Historian Timothy Snyder’s latest book, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” is a short pocket-sized book of 127 pages broken down into 20 chapters.
Chapters headings are: Do not obey; Defend institutions; Beware the one-party state; Take responsibility for the faces of the world; Remember professional ethics; Be wary of paramilitaries; Be reflective if you must be armed; Stand out; Be kind to our language; Believe in truth; Investigate; Make eye contact and small talk; Practice corporeal politics; Establish a private life; Contribute to good causes; Learn from peers in other countries; Listen for dangerous words; Be calm when the unthinkable arrives; Be a patriot; and Be as courageous as you can.
The book is an outline of how to resist tyrannical methods based on the lessons of the 20th century experience and underscores how relevant these lessons are today with the rise of nationalistic politics. Prof. Snyder notes in his prologue: “Americans today are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism or communism in the 20th century. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so…”
As noted in a press release, the book was the product of a November 2016 Facebook post by Prof. Snyder, just days after the presidential election that received more than 1 million views and shares. “On Tyranny” offers frustrated citizens practical advice from the past, adapted for the world of today.
Prof. Snyder is the Houssum Professor of History at Yale University, and is the author of “Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin” and “Black Earth: The Holocaust at History and Warning,” Dr. Snyder is a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a permanent fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.
Readers may obtain copies of “On Tyranny” by contacting Tim Duggan Books, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019; telephone, 212-572-2537; or online at www.TimDugganBooks.com or www.Timothy Snyder.org.