George Soros book goes to John Murray

John Murray has scooped George Soros' "most powerful take on the world today" as the investor and philanthropist addresses the dangers faced by civilisation.

Editorial director Joe Zigmond acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to In Defence of Open Society from PublicAffairs, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA. The book will be published simultaneously in the UK and the US on 22nd October in print, e-book, and audio.

The synopsis explains: “Through a selection of recent writing – including his keynote from the World Economic Forum, Davos in January 2019 and new material – he upholds his life’s work with a powerful advocacy for global cooperation, migration and the active protection of minorities, alongside lessons from the tragedy of the European Union and the long tail of the financial crisis. An incredibly timely compendium of Soros’ philosophy, In Defence of Open Society sees one of the world’s leading figures addressing freedom, democracy, rule of law, human rights, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea.”

For more than three decades, Soros's philanthropy, led by the Open Society Foundations, has donated more than $14bn to promote democracy and human rights in more than 120 countries.

Zigmond said: “This is Soros’s most powerful take on the world today and an impassioned broadside against the regressive politics of our times. He has been fighting the good fight for decades, and in that time he has become a global lightning-rod for anti-Semites and nationalists. Now a more symbolic figure than ever, this is a crucial moment to be keying his thoughts into the economic and political news cycle.”