowned anthropologist, author and activist's most visionary essays, showing him imagining a new understanding of the past - and a future based on humans' fundamental freedom.

Drawn from more than two decades of pathbreaking writing, and ranging across the biggest issues of our time - inequality, technology, the identity of 'the West,' democracy, art, power, anger, mutual aid and protest - Graeber's essays challenge the old assumptions about political life. Despite converging political, economic, and ecological crises, our politics is still dominated by either 'business as usual' or nostalgia for a mythical past. Instead, Graeber shows himself to be a trenchant critic of the order of things, driven by a bold imagination and a passionate hope that our world can be different.

The incisive, entertaining and urgent essays collected in The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World make for essential reading. They are a profound reminder of Graeber's enduring significance as an inspiring and necessary thinker.