The end of ethnic nationalism, and building societies around sets of common values instead, seems like a good idea. But something is going wrong. Violent intolerance in our societies is on the rise. Race riots in France, political murder in the Netherlands, bombings in Britain — all appear to be symptoms of a multicultural experiment gone awry.

In the 2007 Massey Lectures, writer Alberto Manguel takes a fresh look at some of the problems we face, and suggests we should look at what stories have to teach us about society. "How do stories help us perceive ourselves and others?" he asks. "How can stories lend a whole society an identity...?" From Gilgamesh to the Bible, from Don Quixote to The Fast Runner, Alberto Manguel explores how books and stories hold the secret keys to what binds us together.