On Tyranny cover art

On Tyranny

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

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On Tyranny

By: Timothy Snyder
Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
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About this listen

History does not repeat, but it does instruct.

In the 20th century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised to protect them from global existential threats, and rejected reason in favour of myth. European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances. History can familiarise, and it can warn. Today we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the 20th century. But when the political order seems imperilled, our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny. Now is a good time to do so.

©2017 Timothy Snyder (P)2017 Random House 20th Century Modern Political Science Politics & Government Imperialism Russia Socialism Capitalism Interwar Period

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All stars
Most relevant
Everybody in the Western world needs to read this. Right away.
I'm going to buy multiple copies and distribute them.

Will buy multiple copies to distribute

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This is an important and timely contribution to understanding out turbulent times through lessons from history. #neveragain

Mandatory for everyone with a sense of civic duty

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This book shows is why history is important - to understand our own times and where we are headed. Snyder gives us crucial learnings from the past do we can navigate our present.

What are historians for?

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An excellent - and important short essay to listen to. Mostly.

Alas, it becomes increasingly clear that the whole purpose of the essay is as a warning to the danger of a Trump administration. And here it becomes lost in its own hypocrisy and short sitedness.

Practically every example that the author uses can be used to define the behavior of the left, as well as the right. After going through the lessons in the essay, then looking at democrats and their behavior with Biden and Harris is quite shocking.

The essay is wholly unbalanced and a typical academic view of the world - its really interesting, make no mistake, but the fact that I can count the number of fascists I have met in my near 50 years on this planet on one hand, vs the vast number of leftists that saturate almost every aspect of education, media and life in general makes his complaints about the right seem really bizarre.

Since the 1970's the danger was never with the Right in the West when it comes to Tyranny. The danger is firmly, solidly with the new Middle Class Left - they have an ideology. They believe that the ends justifies the means, so it is ok to lie, to manipulate, to riot, to control behavior, to limit freedom of speech, to punish dissidents, to destroy. After all, they have the "greater good" in mind. It is here where the focus of the tyranny and the lessons of the book lead the reader.

Excellent. Except the obvious hypocrisy.

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Great Narration. I did agree with a lot but not all. Even so, it made me think outside the box.

Must Read for today's problems

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