Featuring an often surprising mix of short biographical sketches of famous individuals and works from history, this is a book that demands of its readers the ability to be open-minded and outraged.

The iconic Italian author Robert Saviano’s latest work of nonfiction is an urgent cry for people to stand up for themselves and the things they believe in, featuring those who have most inspired him – Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, Martin Luther King Jr., the Calipygian Venus, immortalised in marble – alongside those whose actions were most deplorable – Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Rwandan radio host Kantano Habimana, who encouraged the 1993-’94 genocide there.

Other lives and works that Saviano evokes in Shout It Out! Are:
‍
Hypatia, the murdered Alexandrian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer; political theorist Carl Schmitt; trailblazing Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya; Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi; NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden; 16th century astrology and alchemist Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1600; Russian poet Anna Akhmatova who chose silence rather than collaboration; Émile Zola; the Brothers Grimm; Martin Luther King; murdered anti-corruption activist Daphne Caruana Galizia; the ancient roman statue of the Callipygian Venus; Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan); American actress Jean Seberg; Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini; Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels; Rwandan radio host Kantano Habimana; Settimia Spizzichino, oneof 50 from the Rome ghetto sent to Auschwitz, and the only survivor; Chinese poet and factory worker Lizhi Xu; Italian-American saint Sister Francesca Saverio Cabrini; Italian architect and London fire victim Gloria Trevisan; George Floyd.

"Shout It Out! is an interesting book. It has an optimistic veneer, as Saviano gives tips to the next generation of citizens about how they can make society better. Before long, though, you notice his deep-rooted pessimism. From the murdered Alexandrian philosopher Hypatia to the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, from the Renaissance thinker Giordano Bruno (burnt at the stake by the Inquisition) to the Rwandan broadcaster Kantano Habimana (cheerleader for the 1994 genocide), Saviano considers figures who have suffered injustice or perpetrated it. His book spans centuries, and gives little sense of the world improving."—The Telegraph

“A map made of stories that don’t aim to teach us anything—least of all to avoid making mistakes. But they do demand one thing: that we open our eyes.”—Avvenire

‍