Timothy Snyder’s latest work, “The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America,” is the historian’s critique of patterns and trends that should sound alarm bells. In Dr. Snyder’s view, the rise of authoritarianism in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, who has used fascist ideas to justify rule by the wealthy, is a threat worthy of sounding the alarm for all democratic countries. This pattern of strongman politics has spread from east to west, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyberwar in Europe and the United States.
European politics has seen an increase in nationalists, oligarchs and radicals everywhere, with the intent to drive the dissolution of Western institutions, states and values. Populism was used in the Brexit referendum for the U.K to leave the European Union, and it was used by the Russians to influence the 2016 election of President Donald Trump. This showed Western vulnerabilities to Russian subversion, Prof. Snyder argues.
Prof. Snyder states in the prologue that: this book “delves into Russian, Ukrainian, European and American history as necessary to define the political problems of the present, and to dispel some of the myths that enshroud them. It draws on primary sources from the countries concerned, and seeks patterns and concepts that help us make sense of our own time.”
The book concludes with a call to action, encouraging readers “to take a hard, unflinching look at the current state of our own political order and seek out the truth,” a press release about the new book noted.
Prof. Snyder comments: “Final truth in this world is unattainable, but its pursuit leads the individual away from unfreedom. The temptation to believe what feels right assails us at all times from all directions. Authoritarianism begins when we can no longer tell the difference between the true and the appealing. The cynic who decides that there is no truth is the citizen who welcomes the tyrant.”
Prof. Snyder, of New Haven, Conn., is the Levin Professor of History at Yale University and the author of “On Tyranny,” “Black Earth,” and “Bloodlands.” His work has received the American Academy of Arts and Letters award, the Hannah Arendt Prize and the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding.
Readers may obtain copies of the book (hardcover, e-book and audio book) at booksellers and online retailers, or by contacting the publisher, Tim Duggan Books, telephone, 212-572-2537, or via its website, https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/570367/the-road-to-unfreedom-by-timothy-snyder.