Twilight of Democracy
Educational
Intense
Meaningful

Twilight of Democracy The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends

Anne Applebaum ā€” 2020
Anne Applebaum is a leading historian of communism and a penetrating investigator of contemporary politics. Here she sets her sights on the big question, one with which she herself has been deeply engaged in both Europe and America: how did our democracy go wrong? This extraordinary document, written with urgency, intelligence and understanding, is her answer. Timothy Snyder Friendships torn. Ideals betrayed. Alliances broken. In this, her most personal book, a great historian explains why so many of those who won the battles for democracy or have spent their lives proclaiming its values are now succumbing to liars, thugs and crooks. Analysis, reportage and memoir, Twilight of Democracy fearlessly tells the shameful story of a political generation gone bad. David Frum In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually - as this book compellingly relates - the relationships soured too. Anne Applebaum traces this history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades. When politics becomes polarized, which side do you back? If you are a journalist, an intellectual, a civic leader, how do you deal with the re-emergence of authoritarian or nationalist ideas in your country? When your leaders appropriate history, or pedal conspiracies, or eviscerate the media and the judiciary, do you go along with it? Twilight of Democracy is an essay that combines the personal and the political in an original way and brings a fresh understanding to the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both now and in the recent past.
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Reviews

Photo of Amelia Raptis
Amelia Raptis@shmeils
3 stars
Feb 3, 2024

It definitely had some truth to it, and valid judgement packed with detailed history and factual evidence, but it got draggy and boring. Not a waste of time, however, but it couldā€™ve been 75 pages shorter.

Photo of Jorge Cimentada
Jorge Cimentada@cimentadaj
2 stars
Jul 19, 2021

I found that this book was more anectodal than a proper political analysis of the decline of democracy. Full of personal notes on how the author interacts with her colleagues, this gave me the impression it was more a rant towards her friends, discussing the gossip that is always present in the high echelons of society. She does touch upon some important points but the arguments were extremely shallow and I wouldn't trust this as a reliable source to be used in serious political arguments. I was expecting some thorough political analysis from a pulitzer prize winner journalist. In any case, two stars because some points were ok. What I got from this book: Some people cannot handle complexity and thus go for simpler political ideas, usually embraced by new comer parties such as Law and Order, Vox, Viktor Orban and Donald Trump. One thing that struck me from the her comments is how many of these parties openly oppose democratic processes and once they're in power the openly change the rules to suppress dissidents (Poland, Hungary right now). Aside from that, the book offers shallow political arguments.

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Michal@micardo214
4 stars
Dec 17, 2023
Photo of Nica Rhiana
Nica Rhiana@paperback
4 stars
Apr 16, 2023
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Kym@kym
3 stars
Oct 4, 2022
+3
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Sebastian Leck@sebastianleck
4 stars
Jul 4, 2024
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Rob@robcesq
5 stars
Dec 28, 2023
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dee šŸŠ@dndulay
4 stars
Jul 16, 2023
Photo of JoĆ£o Quaresma
JoĆ£o Quaresma @jmquaresma
3 stars
Jan 3, 2023
Photo of Elda Mengisto
Elda Mengisto@eldaam
4 stars
Oct 12, 2022
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Audrey@audedge
3 stars
Jul 29, 2022
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Mirella Hetekivi@euphoricdopamine
5 stars
May 24, 2022
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Beth Root@tartybee6198
5 stars
Mar 13, 2022
Photo of Leslie Stinson
Leslie Stinson@lstinson
3 stars
Dec 8, 2021
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Trish @trishbovell
4 stars
Nov 23, 2021
Photo of Andrew Marti
Andrew Marti@amarti
4 stars
Sep 14, 2021
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Laura@eda
4 stars
Sep 2, 2021

Highlights

Photo of Nica Rhiana
Nica Rhiana@paperback

The ā€œauthoritarian predispositionā€ [i]s not exactly the same as closed-mindedness. It is better described as simple-mindedness: people are often attracted to authoritarian ideas because they are bothered by complexity. They dislike divisiveness. They prefer unity.

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