The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity

We all know how identities amp;mdash; notably, those of nationality, class, culture, race, and religion amp;mdash; are at the root of global conflict, but the more elusive truth is that these identities are created by conflict in the first place.

In provocative, entertaining chapters, Kwame Anthony Appiah interweaves keen-edged argument with engrossing historical tales amp;mdash; from Anton Wilhelm Amo, the 18th-century African child who became an eminent European academic, to Italo Svevo, the literary genius who changed countries without leaving home amp;mdash; and reveals the tangled contradictions within the stories that define us. The concept of the sovereign nation, Appiah tells us, is incoherent. Our everyday notions of race are the detritus of discarded science; the very idea of Western culture is a shimmering mirage. These beliefs, and more, are crafted from confusions amp;mdash; confusions Appiah sorts through to imagine a more hopeful future.