A short, incisive political tract that criticizes the culture of finance capitalism and calls for a return to the humanist values of the enlightenment: equality, liberty, freedom as defined in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a return to community, mutual respect, freedom from poverty, and an end to theocracy and fundamentalism. The authors argue that a return to these values constitutes “a path to hope,” leading the way out of the present worldwide malaise brought on by economic collapse, moral failure, and an ignorance of history.

For the authors, 20th-century fascism was no mere abstraction—it was a brutal system brought on by a similar malaise, a system they fought against. This gives their book special urgency.

The Path to Hope is written by two esteemed French thinkers—94-year-old Stephane Hessel and 90-year-old Edgar Morin, following on the heels of Hessel’s Indignez-vous! (Time for Outrage!). Both books have become bestsellers in France and throughout Europe. Both have also become foundational documents underpinning the worldwide protest movement of which Occupy Wall Street is the American subset.

Stephane Hessel was a member of the French Resistance during World War II, a concentration camp survivor, a diplomat, editor of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His book Indignez-vous! has sold 3,500,000 copies.

Edgar Morin is a renowned French philosopher and sociologist who fought in the French Resistance.

Jeff Madrick is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and author of many works, most recently The Age of Greed.