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Beschreibung

Dua Lipa's Service95 Book Club Pick for July 2026

The International Bestseller

Winner of the Ondaatje Prize | Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize | Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Prize


'The best book I read last year by a mile. . . so beautifully written that anyone would be hooked' Laura Hackett, Sunday Times

'Wonderfully funny and poignant. . . a tale of family secrets and political awakening amid a crumbling regime' Luke Harding, Observer

Lea 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.

Dua Lipa's Service95 Book Club Pick for July 2026

The International Bestseller

Winner of the Ondaatje Prize | Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize | Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Prize


'The best book I read last year by a mile. . . so beautifully written that anyone would be hooked' Laura Hackett, Sunday Times

'Wonderfully funny and poignant. . . a tale of family secrets and political awakening amid a crumbling regime' Luke Harding, Observer

Lea 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.

Über den Autor
Lea Ypi is Professor of Political Theory at the London School of Economics and a fellow of the British Academy. Her first trade book, Free: Coming of Age at the End of History won the Ondaatje Prize and the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize and was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Costa Biography Award. It is translated into over thirty languages.
Details
Erscheinungsjahr: 2022
Genre: Biographien, Importe
Rubrik: Belletristik
Medium: Taschenbuch
Inhalt: X
324 S.
8 farbige Bildtaf.
ISBN-13: 9780141995106
ISBN-10: 0141995106
Sprache: Englisch
Herstellernummer: 483603
Ausstattung / Beilage: B-format paperback
Einband: Kartoniert / Broschiert
Autor: Ypi, Lea
Hersteller: Penguin Books Ltd (UK)
Penguin
Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Petersen Buchimport GmbH, Vertrieb, Weidestr. 122a, D-22083 Hamburg, gpsr@petersen-buchimport.com
Maße: 200 x 130 x 25 mm
Von/Mit: Lea Ypi
Erscheinungsdatum: 01.06.2022
Gewicht: 0,245 kg
Artikel-ID: 120993844

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