op_murphy15_Gulfiya Mukhamatdinova_getty Images_open book Gulfiya Mukhamatdinova/Getty Images
en English

PS Commentators’ Best Reads in 2018

Project Syndicate contributors once again share some of the books that resonated with them the most over the past year. From sweeping histories to ambitious new works of fiction, readers of all tastes and persuasions should find something to pique their interest in this year’s selection.

With a new year fast approaching, Project Syndicate commentators list the books that resonated with them the most in 2018. Though a large majority of the selections were published this year, there are a few throwbacks, reminding us that even – or especially – in tumultuous times, insights from the past can help us make sense of the present. 

HELMUT K. ANHEIER

Volker Kutscher, Marlow: Der siebte Rath-Roman (Marlow: The Seventh Rath Novel), Piper, 2018

In this work of historical fiction, inspector Gereon Rath, best known as the protagonist of the TV series Babylon Berlin, encounters political intrigue, corruption, and mysterious murders just when the Nazis are consolidating power, revoking civil liberties, and steadily establishing a new order. Kutscher has given us a gripping account of how dictatorships infiltrate the lives of ordinary people by sowing mistrust. Neither Rath’s marriage nor his closest friendships are spared.

https://prosyn.org/C69Z12G