The H-Word

Anderson's work displays stunning erudition. Part of a larger attempt to explain the forms and transformations of liberal power, The H-Word helps us understand how one hegemony dies and another begins. -- Gavin Jacobson * New Statesman * Fascinating history -- Adam Tooze * FT * If you want to see how hegemony has been transformed from a critical term in the lexicon of leftist scholars and activists to a less critical but increasingly pervasive term in the lexicon of those interrogating late US imperialism, then The H-Word is a book well worth reading. -- Jim Glassman * Antipode * Anderson deploys his formidable erudition to craft short chapters on the conflicting understandings of hegemony among Ancient Greek and Roman historians, Russian revolutionaries, Prussian military theorists, Italian communists (where Gramsci shows up), Anglo-American international relations scholars, Chinese statesmen from Confucius to Mao, post-structuralist Marxists (where Gramsci reappears), and the architects of the European Union. This is accomplished with admirably clear and jargon-free prose, and the book is a pleasure to read. -- Eduardo Frajman, Marx & Philosophy Society Engaging -- John Ikenberry * Foreign Affairs * Perry Anderson offers a global intellectual history of the many meanings, applications, and turning points in the use of hegemony as a theoretical tool. The most impressive aspect is the breadth he must operate with in terms of history, disciplines, and geographic contexts beyond Marxist theory and beyond the continent of Europe. -- Chris Hardnack * Socialism and Democracy *

Perry Anderson taught History at UCLA for thirty years and is an Editor at New Left Review. Recent books include Ever Closer Union?, Different Speeds, Same Furies and The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci, a companion volume to The H-Word.