Review by Bill Doughty––
When Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” was first published several years ago it was the size of a large slice of bread. Now, with stunning art by Nora Krug, it’s been republished by Ten Speed Press (an imprint of Random House, 2021) in a stunning graphic edition and is accessible to visually oriented readers.
Sandwiched between the covers –– in both hardbound and softbound versions –– are colorful nuggets of history, information, wisdom, and outright warnings. Speaking of history…
Using pretexts and distorted history as justification for his aggression is nothing new to Putin, who previously invaded Crimea and occupied Georgia, with his sights set on other former Soviet areas.
Timothy Snyder gave us warnings about Putin, showing how the Russian president came to power as a “terror manager,” targeting Muslims in Chechnya, seizing control of private media, removing elected regional governors, and invading Ukraine in 2014 with his own paramilitary force of soldiers with insignia removed from their uniforms.
“In the campaign for the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine, Russia deployed Chechen irregulars and sent units of its regular army based in Muslim regions to join the invasion. Russia also tried (but failed) to hack the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election. In April 2015, Russian hackers took over the transmission of a French television station, pretended to be ISIS and then broadcast material designed to terrorize France … In early 2016, Russia manufactured a moment of fake terror in Germany while bombing Syrian civilians and thus driving Muslim refugees to Europe.”
Of course, Putin also interfered in U.S. elections, especially in 2016. Snyder warns that accepting radical untruths [and a Big Lie] “requires a blatant abandonment of reason.” As featured in other Navy Reads reviews, Snyder promotes books and reading as an antidote to post-truth tyranny.
Snyder defines various “isms,” including patriotism. He says authoritarianism takes root when people choose to be bystanders; one person can make a big difference. Beware of symbols worn or shown as gestures of pride that separate instead of unite. Understand the tie between greed and corruption. And know the importance of clear and concise language.
German American artist Nora Krug employs, in her words, “a variety of visual styles and techniques to emphasize the fragmentary nature of memory and to acknowledge the emotive effects of historical events.” Her illustrations give Snyder’s words a poetic feel.
Here are some related “found haiku” from “On Tyranny”:
Most of the power
of authoritarianism
is freely given
What might seem like a
gesture of pride can be a
source of exclusion
Billionaire is some-
one who can pay neither his
taxes nor his debts
Make an effort to
separate yourself from the
Internet. Read books
Authoritarians want to ban books and control media. “More than half a century ago, the classic novels of totalitarianism waned of the domination of screens, the suppression of books, the narrowing of vocabularies, and the associated difficulties of thought.
The bread and butter of resisting authoritarians is this: read more.
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis is a great author and curator of books and author. His latest book is "Sailor's Bookshelf," published at the end of last year by Naval Institute Press. Here’s what Stavridis had to say today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” about Putin’s further invasion of Ukraine last night: “This would be like the United States deciding that the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta had historical resonance for the United States because American fur trappers operated up there, because we speak the same language; therefore we ought to be able to impose our will on those provinces. It’s absurd.”
Putin observes an exercise in the Black Sea off Crimea last year. (VOA file)
Stavridis says it’s time to “lower the hammer” with significant sanctions as part of deterrence efforts, and that we should “continue to rally the international community. Every nation, every democratic nation oughta stand up and oppose this.”
“Timothy Snyder is brilliant. On Tyranny is a must read, a clear-eyed guidebook for anyone seeking to learn from history to help us understand the present. It is a manual for how to protect and preserve Democracy. The past teaches us that we, as individuals, must act to reaffirm and protect the freedoms and institutions that we collectively cherish. Listen, learn, be kind and courageous. This stunning new edition beautifully illustrated by Nora Krug makes the lessons jump off the page, into our hearts, filling us with the urgent imperative: act now, before it is too late.”—Ken Burns
“A more concise, profound, or essential book on the subject does not exist. Snyder’s masterwork is a stunning reminder of the myriad, insidious forms oppression takes. Now beautifully illustrated by Nora Krug, On Tyranny is a bellwether for what we must be awake to, and fight against.”—J.J. Abrams, filmmaker, Star Trek and Star Wars: The Force Awakens
(Top Photo: U.S. President Joe Biden holds virtual talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin amid Western fears that Moscow plans to attack Ukraine, Situation Room at the White House in Washington, Dec. 7, 2021 –– Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day)
No comments:
Post a Comment