CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN AND THE IRISH TIMES

'Illuminating and entertaining . . . while the world seems to counsel despair, The Persuaders is animated by a sense of possibility' The New York Times

A riveting insider account of how activists, politicians, educators and citizens are working to change minds, bridge divisions and save democracy

The lifeblood of any free society is persuasion: changing other people's minds to enable real change. But America is suffering a crisis of faith in persuasion that is putting its democracy and the planet itself at risk. People increasingly write each other off instead of seeking to win each other over. Debates are framed in moralistic terms, with enemies battling the righteous. Movements for justice build barriers to entry, instead of on-ramps. Political parties focus on mobilizing the faithful rather than wooing the sceptical. And leaders who seek to forge coalition are labelled sell-outs.

In The Persuaders best-selling author Anand Giridharadas takes us inside these movements and battles, seeking out the dissenters who continue to champion persuasion in an age of polarization. We meet a co-founder of Black Lives Matter; a leader of the feminist resistance to Trumpism; white parents at a seminar on raising adopted children of colour; Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; a team of door knockers with an uncanny formula for changing minds on immigration; and an ex-cult member turned QAnon deprogrammer.

As they grapple with how to "call out" threats and injustices while "calling in" those who don't agree with them but just might one day, they point a way to healing, and changing, a broken society.

"Giridharadas proves how senseless it is to lambast ideological opponents, especially when they're actually goodhearted and persuadable. Reassuringly sane, The Persuaders shows people are often less hardline and more conflicted than they seem" - The Irish Times, Books of the Year

"I was fascinated by The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas - it's changed my view on the way we can (or can't) change people's minds" - New Statesman

"An engaging and provocative study of the dangers of political purity" - The Observer

"Illuminating and entertaining . . . while the world seems to counsel despair, The Persuaders is animated by a sense of possibility " - The New York Times

"A handbook for defending democracy" - CNN

"I was profoundly moved by The Persuaders. It is full of counterintuitive wisdom for repairing a broken world. In a cynical and hate-filled culture, what would it take for us to become persuaders? The beautifully written profiles are affecting and urgently needed because our world can no longer wait." - The Sydney Morning Herald, Best Books of 2022

"So unique, and so compelling . . . The book injects nuance and humanity into debates and dilemmas that are all too often fatalistic and cynical. The Persuaders brings its subjects to life, portraying their successes and struggles in a way that manages to leave the reader with a sense of solidarity and hopefulness, a conviction that the project of democracy is not lost, and an inspiration to get to work" - The American Prospect