The Audacity of Hope is an extraordinary book by an extraordinary man. If Barack Obama is elected as the first black President of the United States he will dramatically change the face that his country presents to the world.

In his bestselling book he spells out a vision of public life which is about finding the common threads that bind us all. He describes his hopes for a different America, and how the ideals of its democracy can be renewed.

The Audacity of Hope is a superbly written and effortlessly readable book. Barack Obama writes with intimacy and self-deprecating humour about his experiences as a politician, about balancing his family life and his public vocation. Behind every sentence is his quest for consensus, and his respect for the democratic process.

He is a great American writer who is now changing the course of politics in his own country.

If Barack Obama is successful in his quest to become President of the United States he will dramatically change the face that his country presents to the world.

In this bestselling book he describes the importance of empathy in politics, his hopes for a different America with different policies, and how the ideals of its democracy can be renewed.

He writes with intimacy and self-deprecating humour about his experiences as a politician, about balancing his family life and his public vocation. His search for consensus and his respect for the democratic process inform every sentence he writes.

Praise for The Audacity of Hope:

'Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois and the Democratic Party's new rock star, is that rare politician who can actually write?and write movingly and genuinely about himself.'

— New York Times

'A book that...will give believers in the potential of America much heart, much hope.'

— Age

'He is one of the best writers to enter modern politics.'

— Newsweek

'Obama writes convincingly about race as well as the lofty place the Constitution holds in American life...He writes tenderly about family and knowingly about faith. Readers, no matter what their party affiliation, may experience the oddly uplifting sensation of comparing the everyday contemptuous view of politics that circulates so widely in our civic conversations with the practical idealism set down by this slender, smiling, 45-year-old former state legislator who is included on virtually every credible list of future presidential contenders.'

— Los Angeles Times

'[Barack Obama] is that rare politician who can actually write—and write movingly and genuinely.'

— New York Times

'The first term Democratic senator from Illinois has created a voice that reaches out from the page and draws you in, just as he does in person.'

— Australian Literary Review