As you are probably aware, I just read and posted responses to all 20 chapters of the book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder. Snyder is is an American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University.
Here’s a secret: I’ve owned the paperback edition for years but never made it past chapter 2 or 3(!) I found it interesting to read, but also hard to read. The subject matter is mostly a downer. It’s at times dry. Some of the historical references sent me to Wikipedia, and were often even more of a downer.
But it’s important reading, and I’m glad I read it. How I finished it was committing to read and post about it.
(I suppose I could’ve started a local book club, but that felt like too much of a commitment for everyone involved. Here I invite others to think and possibly read, but you’re under no commitment.)
On a logistical note, I checked the ebook out of my county library so I could cut-and-paste excerpts.
Living ~400lbs 