The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy was thought to be absolute. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. But we now know this to be premature. Authoritarianism first returned in Russia, as Putin developed a political system dedicated solely to the consolidation and exercise of power. In the last six years, it has creeped from east to west as nationalism inflames Europe, abetted by Russian propaganda and cyberwarfare. While countries like Poland and Hungary have made hard turns towards authoritarianism, the electoral upsets of 2016 revealed the citizens of the US and UK in revolt against their countries' longstanding policies and values.
But this threat to the West also presents the opportunity to better understand the pillars of our own political order. In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy. By showcasing 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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Reviews for The Road to Unfreedom
109 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road To Unfreedomby Tim Snyder 2018 Tim Duggan Books5 / 5If your wondering just how deep-how involved- Donald Trump is with Russia, this book will make you sweat. His ties with Putin have a long history and is much deeper and longer. Putinś ´Politics of Inevitablity´ , his stabilization of massive inequality, the displacement of policy by propaganda, the ¨fake news¨ are some ways Putin used to spread confusion, distrust and discredit journalists, beginning 20 or more years ago. How he rose to power and drove out opponents, by attacking the individual vs. totalitarianism. Russia still claims no responsibility for the war with the Ukraine. This book shows how Putin helped Trump, a failed real estate developer, into a recipient of capitol. To portray that failed real estate developer as a wealthy American businessman on TV and to finally intervene and support this person in the 2016 election. No surprise he called Putin first to be congratulated.Putins buying of Trump began before the 1990ś. He taught Trump one lesson: strategic relativism.*Russia cannot become stronger, so it must make others appear weak, as weal as Russia.*Putin can´t change his own reputation, so he must change how others view his opponents.p. 267: ¨Trump adopted the Russian double standard: he was permitted to lie all the time, but any minor error by a journalist discredited the entire profession of journalism.¨ ¨He referred to them as the ´enemy of the American people´ and claimed what they produced was ¨fake news¨. Trump was proud of these formulations, although both were Russian.¨It was more important to try to humiliate a black president than it was to defend the independence of the USA. Putin waited to find an easy and vulnerable candidate. He has groomed Trump for years, training him to do his dirty work. Trump still does not get it. This is a chilling and detailed history of the Soviet Union and EU- the Ukraine and Russia. The history of the countries and their political histories are detailed. And how it affects the USA-how deeply Putin has been able to begin to turn us from a democratic country to a much more vulnerable and easily controlled state of authoritarian rule. He commandeered Trump to be his pony...his boy......to make confusion, rhetoric and fake news become the norm.Because you can´t change Russia.But you can try to change the way the rest of the world views your biggest opponent. With Trump in the White House it is that much easier to convince the rest of the world that Russia is not much different than the USA. So Putin is just like us......Russia is innocent. Russia is pure. Its the USA that we should fear.......Put down ´Fear´ and read this. It actually is a more true and real account of what kind of monster Trump is.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tracks Russia’s propaganda (and at times physical) assault on Ukraine, Europe, and the US. Snyder argues that Russia has fallen under the spell of “eternal time”—in which people believe that nothing can change for the better, and so all that can bring relief/pleasure is a mythic past nationhood that must always be asserted against enemies. Europe and the US were complacent, believing that there was no alternative to modern capitalism—but autocracy was waiting, and has succeeded in placing its representative in the US Presidency. Very distressing look at the theorists, if you can call them that, behind Russia’s export of autocracy, as well as at how Russia invaded Ukraine but got the world to ignore that fact.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An excellent book with an thought provoking message. #brexit #trump
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Like the first half, gets murky in the second half when Trump gets smuggled in;
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Although I relish anything that bashes Trump, and I completely believe that Russia influenced elections in the US and elsewhere, I thought that the author verged on paranoia in this book. Russia really can't be completely responsible for the current crisis of character in the US (or for Brexit for that matter). We are perfectly capable of bad behavior without any foreign intervention. I would have found this book more credible had it been more balanced. I listened to the audiobook and the author should not have read his own book. He frequently puts pauses in the wrong place, thus awkwardly breaking thoughts. His book "On Tyranny" was better.
1 person found this helpful