Before he was president, he was senator. Written two years prior to the election that would change the face of the United States, The Audacity of Hope discusses the importance of empathy in politics, Obama's hopes for a different America and how the ideals of its democracy can be renewed. With intimacy and self-deprecating humour, he describes his experiences balancing his family life with his public vocation. A senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a sceptic, Barack Obama has written a book of transforming power that will inspire people the world over.