The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, AmericaNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of On Tyranny comes a stunning new chronicle of the rise of authoritarianism from Russia to Europe and America. “A brilliant analysis of our time.”—Karl Ove Knausgaard, The New Yorker With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy seemed final. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. This faith was misplaced. Authoritarianism returned to Russia, as Vladimir Putin found fascist ideas that could be used to justify rule by the wealthy. In the 2010s, it has spread from east to west, aided by Russian warfare in Ukraine and cyberwar in Europe and the United States. Russia found allies among nationalists, oligarchs, and radicals everywhere, and its drive to dissolve Western institutions, states, and values found resonance within the West itself. The rise of populism, the British vote against the EU, and the election of Donald Trump were all Russian goals, but their achievement reveals the vulnerability of Western societies. In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, based on vast research as well as personal reporting, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy and law. To understand the challenge is to see, and perhaps renew, the fundamental political virtues offered by tradition and demanded by the future. By revealing the stark choices before us--between equality or oligarchy, individuality or totality, truth and falsehood--Snyder restores our understanding of the basis of our way of life, offering a way forward in a time of terrible uncertainty. |
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User Review - Stbalbach - LibraryThingThe Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 created a reading problem. Nothing seemed relevant or as important as current events. I picked up and put down many books in favor of Reddit feeds ... Read full review
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User Review - rynk - LibraryThingThe temptation is to skip to the part about this Russia thing with Trump and Russia. Snyder does a good job using public sources to knit together a narrative on Russian influence and disinformation ... Read full review
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Bibliographic information
| Title | The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America |
| Author | Timothy Snyder |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Crown, 2019 |
| ISBN | 0525574476, 9780525574477 |
| Length | 368 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Modern / 21st Century Political Science / Comparative Politics Political Science / International Relations / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |