forcefemjdwon reviewed On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Read State and Revolution instead
1 star
This is a work of exceptionally poor liberal political theory, doomed to be so because of the author's lack of historical education and historical materialist perspective as well as his commitment to a short "pop" style structure. The author makes fundamental errors on defining communism and fascism by avoiding the question of political economy, and as a result his explanation on what "tyranny" is and how to fight it is hollow. His anti-communist views lead to glaring historical omissions that result in outright misinformation. For instance, he complains about Austrians complying in advance with the Nazis in 1938, but this completely ignores the defeat of anti-fascist forces in the 1934 Austrian Civil War. In general, his suggestions to fight "tyranny" are platitudes with little substance. There are surely better works on the subject out there by actual anti-fascists.
This is a work of exceptionally poor liberal political theory, doomed to be so because of the author's lack of historical education and historical materialist perspective as well as his commitment to a short "pop" style structure. The author makes fundamental errors on defining communism and fascism by avoiding the question of political economy, and as a result his explanation on what "tyranny" is and how to fight it is hollow. His anti-communist views lead to glaring historical omissions that result in outright misinformation. For instance, he complains about Austrians complying in advance with the Nazis in 1938, but this completely ignores the defeat of anti-fascist forces in the 1934 Austrian Civil War. In general, his suggestions to fight "tyranny" are platitudes with little substance. There are surely better works on the subject out there by actual anti-fascists.