On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder (Book 2 Blog 2)

In the book “On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century,” Timothy Snyder shows us how history doesn’t repeat itself, rather it is an instruction manual for how people should behave moving forward. The book is broken down into 20 chapters, each of which is a lesson from the twentieth century. The first few lessons of the book give insight into some of the ways dictators manipulate civilians and eventually get them to follow them. Snyder gives some tips on some of the signs of this and how to avoid them as civilians can be influenced pretty easily. The next few lessons exhibit how dictators sway people higher up in the government to leave behind their morals and commit war crimes to help the dictator achieve their goals. The middle of the book details how people can defend themselves and stand out for what they believe in and defend against the lies of the authoritarian regime. This involves believing in truth and doing the necessary research to find out what is the truth. In the latter half of the book, it talks about how people must still try to live their lives even in the presence of a dictator. Additionally, while maintaining their lives, people should also contribute to good causes and learn from peers in other countries. The last couple chapters of the book tell the reader what they should do if their democracy is compromised and the dictatorship is put into place. These main lessons are to be calm, be a patriot, and to stay courageous. 

My biggest takeaway from this book is to be as courageous as you can. This was the last point that was discussed in the book, and although there were many important lessons that were brought up, I thought this was the most important one. Whether your country is in danger of being taken over or you want to start your own business, you must always be courageous. This point stands in every aspect of life. Having courage can take you to places you would’ve never gone without it. Also, in the context of this book, courage relates to society a lot more right now. This is evident in the war that is currently going on with Russia and Ukraine. Right now, it seems like the worst is coming for Ukraine, however, the civilians of Ukraine have not and should not feel deflated and lose their courage because once that is done, their country will be lost. Although Russia’s army is significantly bigger than that of Ukraine’s, the Ukrainian troops have been able to hold off the Russians. I believe this is strongly due to their will and courage to protect their country. And they will continue to do so if they keep it up.

I really enjoyed reading this book as it strongly relates to what is going on in our world today. These 20 lessons provide great insight into what people can do when their democracy is threatened, and I would recommend this book to everyone. In terms of the style and flow of the book, I thought it was great. As I stated, in my previous post, I tend to be a visual learner, so to read a graphic novel was very nice. Also, as we’ve learned in this class, it’s a lot easier to read something that is organized and broken down into points. And this is exactly how the book was written which made it very easy to understand and to fly by.