text: The sun shines, planets orbit, corporations lie voraciously, humans consume mindlessly and Noam Chomsky - the pre-eminent intellectual of the modern era - churns out knowledge, elucidates the times and refutes the notion that it is our manifest destiny to perpetually suffer indignity.
  In a wide-ranging series of question and answer sessions Chomsky tackles a myriad of seemingly disparate topics, which ultimately pertain to and concern the economic and political system and the welfare of humanity. Unlike books authored by Chomsky himself which tackle specific topics Understanding Power - The Indispensable Chomsky is the transcript of sessions traversing a decade during which Chomsky takes questions from the audience on a number of topics ranging from US foreign policy, imperialism, trade and the third world to propaganda, corporate media, solutions to the collective malaise and the march towards a more just system and society. Expounding on his legendary encyclopaedic knowledge and command of logic, Professor Chomsky manages to offer the questioners, and by extension the readers, a radical approach distinct from the boilerplate and mind-numbing discussions of the corporate media. Refuting the suitability of handling our problems by working within the system and nibbling at the edges Chomsky offers an alternative to the broken system without resorting to the expected customary answers like a broken record. 
  As thoughtful and brilliant as the discourse is, the book's editors also deserve much praise not only for the compilation, but also for the easy to read format and the lively pace of the book. Understanding Power could easily have been entitled Understanding The System and is a brilliant book based on the profound teachings of a brilliant thinker
  