The Origins of Totalitarianism

Arendt’s definitive work on totalitarianism, a surprise bestseller in 2017

Arendt’s classic work explores totalitarianism through an extended analysis of the Nazi and Soviet regimes. In a series of dazzling insights, she explores the role of propaganda, the use of terror and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination. A surprise bestseller in the wake of the US presidential election, Arendt’s book offers chilling lessons about the threat of totalitarianism that we ignore at our peril.