On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

An oversimplification of a complex issue with little usable information or "lessons". Feels weak and shallow.

On Tyranny is an extended essay on how to recognize and oppose tyranny. Written for an American audience in the Trump era, I was surprisingly recommended this book most often by my non-American friends. This book is to help one recognize the telltale signs of impending tyranny & how to oppose it. It's broken up into 20 short chapters in easy-to-read writing. Timothy Snyder's points are short & concise. Yet, I found a bit too many issues with this book for my comfort. First, On Tyranny's points a bit too generalistic & vague. Almost every lesson pulls from Hitler's Nazi Germany or Stalin's Communist Russia. Even though we can point at them and say that they're bad, I found a lack of references outside these two shallow. Few, if any, references were made to other lessons from the turbulent, yet rich, history of the 20th Century. The recommended actions were too vague to be useful. "Believe in the Truth," "don't obey bad people," "read more," among other things. The issue is that people who support Tyranny often believe that they are on the righteous side. With so many strawmen arguments, the recommended actions are too vague to make this a proper "handbook against Tyranny." My final issue is that no sources were cited for claims. None. Every claim is shallow with little fleshing out before you start the next chapter. For a book about "lessons from the twentieth century" I was expecting more lessons. For a history professor, I was expecting Timothy Snyder to elaborate on his points much more than he did. I understand that this book can be a handy guide that's easy to read for anyone. But its over-focus on Trump-Hitler-Stalin & oversimplified points is less useful than it seems. 2/5.

Fantastic introduction to authoritarianism and what to be on the look-out for in our current political climate. Snyder draws parallels from history but let’s the reader decide what they’ll make of it… challenges the individual to action and is a clear guide for what seems, sadly, too relevant to today.

Clearly written about the subtle Democracy's slide into a fascist state; it is happening with this administration. He explains how other Democracy's turned into fascist states and what every American citizen should be on the lookout for; clear everyday examples and historical examples make this a hell of a must read. Read it and give it to a friend or even a nice stranger.