The time: 2000 to 2005, the years of neoconservatism, terrorism, the twenty-four-hour news cycle, the ascension of Bush, Blair, and Berlusconi, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In this series of provocative, passionate, and witty essays, Umberto Eco examines a wide range of phenomena, from Harry Potter, the Tower of Babel, talk shows, and the Enlightenment to The Da Vinci Code/ What led us, he asks, into this age of hot wars and media populism, and how was it sold to us as progress? In Turning Back the Clock, the bestselling author and respected scholar turns his famous intellect toward events both local and global to look at where our troubled world is headed.

Author Biography

UMBERTO ECO (1932-2016) was the author of numerous essay collections and seven novels, including The Name of the Rose, The Prague Cemetery, and Inventing the Enemy. He received Italy's highest literary award, the Premio Strega, was named a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by the French government, and was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.