The recurring theme of this book is the author’s puzzlement over closely related questions: why is it that politics can alienate good friends and even turn them into enemies? Another question continues Aristotle’s theme of friendship in politics: can civic friendship be the ethical foundation of the state? How significant are friendships, affective ties between people, for the political sphere in general?
The book intricately intertwines stories of friendship and enmity from antiquity to the present day, political skirmishes and scandals in the Russian segment of LiveJournal. Thinkers and characters from different historical epochs meet on its pages.