Identity, Narrative and Politics argues that political theory has barely begun to develop a notion of narrative identity; instead the book explores the sophisticated ideas which emerge from novels as alternative expressions of political understanding. This title uses a broad international selection of Twentieth Century English language works, by writers such as Nadine Gordimer and Thomas Pynchon.The book considers each novel as a source of political ideas in terms of content, structure, form and technique.The book assumes no prior knowledge of the literature discussed, and will be fascinating reading for students of literature, politics and cultural studies.