On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
At 126 pages. Timothy Snyder, the Levin Professor of History at Yale University, offers a guide to understanding and averting tyranny. by sharing stories from authoritarian regimes in twenty chapters. These 20 lessons from the twentieth century is a defense of democracy and freedom. They include, Don't obey in advance, Take responsibility for the face of the world, Defend institutions, Remember Professional ethics, Believe in truth, Establish a private life, Be a patriot.
Snyder finishes the book with a short epilogue contrasting two views of politics that he views as anti-historical, the politics of inevitability, the sense that history could move in only one direction: towards liberal democracy, and the politics of eternity, which is concerned with the past, but in a self-absorbed way, free of any real concern with facts.
"In the politics of eternity, the seduction by a mythicized past prevents us from thinking about possible futures. The habit of dwelling on victimhood dulls the impulse of shelf-correction. Since the nation is defined by its inherent virtue rather than by its future potential, polics becomes a discussion of good and evil rather than a discussion of possible solutions to real problems. Since the crisis is permanent, the sense of emergency is always present; planning for the future semms impossible or even disloyal. How can even think of reform when the evemy is always at the gate? "