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On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Timothy Snyder (Goodreads Author)

4.20 · Rating details · 45,906 ratings · 6,045 reviews

A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism.

On November 9th, millions of Americans woke up to the impossible: the election of Donald Trump as president. Against all predictions, one of the most-disliked presidential candidates in history had swept the electoral college, elevating a man with open contempt for dem ...more

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Paperback, 126 pages

Published March 28th 2017 by Tim Duggan Books (first published February 28th 2017)

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Jun 29, 2018 Sarah Jessica Parker added it

Some people say this book should be on your person at all times. It's so worth reading and provokes great conversation. ...more

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Mar 12, 2017 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

“If young people do not begin to make history, politicians of eternity and inevitability will destroy it. And to make history, they need to know some. This is not the end, but a beginning.”

The closing lines of this extended essay, divided into twenty lessons on history in its relation to current happenings, speak to me on a personal level. That is what I have been thinking about, and working for, as long as I can remember. Learning from the past is not only a widely neglected subject in school “If young people do not begin to make history, politicians of eternity and inevitability will destroy it. And to make history, they need to know some. This is not the end, but a beginning.”

The closing lines of this extended essay, divided into twenty lessons on history in its relation to current happenings, speak to me on a personal level. That is what I have been thinking about, and working for, as long as I can remember. Learning from the past is not only a widely neglected subject in school, it is a necessity for democratic society to survive.

Update in 2020: I wrote this review in a frenzy at the beginning of 2017, just after the book was published, and now, at the point when my inner humanist thought it could take a sigh of relief and put the threat to democracy on a history book shelf for a period of time, it looks like we have to start a new lesson on HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE from within. The most terrifying dictators in history could never have acted alone, they needed truth acrobats to hypnotise the masses of confused and scared people they had set up for their ruthless game. I realise now that I had one shred of naiveté left in me over the past agonising four year. I thought most people in the United States of America (including selfish Republican leaders) loved their democracy more than they love their own power and money. That was a mistake. The show we see each day at the moment couldn't be uglier. Humanity is at a point where nobody can be excused and stay complacent. Don't ask for whom the bell tolls!!

Step by step, Snyder approaches the various undermining factors of fascist propaganda that have proven successful over and over again in the world. He keeps it short, and simple, and refers to standard books by famous authors, both fiction writers and philosophers, for deeper understanding of the birth and maintenance of tyranny.

He also suggests different ways of resisting the political brainwashing tendencies, and of keeping an independent mind in the midst of mob behaviour. One root of fascist success is the general human need to belong, and to conform, and go with the crowd. In a chilling example, he describes the terror that Nazi functionaries were able to create with the help of countless regular people:

“Some killed of murderous conviction. But many others who killed were just afraid to stand out. Other forces were at work besides conformism. But without the conformists, the great atrocities would have been impossible.”

Hannah Arendt is cited, describing the moment after the Reichstagsbrand, when she realised that you could no longer be a bystander, watching terror and misinformation hypnotise a whole nation.

Another important topic, often raised with my students in class, is the dehumanising effect of internet traffic. Inhibitions are cast off, people forget that what they say is extreme, and extremely hurtful. They are feeling strong in a selected collective, and need “an opposition” to fuel their discussions. A simple suggestion is to get out in the real world, make eye contact with real people, and dare engaging in small talk with people outside your comfort zone. This is a vital point, especially in our Swedish environment, where people naturally shy away even from basic forms of polite greetings. The danger of disappearing in an unreal internet community feeding conspiracy fears and distorting reality is omnipresent. My parents, living on the continent for almost 30 years, are shocked whenever they visit their home country and realise the complete isolation from other human beings in Sweden.

The tyrannies of the 20th century used the mass media available to them at the time - radio, and later television - to transmit their messages, and now the internet fills that function. We have one enormous advantage (which of course has its negative aspects as well), and that is our active participation in it. Even though the flow of (mis)information is part of the root of the new fascist success in the world, it can also be used by people to gently bring more nuance and knowledge into the debate:

“Since in the age of the internet we are all publishers, each of us bears some private responsibility for the public’s sense of truth.”

I think that is of massive importance. Think before you write, reflect on consequences, for yourself and others, and be careful not to add to the populist agenda by using the reductionist vocabulary and simplified, nationalist fear tactics to convince people.

Snyder’s essay is short, and only scratches the surface of a huge topic, which deserves more reflection than the author can possibly deliver given the format. I nonetheless think it has a valuable place in the current debate for its clear introduction and reference to further literature, as well as for the remarkable historical parallels which make the fault lines of history visible. I can imagine reading it with teenage students as a point of departure for overarching discussions, but also to read it privately as a simple reminder of what a powerless individual can do to intellectually survive in an increasingly poisoned political atmosphere.

A good, solid recommendation! Thank you, Matt for encouraging me to read it - I am passing it on to my own teenage son! ...more

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Aug 27, 2017 Bill Kerwin rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, politics

As Duncan Black ("Atrios" at Eschaton) phrased it a few days ago, “I veer from ‘haha Trump's a big dumdum’ to ‘oh shit we're all going to die.’” Is Trump a clown or an autocrat? A buffoon, or a despot-in-training?

I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I am sure of one thing: for those worried about totalitarianism in the good ole USA, historian Timothy Snyder’s little book On Tyrrany is an excellent guide to what to do and what to watch out for.

Snyder is an excellent source for such advice, f
As Duncan Black ("Atrios" at Eschaton) phrased it a few days ago, “I veer from ‘haha Trump's a big dumdum’ to ‘oh shit we're all going to die.’” Is Trump a clown or an autocrat? A buffoon, or a despot-in-training?

I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I am sure of one thing: for those worried about totalitarianism in the good ole USA, historian Timothy Snyder’s little book On Tyrrany is an excellent guide to what to do and what to watch out for.

Snyder is an excellent source for such advice, for his major works are Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin and Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. Thus he spent a good portion of his academic career cataloging the increments that lead to tyranny and the harbingers that can alert us to its coming.

This pocket-sized 125 page book consists of twenty “lessons” Timothy Snyder believes are helpful both for observing and for preserving our republic, and also keeping democracy alive within it. Five I found most helpful were “1. Do not obey in advance” (Don’t be like Austria, anticipating Hitler’s wishes, just to get along), “2. Defend institutions” (Don’t just assume newspapers, courts, and NGO’s are strong enough to survive), “5.Remember professional ethics (if lawyers behave with honor, it will be harder for totalitarianism to take hold), “9. “Be kind to our language” (avoid cant, speak in your own voice, read books), and “14. Establish a private life” (keep off the internet, avoid “hooks” they may use to hang you.”

There are two others worth quoting at some length. First, “6. Be wary of paramilitaries”

When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the leader, the paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.

Second, “13. Practice corporeal politics”:

Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.

On Tyranny is a useful little book, both disturbing and strangely comforting. I’m laughing at Trump less since I read it, and I’m less scared of him too. ...more

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May 09, 2017 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, history, e-book, overdrive, politics, non-fiction

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder is a 2017 Tim Duggan Books publication.

As a Professor of History at Yale University, Professor Snyder uses his expertise to lay out the importance of learning from the mistakes made throughout history, and to warn against a cavalier attitude towards the strength of our own democracy.

The author lists habits we need to develop, and continually practice, in order to protect ourselves and our country, from falling prey to tyra ...more

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Aug 30, 2020 Cecily rated it really liked it

Shelves: politics, psychology, dystopian, history, usa-and-canada, war

This is a very short, well written, clearly structured, powerful warning and call to action, written shortly after Trump was elected. There are punchy and quotable epithets on every page.

Image: The twenty lessons (chapters)

Snyder is a Yale professor, specialising in 20th century history, including the Holocaust. He looks at the rise of Nazism and, to a lesser extent, Communism, to show parallels with 21st century USA, especially Trump: the tactics of leaders and the response of ordinary people. ...more

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Feb 14, 2017 Matt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: might-tell-you-the-truth, history-books-tell-it

History teaches us the tricks of authoritarians. We can’t allow ourselves to fall for them.

(from a recent interview with the author; worth reading!)

Reading this book is imperative. You may not get another chance.

In twenty small lessons Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale university and specialized in East European history and the holocaust, illustrates how oppressive regimes and authoritarian governments worked in the past and what might be done to avoid and crush them in the present. The ...more

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Mar 14, 2017 Peter Bradley rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: history, philosophy

Please give my review a helpful vote on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/review/R3PWF91...

Post-script: January 20, 2020 - The transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration occurred - as I predicted - without the imposition of a dictatorship - as I predicted.

Snyder's book now stands proven by history as an exercise in hysteria.

On the other hand, given the statements by those with power and influence over the new administration about purging, re-education camps and truth comm ...more

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Dec 20, 2017 Kevin Kelsey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, highly-recommended, read-it-again, read-2017

Probably the most important book you could read this year. Please read it, then give your copy to someone else to read.

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Jul 05, 2018 Dave Schaafsma rated it really liked it

Shelves: politics

“History does not repeat, but it does instruct”--Snyder

“I love the poorly educated”--Trump

I carried this little book in my back pocket at the recent Chicago march against the incarceration of children and separation of families policy of the current U. S. administration. It’s a pamphlet written by a Holocaust historian to help us look for and mobilize against fascist tendencies. It contains twenty lessons he has gleaned from his historical study about how a well-educated and highly “developed” s ...more

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Sep 20, 2017 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I had read Timothy Snyder before. I still remember that even though much of it was challenging to read - much of it gave me chills to. The book I'm speaking about is
"Black Earth":The Holocaust as History and a Warning...published in 2015.

And..... here again, Snyder is giving us a warning...and what's even more scary is some of the things he said in "Black Earth" give me more concern for those chills -- because I never thought those warnings would manifest in our country just two years later.

T ...more

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May 15, 2017 Andy rated it did not like it

Shelves: on-deck

If this is the response to creeping fascism in America, we are in trouble.

(Note: for suggested alternatives see comment stream below.)

Obviously, Hitler is bad. And some of the advice is unassailable (Contribute to good causes, etc.) But beyond that, the little essays that make up this book seem pretty messy.

-Before Hitler comes to power, it makes sense to stand up, speak out, etc. But after, it's more about getting out or going underground. If the author really believes that Trump is Hitler and If this is the response to creeping fascism in America, we are in trouble.

(Note: for suggested alternatives see comment stream below.)

Obviously, Hitler is bad. And some of the advice is unassailable (Contribute to good causes, etc.) But beyond that, the little essays that make up this book seem pretty messy.

-Before Hitler comes to power, it makes sense to stand up, speak out, etc. But after, it's more about getting out or going underground. If the author really believes that Trump is Hitler and that Americans have had our last free election, then much of his advice is dangerously counterproductive.

-He says to read books, but Mein Kampf was a book, and Trump supporters love to read lots of books. So this is not a differentiating factor between Trump/Hitler and the alternatives.

-In the first chapter he talks about the Milgram experiments. The finding there was that about 65% of people will obey evil orders for no good reason. So using this as a rationale for the lesson "Do not obey" is confusing. A more logical lesson would be "Be careful about what you order people to do."

-There seems to be a general confusion about what applies to ordinary citizens vs. what is possible for a world leader like Churchill (Ch. 8).

-He recommends a bunch of books, but it is hard to see these becoming popular manuals for promoting democracy. The Rebel by Camus, for example, is a lengthy philosophical discussion of why it is so hard to get people to rebel against tyranny. This brings up a question that struck me many times while reading "On Tyranny": what is the audience for this pamphlet?

-Ch. 10/11 "Believe in truth, and Investigate" bugged me. You don't need to believe in truth. The truth is true whether you believe in it or not. Reality exists. You can know the truth. This is very difficult and nobody can do this for every issue, but you can do it for something. And if you're not willing or able to do it for anything then you can just shut up and admit ignorance and not be all fanatical about it. Because blindly trusting NPR or FOX or Clinton or Trump is still blindly trusting. ...more

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Sep 03, 2017 Trish rated it really liked it

Shelves: america, germany, government, nonfiction, history, political-science, reread

Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University, has written a pamphlet reminiscent of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense which was written in 1776, at America’s beginning. Snyder’s pamphlet contains twenty admonitions for us to consider as we pay attention to the political environment we see right now in the United States. The first sentence of Snyder’s Prologue brings us right back to our founding fathers, the Constitution, and the democratic republic they envisioned.

It’s a small book, the quarter- ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 Richard Derus rated it it was amazing

Shelves: borrowed, returned

Rating: 5* of five

Not for its perfection of style but for its perfection of wisdom and its amazing timeliness. As I write this today, 24 March 2018, I saw the face of our future president in Emma Gonzalez as she stood silent, focused, determined, at a march made by young people to demand their lives be protected from ammosexual assholes. She spoke for six minutes and twenty seconds in total, the same amount of time that it took one piece of shit human being to slaughter seventeen of her classmat ...more

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Jan 20, 2021 J.L. Sutton rated it it was amazing

“The hero of a David Lodge novel says that you don't know, when you make love for the last time, that you are making love for the last time. Voting is like that."

Timothy Snyder on Modern Tyranny

Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century feels unbelievably relevant. Delivered in twenty very short chapters, it's a very quick read that stays with you. While making distinctions between nationalists and patriots, On Tyranny makes clear that democracies are fragile and, like our institutions, need to be d ...more

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Nov 17, 2017 David rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, history, politics, psychology

This is a marvelous little book about how to avoid allowing one's homeland to sink into tyranny. The book really does contain twenty short lessons, practical ways to recognize tyranny and ways to fight it. This book was written after Donald Trump was elected president. Timothy Snyder, a celebrated historian, shows how Trump's ascendancy is on a slippery slope toward fascism. Snyder is an expert on the Holocaust, and he shows how the administration's policies are increasingly on a parallel course ...more

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Nov 17, 2017 Ted rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Ted by: David Rubenstein

Shelves: have, reviews-liked, society, politics-political-theory, current-affairs, americana, history-20th-century

If young people do not begin to make history, politicians of eternity and inevitability will destroy it. And to make history, young Americans will have to know some.

"The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right."

Thus Hamlet. Yet he concludes,"Nay, come, let's go together."
conclusion of Snyder's Epilogue, "History and Liberty"

NOTE: This is the review which drew me to the book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For a real time source for the previously unthi ...more

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Apr 24, 2017 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

2019 (almost 2020) update: My sense is that most folks who (bothered to read ... or took seriously ... or, even more so,) appreciated this (to my mind, excellent little) book in 2017 should consider, in anticipation of the of the 2020 election, (pre-ordering or) buying (and sharing) Sarah Kendzior's Hiding in Plain Sight - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4.... It's not as succinct or dispassionate as Snyder's book, but ... if you wanted a concise, compelling (and, arguably, scary or dish ...more

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Apr 14, 2018 Jan Rice rated it it was amazing

Shelves: creativity, bibliotherapeutic, politics, history

This book at bottom is a version of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,
But the times are out of joint, so I forgot--
It didn't all happen at once. The soil was prepared:
In my time and place--maybe every time and place--confusion was sown,
The way to clear thinking not made straight.
Once we knew, though, that everyone in the class should get a valentine card (if anyone did)
And everyone should be invited to the birthday party--
Black, Muslim, the religious in all their denominations ...more

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Sep 04, 2017 abby rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction

I'm going to go a bit against the grain on this one. This book is like the Tuesdays with Morrie version of political activism. Its message boils down to this: Americans are not special; if we don't actively defend our democracy, we can fall into the same trap of authoritarianism that ensnared 20th century Europe (because apparently the lessons we can learn from the 20th century don't include the likes of Pinochet, Castro or the Khmer Rouge). Author Timothy Snyder lists 20 plans of action to "fig ...more

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Mar 15, 2018 Lilo rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: every reader on our globe and especially every American

Shelves: current-affairs, politics, history-in-the-making, fascism, totalitarian-state, historical-non-fiction-20th-century

With hundreds of reviews* of this little book on Goodreads and 1,800 on Amazon, what can I say that has not already been said before?

Well, first of all, I would like to say: “Thank you, Timothy Snyder, for writing these so very necessary twenty lessons and writing them in an easy-comprehensible way, in a small booklet that can be read in a few hours.”

If I were as filthy rich as You Know Who, I’d buy 100 mio copies of this gem and have them delivered for free to every American household, as these ...more

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Jan 19, 2018 Michael Ferro rated it it was amazing

It's sad how timely and necessary this book is, but that's modern America. We live in a broken country gone hog wild on greed. A book like this can help change that. No matter your politics, fascism and authoritarianism arise when we're looking another way, distracted, numb to history. The only way to get out in front of and stop a tyrant is to know what we're looking for. A book like this can save our country and unite us toward a common goal of change, of striving for democracy, and protect us ...more

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Jun 05, 2017 Montzalee Wittmann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder is a masterpiece of what is happening now and this was written before the orange tornado. This book was based on past history and what to expect from tyranny...and boy does it match today perfect. This is one book each and every American needs to read. It is a short but power in its message. Wonderful!

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Sep 10, 2017 Ioana rated it liked it

Shelves: politics, non-fiction, political-theory

Once an avid user of GR, it’s now been a while – something creeping up on a year. I’ve been reading some, and recently the pace has increased to pre-The-Traumatic-Event levels; in the weeks to come I’ll be hoping to catch up on both writing my own reviews and catching up with what my dear friends here have been up to and reading.

Of all I’ve read recently, I decided to make this one my first review, so as to explain my prolonged absence to those who care to read about it (which I can’t do in the Once an avid user of GR, it’s now been a while – something creeping up on a year. I’ve been reading some, and recently the pace has increased to pre-The-Traumatic-Event levels; in the weeks to come I’ll be hoping to catch up on both writing my own reviews and catching up with what my dear friends here have been up to and reading.

Of all I’ve read recently, I decided to make this one my first review, so as to explain my prolonged absence to those who care to read about it (which I can’t do in the few characters the updates are limited to)…

So, my world was shattered last November. I’d always been involved in politics – acting on a local level but also talking about it on the ‘forums’ (disqus/The Hill/Politico/WP/NYT and the like). But I’d managed, to that point, to keep my academic/reading worlds somewhat cloistered off from my activism and politics (which obviously seeped into my reviews and informed my worldview but weren’t always frothing on the surface). Well, then the Traumatic-Event of November happened, and I went into a coma of sorts – specifically, of a personal sort – I stopped being a person, more or less, with interests outside of the creeping fascism in the United States. My life became something like 40% survival – going in to work and tuning in enough not to lose my livelihood, with the rest of the time spent organizing marches, marching, attending meetings with every activist group I could find, organizing, and reading news while fighting in the dungeons of online political forums.

Sadly and predictably, I settled into a life post-January 2017, in which each new outrage seemed to make the ones that came before slightly less traumatic (and thusly, humans adjust to extremist regimes). Into a life in which it now doesn’t even seem terribly odd that the President of the United States of America is defending white supremacists (see: Charlottesville) and equating their tactics to some on the left who would fight fascism.

And that – the normalization of the previously abnormal in political life- was exactly the topic of Sam Harris’ interview with Timothy Snyder on his podcast when I came across it this past summer. (it may be found here: https://www.samharris.org/podcast/ite...). Touched, and trembling to my core, I picked up this book – without realizing at first it was a short, almost “pocket-size” summary of “twenty lessons” from 20th century dictators (ok ok I should have read the title and maybe the book specs before buying).

The book itself is not detailed or terribly profound, and does not do justice, imo, to Snyder’s intellectual depth, but it’s a useful primer for those interested in a series of very brief political ‘devotionals’ (or, pieces of ‘advice’). It’s a bit like those books, “21 days to a happier you” but more along the lines of “3 weeks to a more aware self in the age of rising tyranny.” The advice is sensical but not earth-shattering – “be weary of paramilitaries, defend institutions, do not obey in advance”. The podcast for me was much more enlightening, while the book was not worth the $7.99 cover price. I’d recommend it basically as a stocking stuffer or party favor for your favorite activist, or as a daily 20 day meditation perhaps.

Also – if you’d like to chat politics with me, I’ve been doing that mostly through Facebook (have moved off Disqus and the other forums that allow for anonymity since I found the commentary there to be much less civil and vicious). Please PM me on here with your facebook ID/link and I will send you a friend request :-) . I used to keep FB to real life friends only but recently have made hundreds of political friends and would love nothing more than making some political/book friends too! And if you feel you must delete me after reading this review, then so be it. As Timothy Snyder says, “Stand out. Someone has to.” I won’t be shutting up anymore about what’s been happening in my country – not on here or anywhere. ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Bam cooks the books ;-) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: politics, non-fiction, 2017-reads, library-book

I put a hold on this new book from our library system when it first came out in March and just finally got my hands on it. Either it is that popular or there are very few copies in the system. I was getting desperate and on the verge of buying it for myself. Now that I've read it, I definitely will buy it and stick copies in family Christmas stockings--I believe it is THAT important for everyone to read.

Timothy Snyder is a history teacher at Yale, who has written books on the Nazis and the Holo ...more

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Aug 01, 2020 Michael Perkins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

spot on: fascism is already here....

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politi...

=====

New article by Timothy Snyder...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/ma...

=============

"The service of a good citizen is never useless: by being heard and seen, by his expression, by his gesture, by his stubbornness and by his very walk, he helps.”

— SENECA: Tranquillity of Mind

=========

I highly recommend this short book to everyone. The author is an expert on Nazi Germany. He susses out social and political traits fro ...more

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Feb 14, 2020 Settare (on hiatus) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Everyone!

Shelves: azta-club, social-issues, nonfiction, politics-philosophy, to-re-read, war-conflict, on-tyrants-and-dictators

I read this in the right place at the right time.

This was originally a series of Facebook posts that Snyder published every night for 21 nights right before the American 2016 presidential election. It consists of short, conscience, and neatly written lessons on what makes a fascist (or tyrant or dictator), how fascists come to power, and how tyranny is still a threat in modern times to all of us. He makes examples from Nazi Germany (his area of expertise) to make his arguments more understandab I read this in the right place at the right time.

This was originally a series of Facebook posts that Snyder published every night for 21 nights right before the American 2016 presidential election. It consists of short, conscience, and neatly written lessons on what makes a fascist (or tyrant or dictator), how fascists come to power, and how tyranny is still a threat in modern times to all of us. He makes examples from Nazi Germany (his area of expertise) to make his arguments more understandable.

Snyder's words are powerful, clear, short, and to the point. I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone, even though I might not have personally agreed with his every single opinion.

The only thing that put me off is that he is clearly and exclusively addressing an American audience. This book is written for Americans and if you're reading it as a non-American, you have to make sense of a few things that are specific to the American society. For example, he insists way too much on the importance of being "patriotic" and what it means to be patriot. That's a word I dislike, but I understand that patriotism has certain connotations within the American society that might not have the same meaning elsewhere.
Still, patterns of tyranny are so similar around the world that those of us reading it outside America can make easy comparisons and draw multiple lessons from the book and it's just as important.

The only other problem is that the writing feels a bit rushed. It reads like a compelling and noteworthy blog post that you might read online during some turbulent political times; it is not, however, a 'timeless masterpiece'. He could have worked on the draft to bring more nuance and subtlty to the writing when he decided to publishit as a “book”.
But as a whole, I think it's an important and compelling read.

I'd recommend it to everyone, because I think the author makes some points that are worth reading, contemplating, and talking about.
I would love to know everyone's opinions about this book. ...more

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Dec 22, 2018 Malia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

Though this wasn't exactly groundbreaking, the author succinctly and thoughtfully outlines what it takes not to succumb to tyranny of any kind, how to foster behaviors and values within ourselves and in our environment to protect and educate ourselves. Snyder is a scholar of fascism, and that comes across clearly in his confidence and ability to illustrate a point with poignant examples. This is a very short book, and I would recommend it as a quick read for just about anyone!

Find more reviews a ...more

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Mar 04, 2017 Ammar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2017, favorites

Timely read for what is facing the free world in 2017. A Book to show how to be different, read books, find out the truth and don't be a blind follower, because between democracy and tyranny a thin blue line and many are tempted to cross it.

Be smart
Be a rebel ...more

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May 12, 2020 Matt rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

“History does not repeat, but it does instruct,” is the opening line of Timothy Snyder’s short work on tyranny. How apt this is and the examples throughout the piece of writing goes on to further explain what the author wishes to convey. Pulling from examples throughout the 20th century, Snyder effectively argues that the situation in America has some loose—perhaps still germinating foreboding—concerns from the rise of authoritarian regimes in history that sat on both sides of the political spec “History does not repeat, but it does instruct,” is the opening line of Timothy Snyder’s short work on tyranny. How apt this is and the examples throughout the piece of writing goes on to further explain what the author wishes to convey. Pulling from examples throughout the 20th century, Snyder effectively argues that the situation in America has some loose—perhaps still germinating foreboding—concerns from the rise of authoritarian regimes in history that sat on both sides of the political spectrum in decades past. Snyder warns the reader not to ignore these, as there are times when waiting makes change too late. He also effectively draws parallels between the lulling into complacency that leaders mastered—using false rhetoric and duplicitous nationalism to appear patriotic—and the goings-on at apparent ego rallies when not on Twitter. Snyder has strong examples that fit, things that the layperson will like have heard about in their general knowledge of world history. Can it be stopped? Snyder feels there is the potential, but only by heeding the warning signs now. While the 2020 presidential election is around the corner, the electorate cannot be duped into thinking that this is a nightmare the US Constitution or the other branches of government will rein in. Alas, that only works when the actors in the system agree to the rules and do not supersede them to fit their needs. Thought provoking and a wonderful fill between books, Timothy Snyder’s piece did just what it sought to do; leave me wondering about how the past should be a yardstick for success, not just a bunch of words in a tome that could never happen again. Recommended for those with strong political interests who wish to explore some of the pressing issues of 21st century, as well as the reader with a keen interest in history’s repetitive nature.

This book was slyly passed along to me by a good friend, wanting to see how my politically minded brain might process it. It’s short (even by academic publication standards) and yet packs a major punch. Snyder uses concrete examples, specifically from the national socialism (fascism) found in Nazi Germany and the communist countries of Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe. At first, the parallels with the US Administration were simply presumed, but Snyder blunts his comments when he eventually uses POTUS and America by name, perhaps his way of ensuring the point is not missed. The chapters (points) can be as quick as a few lines, or as length as a couple of pages, but all twenty resonate to the attentive reader who will likely see things as soon as they are pointed out. I know there will be trolls and those who disagree, which is their right, though I would really enjoy someone trying to talk their way out of the case Snyder makes. Then again, what do I know, a mere Canadian?

Kudos, Mr. Snyder, for a sobering look at tyrannical reign in the American republic. Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln (all men POTUS thinks he is like) would roll over in their graves if they saw the republic today!

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Sep 28, 2017 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: politics-history-tyranny-patriot

What is patriotism? From historical examples and the current presidency, Timothy Snyder tells readers what it is not. It is not patriotic to dodge the draft and to mock war heroes and their families. It is not patriotic to avoid paying taxes when American working families do pay.

It is not patriotic to admire foreign dictators. It is not patriotic to cultivate a relationship with Gaddafi, or to say that Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin are superior leaders. It is not patriotic to call upon Russ ...more

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About Timothy Snyder

Timothy Snyder

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Timothy Snyder is Housum Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1997, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. He has held fellowships in Paris, Vienna, and Warsaw, and an Academy Scholarship at Harvard.

His most recent book is Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, p Timothy Snyder is Housum Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1997, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. He has held fellowships in Paris, Vienna, and Warsaw, and an Academy Scholarship at Harvard.

His most recent book is Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, published in September 2015 by Crown Books. He is author also of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010), a history of Nazi and Soviet mass killing on the lands between Berlin and Moscow. A New York Times bestseller and a book of the year according to The Atlantic, The Independent, The Financial Times, the Telegraph, and the New Statesman, it has won twelve awards including the Emerson Prize in the Humanities, a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Leipzig Award for European Understanding, and the Hannah Arendt Prize in Political Thought.

His other award-winning publications include Nationalism, Marxism, and Modern Central Europe: A Biography of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz (1998); The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999 (2003); Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine (2005); The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of A Habsburg Archduke (2008), and Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010).

Snyder helped Tony Judt to compose a thematic history of political ideas and intellectuals in politics, Thinking the Twentieth Century (2012). He is also the co-editor of Stalin and Europe: Terror, War, Domination and Wall Around the West: State Power and Immigration Controls in Europe and North America (2001).

Snyder was the recipient of an inaugural Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2015. He is a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and sits on the advisory council of the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research Research.

He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in modern East European political history. ...more

Books by Timothy Snyder

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America

Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning

Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary

The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999

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“The president is a nationalist, which is not at all the same thing as a patriot. A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best. A nationalist, 'although endlessly brooding on power, victory, defeat, revenge,' wrote Orwell, tends to be 'uninterested in what happens in the real world.' Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others. As the novelist Danilo Kiš put it, nationalism 'has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.' A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.” — 128 likes

“Post-truth is pre-fascism.” — 112 likes

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