The road to unfreedom, as Snyder sees it, is one that runs right over the Enlightenment faith in reason and the reasonableness of others - the very underpinning, that is, of our institutions and values. In his chilling “Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin,” Snyder explored the ghastly consequences of tyranny and the breakdown of human values and norms in the center of Europe. Worse, we are prepared to deny the humanity and rights of others. We are living in dangerous times, Timothy Snyder argues forcefully and eloquently in his new book, “The Road to Unfreedom.” Too many of us, leaders and followers, are irresponsible, rejecting ideas that don’t fit our preconceptions, refusing discussion and rejecting compromise. We don’t like the parallels between the West then and now: the rise of intolerant nationalist right-wing parties the loss of faith in democratic institutions and the longing for a strong leader the demonization of minorities like Jews or Muslims or the unwillingness or inability of democracies to work together. Historians of the first half of the 20th century take little pleasure in today’s renewed interest in their subject. THE ROAD TO UNFREEDOM Russia, Europe, America By Timothy Snyder 359 pp.
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