On Tyranny

Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
History does not repeat, but it does instruct. European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances. Today, we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century. This book deals with this topic.

**NEW YORK TIMES #1 BESTSELLER **

THE BOOK TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHY DEMOCRACY IS FAILING IN 2025

‘The most coherent manifesto on confronting Trump’ New Statesman

In the twentieth century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised to protect them from global existential threats, and rejected reason in favour of myth.

European history shows us that societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances.

Today, we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century. But when the political order seems imperilled, our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny.

'These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten' Observer

‘Clarifying and unnerving… a memorable work that is grounded in history yet imbued with the fierce urgency of what now.’ Washington Post

'Please read this book. So smart, so timely.' George Saunders

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