On Freedom

Preview

Failed to add items

Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.

Add to basket failed.

Please try again later

Add to wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Remove from wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Adding to library failed

Please try again

Follow podcast failed

Unfollow podcast failed

Try Premium Plus free

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.

Access exclusive sales and deals.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

On Freedom

By: Timothy Snyder

Narrated by: Timothy Snyder

Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of On Tyranny comes a brilliant exploration of freedom – what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival.

Freedom is our great commitment, but we have lost sight of what it means – leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state power: we think we’re free if we can do and say as we please. But true freedom isn’t so much freedom from, as freedom to – the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.

Drawing on the work of philosophers and political dissidents, conversations with contemporary thinkers and his own experiences, Snyder identifies the practices and attitudes that will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish. Intimate yet ambitious, this book forges a new consensus rooted in a politics of abundance, generosity and grace.

On Tyranny inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom; On Freedom helps us see exactly what we’re fighting for. It is a thrilling intellectual journey and a tour de force of political philosophy.

‘In these hard times for liberty, On Freedom makes the case that freedom, once explored and understood, is the way forward’ PRESIDENT ZELENSKY

‘Everyone who cares about freedom should read this book’ ANNE APPLEBAUM

‘Passionate, intimate, compelling – a clarion call’ PHILIPPE SANDS

© Timothy Snyder 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Freedom & Security

Political Science

Politics & Government

Freedom

Socialism

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Origins of Totalitarianism cover art

Critic reviews

On Freedom is … penetrating in its analysis of our current crises…and clear in its prescriptions for change … This is a rigorous and visionary argument … to his prescriptions for freedom you might add three more: buy or borrow this book, read it, take it to heart

Written with such panache that one cannot fail to be impressed by the author’s eloquence and learning … Profoundly humane

We hear of freedom, but do we grasp it? In these hard times for liberty, On Freedom offers a deep inquiry arising from a diversity of perspectives. It makes the case that freedom, once explored and understood, is the way forward to good government. We are all fortunate that Professor Snyder has shown us the way (President Volodymyr Zelens'kyi)

Invaluable ... intellectually rich, yet personal ... passionate (Martin Wolf)

Timothy Snyder is one of our most original and perceptive thinkers, on the history of Europe, on American politics, and now, on freedom. Everyone who cares about freedom - what it means and what it takes to preserve it - should read this book (Anne Applebaum)

There's nothing else like On Freedom. This time the acclaimed historian draws not just from global history but his own. The result is a wonderfully provocative and profoundly persuasive book. Snyder leads us away from our misconception that freedom is just the removal of what stands in our way and toward a project of liberty that, through active engagement and commitment to the common good, we can achieve together (J. J. Abrams)

A must-read. Timothy Snyder is one of the leading minds of our times. This new book draws from his work as an historian of central Europe, his travelling and moving encounters in Ukraine at war, and his thinking on how democracy, pluralism and wealth inequality will look like in 2076 United States and the world at large (Thomas Piketty)

Much like life itself, freedom needs to defined and redefined ... On Freedom offers fresh insight into essential aspects of human existence - the values and obligations inherent in every individual's life (Ai Weiwei)

A great and daring book … magnificent. Above all, Snyder’s insightful and powerful work reminds us that freedom is about humanity, and that creating a better world is up to us (Heather Cox Richardson)

Passionate, intimate, compelling - a clarion call for principle and commitment in a time of tumult and challenge (Philippe Sands)

Most relevant

Timely lessons of our times. Greatly enjoyed author’s narration too. Dr. Snyder has a calming and soft spoken voice, it befits the personal stories and gives hope and prompts actions.

It's deeply moving that a scholar overcomes the vulnerability of being “not scholarly”, especially under today’s social and online climate, to share the many personal experiences through which the concept of freedom is given concrete shape.

Behind a lofty concept, it’s the actual people that readers can relate to. This is the beginning of solidarity, and also of a two-job dilemma for a public intellectual.

By actively engaging in public discourse and writing so called “popular books”, one risks losing the aura of “serious” scholarship and be opened to attack and mockery as a media personnel.

The attempt of this book makes me think of the late Tony Judt, a great historian who was teacher and friend of Tim Snyder. Judt, who also straddled the role of a scholar and a public intellectual, had observed how“popularizing - much less venturing beyond one's secure turf - was frowned upon” in the academia, and perhaps also among the public, from what I read in some other reviews here.

However, the mentioning of natural sciences is one of my favourite elements in this. There should be nothing wrong with a historian speaking about quantum physics, a subject too often mystified, but in fact is quite straightforward and fascinating. Humanities is never an isolated subject, just like we humans are always part of the Earth and its lives. I hope more authors can brave themselves to straddle disciplines.

It’s not that surprising to see how certain group of people are indignant about the approach. Maybe they were expecting something like John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, but were unexpected encountered by a white man pointing out reality, including the prevalent racism in the US. It’s also a bit comical to see how they take for granted that their comfortableness should be prioritised, thus the negative review for the author’s failure to meet the requirement.

The book is very inspiring. It gives me ideas about freedom and history that I never thought before. There are episodes where the prose has a drier and more academic style, so I would recommend the audio version, which for me smoothed understanding.