Timothy Snyder

In previous books, Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder dissected the events and values that enabled the rise of Hitler and Stalin and the execution of their catastrophic policies. With Twenty Lessons, Snyder draws from the darkest hours of the twentieth century to provide hope for the twenty-first. As he writes, "Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism and communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience."

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

On Tyranny

THE NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER'These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten' ObserverHistory does not repeat, but it does instruct.In the twentieth century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised to protect them from global existential threats, and rejected reason in favour of myth. European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances.History can familiarise, and it can warn. Today, we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century. But when the political order seems imperilled, our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny.Now is a good time to do so.

Edward Steel

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** ‘A sort of survival book, a sort of symptom-diagnosis manual in terms of losing your democracy and what tyranny and authoritarianism look like up close’ Rachel Maddow 'These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten' Observer History does not repeat, but it does instruct. In the twentieth century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised to protect them from global existential threats, and rejected reason in favour of myth. European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances. History can familiarise, and it can warn. Today, we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century. But when the political order seems imperilled, our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny. Now is a good time to do so.

Gigi V

Fantastic book. A must-read, not only for Americans, but for citizens of a country who no longer know their history, therefore, can no longer recognize tyranny seemingly in their midst.

maryam

the book is incredible reductive and simplistic, makes maybe 2 good vague points. it felt gimmicky and unnecessary overall. very disappointed at the lack of nuance

Maja Cieslik

One of concise, brief books that anyone should read, preferably while still at school. Would love to come back to this book after few years, to revise the advice that we're given there. Well thought through, made me think and also reflect on present reality. 

"Sposobem zniszczenia wszystkich zasad jest skupienie się na idei wyjątku. Nazistowski przywódca wyprowadza przeciwników w pole, przekonując społeczeństwo, że chwila, w jakiej się znajduje, jest wyjątkowa, a następnie przekształcając wprowadzone w związku z tym środki w permanentny stan wyjątkowy. Obywatele oddają wtedy prawdziwą wolność za fałszywe bezpieczeństwo."

Beau

This is one of those special books I come across so very rarely; the type of book that's deceiving short but incredibly rich, succinct, and asks for a second reading in the not too distant future. Snyder fuses history (mostly 19th and 20th century), and current world/cultural affairs into an insightful 128 pages, and presents the reader with 20 'lessons' that history can teach us about tyranny; everything from not blindly obeying powers at will in advanced, to 'being kind to our language' (avoid shallow reading, educate yourself, read books), to listening out for dangerous words, and being on guard for one-party states.

I especially loved his thoughts and critique on common sensationalist media (none of which can be claimed as 'new' arguments - but I like hearing different thoughts on such matters) and his call to go deeper by making up your own mind, putting the internet off to the side, picking up books and long form, well trusted editorials and journalism pieces, and contributing to the discussion in your own language:

“Politicians in our times feed their clichés to television, where even those who wish to disagree repeat them. Television purports to challenge political language by conveying images, but the succession from one frame to another can hinder a sense of resolution. Everything happens fast, but nothing actually happens. Each story on televised news is ”breaking” until it is displaced by the next one. So we are hit by wave upon wave but never see the ocean."

I'd recommend this book to anyone out there who wants to understand the political landscape not only of the modern world, but also that of history - and how we're, once again, not too far from repeating it. This book is beyond timely, and will serve as a breath of fresh air in our days of post-truth and biased news feeds. The last few lines are apt!

"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."

MK Rosencrants

Overall I liked the book, that said I don't consider it a must read. Here's why.

I remember after the re-election of President Obama having lunch with a conservative friend. He was lamenting that the "Republicans were done and would never regain the White House". I attempted briefly to explain to him that was silly, that they faced a better candidate, had a poor candidate and that the pendulum would swing but he would not listen. I walked away shaking my head at people's refusal to divorce themselves from their feelings when analyzing American Politics.

How that relates to this book is that I found "On Tyranny" to be shrill and over-reactive, while thought provoking. I think it speaks to a lot of the problems that the left is facing and the unwillingness to really look at the current political situation. While I think it is always good to find historical comparatives this book makes far too many leaps. I resent being told that I am a do nothing because I refuse to see the "really silly party" representative in the White House as a serious threat to democracy. What I am interested in is how to do a better job of informing those who voted for him of why tearing down the EPA, DACA, Healthcare, Abortion Law will negatively impact their future and that of their children. I somehow don't think explaining that "he's just like Hitler and the Nazi's" is going to be constructive.

I want something to grab the left and force them to look at the fact that they ran a bad candidate and campaign, which appealed to few voters who weren't blindly following the cult of Clinton. They failed to expose a known charlatan, failed to recognize the threat as realistic and just assumed that their mere presence would carry the day. Ignoring that some of their platform has over-reached and they have alienated a good portion of the voting public and that there is some legitimacy to the feelings of the Trumpsters (they feel ignored for a reason). 

This is just another book that shrilly screams "OMG we have to do something now and that means get in the streets and protest" it just does it in a more intellectual manner. 

There is a process in place, I do trust that process, I do believe the pendulum will swing. By all means read the book, perhaps it will fit your perspective and if nothing else should spur thought and discussion. For my money I plan on continuing to participate in the process, educate and discuss, attempt to motivate my fellow citizens to not just vote but to think through their vote and watch the pendulum swing back.

Steph Lodico

Worth the read mostly because it’s short, straightforward, and fairly easily digestible with tangible tips, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it… 

It felt mostly like an attack (albeit a valid one) on Trump, so while not completely irrelevant now in 2021, it loses a lot of its longevity by focusing so much on one person. Plus, Snyder resists directly naming Trump half the time and vaguely refers to him as the president, a position which quite clearly changes. I do generally agree with Snyder’s positions on Trump; I just think he weakened his thesis by focusing so much on Trump instead of using him as an example.

I did not expect such specific tangible actions one could take (e.g., get a passport) and I simultaneously appreciated them and felt slightly overwhelmed by them. But I did like that it wasn’t just stuck in nebulous theory, and was largely centered on the idea that we should NOT be stuck in a doomsday mentality but one of realistic action.

However, I did end the book kind of like… okay? It didn’t quite hit the mark for me because I felt like he was just preaching to the choir and not writing about these issues in a way that anyone who didn’t *already* agree with him would really learn from. I do think he has some important thoughts, though, and I hope to read more from him.

olivia musick

an honest look at parallels between the US now and eastern Europe (1920s-1990s) with respect to tyranny and fascism. highly recommend !!

alina s

the writing style is unbearably boring. the history is purely focused on Europe (Soviet Union and Germany) and the politics are just nonsense lib shit without any actionable insight

Ethan Hill

Interesting to see how this has aged since the age of Tr*mp (the answer is not super well) but the lessons are good and it's well written and researched.

Audrey Kalman

a good balance of cautionary and grave without being frantic

Bergen Anders Nelson Eickhoff

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

This little book gave me a political existential crisis that I have yet to recover from.

Vivian

Concise and compelling. The message might be more relevant today than in Trump era. All the 20 points are good and valid, just come off a bit superficial and theoretical to me in a world with increasing complexity, where democracy is indeed a very important dimension, yet still just one of many dimensions of modern society.

Archita Birla

I really enjoyed this book. It is incredibly small, and easy to hold in the hand, but it is captivating in its information. I would REALLY recommend that everyone read this, and send it on to a friend or two. It's a very quick read, informative without being dense, and in some ways quite inspiring. 

While reading this book, it really struck me that doing ~activist things~ is not a one-time, occasional occurrence. Fighting tyranny, it feels to me, involves day-to-day activities. It means supporting local communities, being active in our courage, critiquing the institutions that we are part of, putting ourselves in situations that make us uneasy, and (perhaps most importantly) sharing with, caring for, and simply loving others.

Jane McCullough

This is not hyperbole: Anyone who cares about our democracy needs to read Snyder's cautionary words, lessons and constructive ways to engage with the current threats to our country. Our grand and so-far enduring democratic experiment deserves no less than the engagement of each of us.

Rob Erekson

A quick, easy read (only 126 pages in a small form factor; maybe 60 normal pages), but packed with useful information on recognizing, avoiding, confronting, and fighting tyranny. Although written in 2017, it’s quite shocking how much of what President has done (and attempted to do) in the 4 years since then is illustrated in this book. This book is an absolute must read for anybody concerned about the country being confronted by a smarter, more dangerous version of Trump in the future.

Kerry Gibbons

Excellent. Very quick read and perhaps the greatest takeaway I had was that post-truth is pre-fascism. 

Words to live by.

Dinda

This book includes some facts of event history that I never heard before, like fake terror in Paris and Jerman. Unfortunately, the author did not give any references or sources (I am sad), so I don’t know how to respond to it. Therefore I think I will study it first.

But I have some favorite lessons: 
Stand out, Be kind to our language, Investigate, Establish a private life, Distinguish certain words, and Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.

Luca Conti

Carolina Lopes

Hugo Ahlberg

Great little book that packs a punch! I can’t help feeling it’s a bit alarmist.. but that might also just be me being in denial of how bad Trump is and where USA are heading. I feel like he is less of a violent tyrant, and more of an agent of chaos and anti-elitist. (As of sept 2, 2020,. Will revisit this comment in the future🤞🏾 )

On Tyranny Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

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