Inventing the Enemy

This essay collection by the revered public intellectual displays his “ profound erudition, lively wit, and passion for ideas of all shapes and sizes” ( Booklist ).   In these fourteen essays, Umberto Eco examines many of the ideas that have inspired his provocative and illuminating fiction. From the title essay—a disquisition of the notion that every country needs an enemy—he takes readers on an exploration of lost islands, mythical realms, and the medieval world. His topics range from ind