On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century (Live Reading)

"Approach this short book the same you would a medical pamphlet warning about an infectious disease. Read it carefully and be on the lookout for symptoms...”

History does not repeat, but it does instruct. The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. On Tyranny emphasizes the importance of being active, conscious, and deliberate participants in resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.

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This is a live reading of Timothy Snyder's bestselling 2017 book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, a practical, everyday guide for recognizing and resisting the slide into various forms of tyranny and totalitarianism. Each of the lessons are short, about 1 to 3 pages. We will have an open discussion after reading out loud each one.

Our first meeting is on Sunday February 16. We will have as many meetings as needed to finish the book.

You don't have to do any preparation or reading in advance. If you want to follow along with the text at the meetup, you can access the book online here (there's also a button on the page for downloading the pdf) or purchase a hard copy here.

The book's 20 lessons:

1. Do not obey in advance.
2. Defend institutions.
3. Beware the one-party state.
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world.
5. Remember professional ethics.
6. Be wary of paramilitaries.
7. Be reflective if you must be armed.
8. Stand out.
9. Be kind to our language.
10. Believe in truth.
11. Investigate.
12. Make eye contact and small talk.
13. Practice corporeal politics.
14. Establish a private life.
15. Contribute to good causes.
16. Learn from peers in other countries.
17. Listen for dangerous words.
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
19. Be a patriot.
20. Be as courageous as you can.

About the author: Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He specializes in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. His many books include On Freedom (2024), Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010) and The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999 (2003),