On Tryanny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

On Tyranny is a small book - 126 pages in 20 short chapters - that packs a big wallop.

Timothy Snyder, a Yale historian who  recently relocated to the University of Toronto, has been a student of 20th century totalitarianism and the Holocaust. He wrote this book in 2017 in response to his alarm at the result of the 2016 presidential election.

He draws parallels between the rise of Nazism in Germany with the rise of Trump. He offers paths of resistance, like supporting institutions and not remaining silent. When it was published, the Times reviewer found it “overwrought” and reassured readers that we were protected by a free press, independent judiciary and a loyal civil service.

I can’t call this book a wakeup call, but it it is definitely both prescient and frightening….And, a quick, easy read.

~Reviewed by Bernard Aserkoff