'The State We Are In' raises important issues about the role the state plays in shaping people's daily lives. The book focuses on three main issues: governance, trust and corruption. It explores the relationship between the three in the context of Cyprus and identifies Cypriot society as one that first and foremost results in what can be called a collective action problem, hampering reform, an outcome of poor levels of trust, of corruption and of a poor quality of government. In seven, easy to read chapters, combining a wealth of evidence and commentary, it is a timely intervention in public debate. Debates about the relationship between the public and private sectors in Cyprus, the role of political parties and the nature of the state that have only grown more urgent as the crisis, recession and austerity have been visited on the island.