On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century — by Timothy Snyder

Side note: Sorry all, I thought I had posted this several months ago but it was actually just stuck in a draft version. Whoops. Better late than never.

Sometime in the fall of 2019, I was enjoying a round of disc golf with a good friend. This friend — let’s just call him Kevin — also happens to be a history professor at Gonzaga University. After some discussion of the horrors of the day laid out by my federal government, I commented that the history classes that I’ve taken in the past (or the history books I’ve read) tend to lay out the historical record in a very linear, causational manner: A lead to B, which then obviously lead to C, and so on.

The problem we face as we live through what will one day be referred to as “history” is that it is hard to see where things are headed. It’s hard to know when to roll my eyes versus pack my bags and get my family the hell out of the country. I’m sure millions of Jews wished for the same clarity and the ability to accurately assess just how bad things were in the early 1930’s.

Stemming from that line of thought, I asked Kevin if he had any book recommendations to help identify and magnify the warning signs of a culture drifting into psychopathic behavior and authoritarian rule. The immediate recommendation was On Tyranny by Tim Snyder.

Snyder, professor of history at Yale University, has a deep background and depth of knowledge in twentieth century European history, specifically German and Russian history. You know, Holocaust stuff. The guy knows his subject when it comes to discussing authoritarian regimes. This base of knowledge allows him to be succinct and to the point with his observations. Clocking in at all of 126 pages, On Tyranny gives twenty warning signs for citizens to pay attention to. Things like believe in truth (if nothing is true then there is no basis on which to criticize those in power), listen for dangerous words (extremism, terrorism, emergency and exception are often followed by demands for curtailed liberties), stand out (it is easy to follow along; it can feel strange to do or say something different but without that unease, there is no freedom). And so on.

Five stars for this one. Well-written, short and important. What else could you want in a book? Go track down a copy here: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/990509806