A sparkling account of people power through the ages, and how to save it from itself . . . a page-turner full of wit, original insight and unassuming erudition . . . a timely reminder that we can all play our part -- Katja Hoyer - the Guardian

An invigorating reflection on the tensions in liberal democracy. Benner weaves together personal reflections on life in Japan and Eastern Europe with a nuanced account of ancient philosophies that are all too often caricatured. Essential reading for anyone tempted to be complacent about the survival of democracy in the twenty-first century -- Catherine Fletcher - author of The Beauty and the Terror

This timely work shows how ancient wisdom might save democracies from anarchy and ruin… That she has lived and taught the ideas she writes about gives the book an enjoyable vitality -- Emma Duncan - The Times

Praise for Be Like the Fox -- - - :

A ripping read . . . fascinating, charming, enjoyably unorthodox -- Tim Smith-Laing - the Telegraph

Lively, compulsively readable, fluently written and unshowily erudite -- Terry Eagleton - the Guardian

A gripping portrait of a brilliant political thinker, who understood the dangers of authoritarianism and looked for ways to curb them even though independent speech had become impossible. - The New Yorker

Erica Benner is a political philosopher who has taught at Oxford University, the London School of Economics and Yale. She is the author of Be Like the Fox, which was selected as one of the Guardian's Best Books of 2017 and shortlisted for the 2018 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. Erica was born in Japan and currently lives in Berlin.