Profound & humane Amartya Sen's Identity & Violence The Illusion of Destiny examines some of the most explosive problems of our time & shows how we can move towards peace as firmly as we have spiralled towards war In this penetrating book Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen argues that we are becoming increasingly divided along lines of religion & culture ignoring the many other ways in which people see themselves from class & profession to morals & politics When we are put into narrow categories the importance of human life becomes lost Through his lucid exploration of such subjects as multiculturalism fundamentalism terrorism & globalization he brings out the need for a clear-headed understanding of human freedom & a constructive public voice in Global civil society The hope of harmony in today's world lies in a clearer understanding of our sheer diversity ' Identity & Violence is a moving powerful essay about the mischief of bad ideas' The Economist ' Impassioned eloquent & often moving Identity & Violence is a sustained attack on the "solitarist" theory which says that human identities are formed by membership of a single social group' John Gray Guardian ' Rich in ideas I would love to send it to Osama bin Laden & have his reply' Spectator ' Sen's moving & most personal book yet' The Times Literary Supplement ' Stimulating simple & persuasive' Financial Times ' An accessible & exceptional humanitarian' Jon Snow New Statesman Heroes of Our Time Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at Harvard He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 His other books published by Penguin include The Argumentative Indian & The Idea of Justice