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  • Published: 14 May 2018
  • ISBN: 9781784705763
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 576
  • RRP: $28.00

Adults In The Room

My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment




An explosive, headline-making account from the world-famous economist of what happens when you take on the EU establishment


** The Sunday Times #1 Bestseller**

'One of the greatest political memoirs of all time' Guardian

What happens when you take on the European establishment?

Read as world-famous, provocative economist, and former Greece finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, blows the lid on his battle with EU officials over the Greek debt crisis.

Varoufakis sparked one of the most spectacular and controversial battles in recent political history with his attempt to renegotiate Greece’s relationship with the European Union. Yet despite the mass support of the Greek people, and simple logic of his arguments, he succeeded only in provoking the fury of Europe’s political, financial and media elite.
Exposing the real business taking place behind the EU’s closed doors, Varoufakis reveals all in this fearless, personal account. Adults In The Room is an extraordinary tale of brinkmanship, hypocrisy, collusion and betrayal that will shake the European and economic establishment to its foundations.

Varoufakis is sending out an urgent wake-up call to renew European democracy before it is too late.

**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

  • Published: 14 May 2018
  • ISBN: 9781784705763
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 576
  • RRP: $28.00

About the author

Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis is the former finance minister of Greece and the author of a memoir, Adults in the Room, and a history, And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, which reveal and explain the catastrophic mishandling of Europe since the financial crisis. Both were number one bestsellers. His latest bestseller is Talking To My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism. Born in Athens in 1961, Yanis Varoufakis was for many years a professor of economics in Britain, Australia and the USA before he entered government and is currently Professor of Economics at the University of Athens. Since resigning from Greece's finance ministry he has co-founded an international grassroots movement, DiEM25, campaigning for the revival of democracy in Europe and speaks to audiences of thousands worldwide.

yanisvaroufakis.eu / @yanisvaroufakis

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Praise for Adults In The Room

A brilliant economist

Bloomberg

Few finance ministers have such a talent for economics as Yanis Varoufakis

Joseph Stiglitz

The most interesting man in the world

Business Insider

It is important to take note of the ideas that Varoufakis continues to espouse … the essence of [his] agenda was – and remains – largely correct

Mohamed El-Erian

A global celebrity

Economist

His words about the European crisis speak universal truths about democracy, capitalism and social policy

Guardian

Timely and important

Big Issue

One of my few heroes. As long as people like Varoufakis are around, there still is hope

Slavoj Zizek

Together with Bernie Sanders, Varoufakis is the only other honest politician around

Noam Chomsky

The Thucydides of our time

Jeffrey Sachs

Varoufakis has written one of the greatest political memoirs of all time [and] one of the most accurate and detailed descriptions of modern power ever written

Guardian

A tremendously indiscreet account … drawing upon his own audio recordings and diaries of top-level meetings. It is deeply personal and very well written

Financial Times

The most jaw-dropping segments are the accounts of phone calls and closed-door meetings – often verbatim, courtesy of his secret recordings – between ministers and technocrats ... We see duplicity and cynicism ruling supreme .. A convincing critique ... Our own government should take note

Daily Telegraph

An important, terrifying must-read. In particular, it anatomises the way in which EU leaders operate with a brutal clarity … shocking and ultimately tragic … He gets to the heart of their failure more acutely than anyone … Varoufakis has the greatest political virtues of all – courage and honesty

The Times

A blistering account ... should be required reading for David Davis and the government’s Brexit negotiating team

Scotsman

A fascinating reveal on the hidden world of what he calls the "deep establishment"… Varoufakis is a master of clarity and, as Theresa May prepares to steer the good ship GB through the dangerous shoals of Brexit, this is an invaluable account of how the political establishment really works

City AM

Astonishing … not simply a political biography but a reflection on the nature and meaning of power in our times … This really is an important book … you should read it … This book could be a game changer if it shakes we the people from our compliant slumber as passengers within the sinking ship of contemporary high power

Open Democracy

Riveting … an extraordinary account of low cunning at the heart of Greece’s 2015 financial bailout … Admirably, he eschews denunciations, finding the human in his adversaries, even in his darkest moments

Observer

This is a superbly written account of the struggle to alleviate the austerity imposed upon the Greek people by the eurozone. Greece, argues Varoufakis, has been put in a debtors’ prison and robbed of autonomy and dignity for the indefinite future. Critics would argue that he failed as finance minister in 2015 because he was insufficiently politic. More plausibly, he could never have succeeded, such were the vested interests arrayed against him. This outcome was — and is — a tragedy, because he was — and is — right. The bulk of Greek debt should indeed be cancelled outright. Read and weep

Martin Wolf, Financial Times Summer Reads

A whistle-blowing memoir that doubles as a penetrating analysis of the eurozone crisis, one caused in Varoufakis’s view by the stubbornness and ideological dogmatism of what he calls Europe’s "deep establishment." As Britain prepares to enter exit negotiations with the EU, many will turn to this book for insights… Adults in the Room has a fly-on-the-wall quality that makes it a captivating read

Chris Bickerton, Prospect

Passionate, indiscreet and forceful revenge on the smug elite of the European Union

Colm Tóibín, Irish Times

Varoufakis’ book… should be required reading for anyone who believes that a Brexit outcome satisfactory to the UK is likely

Richard Joyner, Times Higher Education

Outstanding

William Hague, Daily Telegraph