Who is Government?
The Untold Story of Public Service
Published on 18. March 2025
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-241-77887-6 (ISBN)
Description
Who works for the government and why does their work matter? Michael Lewis, bestselling author of The Big Short and The Fifth Risk, along with an all-star team of writers and storytellers, takes us on a riveting journey into a hidden world
'A timely reminder of the quiet dedication and skill of the people who work every day to make this country work' - Barack Obama, President Obama's 2025 Summer Reads
The government is a vast, complex system that citizens pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It's also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it's made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone.
Michael Lewis invited his favourite writers to find someone doing an interesting job for the government and write about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.
Whether they're digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Who is Government? shows how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.
'A timely reminder of the quiet dedication and skill of the people who work every day to make this country work' - Barack Obama, President Obama's 2025 Summer Reads
The government is a vast, complex system that citizens pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It's also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it's made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone.
Michael Lewis invited his favourite writers to find someone doing an interesting job for the government and write about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.
Whether they're digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Who is Government? shows how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.
Reviews / Votes
A timely reminder of the quiet dedication and skill of the people who work every day to make this country work -- Barack Obama * President Obama's 2025 Summer Reads * This book rightly focuses on the quiet heroes who represent public service at its best... Musk's demolition derby makes this kind of journalism feel, more than ever, like a civic duty... This eye-opening, multifaceted ode to public service therefore feels both urgent and moving -- Dorian Lynskey * Guardian * A vivid and important collection of essays that corrects the caricatures and shows the value of public servants... these are vivid stories, identifying unusual and low-profile work requiring great levels of commitment and expertise... these stories refute the suggestion that the only role of public services is to correct markets... public services create good, even great, outcomes for society -- Paschal Donohoe * The Irish Times * As a celebration of the quiet heroism of those whose painstaking work is being laidwaste by Elon Musk's chainsaw, it's powerful * The FT * Praise for The Fifth Risk * - * Riveting, jaw-dropping, stranger and more terrifying than fiction * Daily Telegraph * Life is what happens between Michael Lewis books. I forgot to breathe while reading The Fifth Risk' Michael Hofmann * TLS, Books of the Year * Stunning -- Josh Glancy * Sunday Times * The characters are riveting, and the drama intense ... paints a picture of America being not just pulled apart at the political seams, but in the very fabric of the government itself -- Harriet Alexander * Daily Telegraph * Readable and compelling ... a horrific catalogue of all the things that can go wrong if a government takes its eye off the ball ... We should all be frightened -- Brooke Masters * Financial Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
460 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-77887-6 (9780241778876)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2026
Penguin
€16.50
Available immediately
E-Book
03/2025
Penguin
€10.99
Available for download
Person
Michael Lewis's global bestselling books lift the lid on the biggest stories of our times. They include Flash Boys, a game-changing expose of high-speed scamming; The Big Short, which was made into a hit Oscar-winning film; Liar's Poker, the book that defined the excesses of the 1980s; and, most recently, The Fifth Risk, revealing what happens when democracy unravels. Michael Lewis was born in New Orleans and educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics.