On Freedom

On Freedom is … penetrating in its analysis of our current crises…and clear in its prescriptions for change … This is a rigorous and visionary argument … to his prescriptions for freedom you might add three more: buy or borrow this book, read it, take it to heart * Observer * Written with such panache that one cannot fail to be impressed by the author’s eloquence and learning … Profoundly humane * The Times * We hear of freedom, but do we grasp it? In these hard times for liberty, On Freedom offers a deep inquiry arising from a diversity of perspectives. It makes the case that freedom, once explored and understood, is the way forward to good government. We are all fortunate that Professor Snyder has shown us the way -- President Volodymyr Zelens'kyi Invaluable ... intellectually rich, yet personal ... passionate -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times * Timothy Snyder is one of our most original and perceptive thinkers, on the history of Europe, on American politics, and now, on freedom. Everyone who cares about freedom - what it means and what it takes to preserve it - should read this book -- Anne Applebaum There's nothing else like On Freedom. This time the acclaimed historian draws not just from global history but his own. The result is a wonderfully provocative and profoundly persuasive book. Snyder leads us away from our misconception that freedom is just the removal of what stands in our way and toward a project of liberty that, through active engagement and commitment to the common good, we can achieve together -- J. J. Abrams A must-read. Timothy Snyder is one of the leading minds of our times. This new book draws from his work as an historian of central Europe, his travelling and moving encounters in Ukraine at war, and his thinking on how democracy, pluralism and wealth inequality will look like in 2076 United States and the world at large -- Thomas Piketty Much like life itself, freedom needs to defined and redefined ... On Freedom offers fresh insight into essential aspects of human existence - the values and obligations inherent in every individual's life -- Ai Weiwei A great and daring book … magnificent. Above all, Snyder’s insightful and powerful work reminds us that freedom is about humanity, and that creating a better world is up to us -- Heather Cox Richardson Passionate, intimate, compelling - a clarion call for principle and commitment in a time of tumult and challenge -- Philippe Sands Thanks to Snyder, the maps are drawn, and the direction is clear. We stand against tyranny, but we march for freedom. The work is ours to undertake for the sake of all who live today and all who follow -- Shoshana Zuboff The excellence of On Freedom will come as no surprise to those who have already read Snyder's books on the Ukraine and on those countries whose geography and history nailed them down in the past between Hitler and Stalin. He writes comprehensively and with great knowledge about the threats which liberal democracies everywhere face today from authoritarian states and from extremist populists. It deserves to be widely read by all who value democracy and the rule of law -- Chris Patten Timothy Snyder puts to work his talent as a historian, thinker and activist to reexamine the meaning of one of the key human values which has been under attack on a scale unseen since the 1930s. Starting his journey in Ukraine, continuing it into the rest of Europe and the United States, he argues that there is no need to trade freedom for security, and to be free one should not only deny but also affirm. A powerful call for action when it is needed the most -- Serhii Plokhy A vital book at a time when America and so much of the 'free world' has lost its way. Just when the concept of 'freedom' seemed to have been killed off by forces who abuse it as the 'freedom' to hurt others, Snyder intervenes and brings you into a process akin to intellectual open heart surgery to make freedom beat better than it ever has -- Peter Pomerantsev Years ago, inside a prison in Port-o-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, a man asked if I’d ever felt free while incarcerated. Snyder’s On Freedom reminds me that sometimes, in those cells, I was free as I'll ever be, nurturing imaginative tomorrows, knowing the art of dreaming made those dreams more real than the handcuffs that then bound my wrists. What more can any of us want than a reminder that our freedom, in being the most powerful future tense we have, gives more deliberate meaning to our todays -- Dwayne Betts Fascinating. Part deeply personal memoir, part political manifesto, part philosophical poem, On Freedom captures the voice of one of today's most important Western public intellectuals -- Ivan Krastev PRAISE FOR TIMOTHY SNYDER A scholar of great distinction and authority * The Times * A Yale university historian whose work deserves to be read and reread * Economist * A hugely important historian * Evening Standard * [A] remarkable and original historian -- Timothy Garton Ash