Cover Image: On Tyranny Graphic Edition

On Tyranny Graphic Edition

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Member Reviews

Thank you Net Galley for a graphic copy of On Tyranny. I am guilty for not reading a book synopsis, and judging a book by its cover. That being said, I felt like this book was based on the authors opinion. I felt like I was being brainwashed to think a different way than I do. Very disturbing.

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I enjoyed this graphic edition of On Tyranny, the information of which there was much, was in much more digestible pieces. While I will say a few passages made me flinch with what I felt was a bit of a panic spiral, but overall the novel has some very good advice to follow and fight the possible rise of a dictator in the US.

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On Tyranny begins with an examination of Nazi Germany and the behavior that led to the Holocaust. How can so many people obey authoritarian leadership, turning a blind eye to actual evil? When they believe they are in the right and elevated above those seen as Other.
Snyder offers small actions to resist a growing authoritarian government in America, comparing our current political climate to 20th century Russia and Germany.

The historical content is well-researched and pairs hauntingly with Nora Krug's artwork. My main criticism of the book is when Snyder begins to discuss the 2016 election. Referring to Trump as a nameless president and connecting his actions to authoritarianism is laughable. Be bold in your statements, and check your bias.

This work would be well received by liberal populations.

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I enjoyed this read. It was quite political but I agree we must learn from history. There are lots of comparisons to the rise of Hitler and the last president without actually naming him.

Would recommend.

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A beautifully illustrated graphic edition of On Tyranny which gives 20 lessons on recognizing and resisting tyranny. Nora Krug was a wonderful choice for the art with her mix of original art and photographs with hand written text. Her book Belonging also touched on fascism and Nazi Germany which is frequently used as an example in this book. Essential for those who want to resist and for those who may believe that there is no need as good will "inevitably" prevail (a notion this book thoroughly disputes). I only wish there had been fewer references to the 45th president, who is not named but whose election and time in office the book was clearly directed toward, as it distracts from some of the lessons.

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The book is an informative read and a cautionary tale on tyranny, drawing lessons from tyrannical regimes of the 20th century. The author has presented historical facts and inferred the lessons in a very simplistic manner which is accessible to a lot of people. My only qualm is that the title says 20 lessons from the 20 twentieth and promises to discuss fascist regimes such as Italy and Soviet Union, but there was only discussion on the Nazi propaganda. I personally think that the history of Nazi Germany is well known to people all around the world, and I would've liked to see discussion on other regimes. Also, I felt the author hesitated to discuss the presence of fascism in USA; there are a few indirect references, but nothing pinpointing the tyranny.

4 stars for the content, 5 stars for the artwork

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A unique graphic novel design to explain tyranny. Very informative with history for reference. With a Voldermort way of 'he who must not be named' American president.

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I haven’t read Snyder’s original edition but I enjoyed this short graphic edition all the same. The book is comprised of 20 key lessons and there are interesting and engaging illustrations throughout.

I did find some of the lessons a little bit repetitive and overly focused on America, but there were for sure some really insightful points.

Thank you to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I loved the original book, and think it's one of the most impactful books released in recent history.

The cutesy illustrations and backgrounds made the important message feel very dissonant.

I'd recommend getting the original over this edition.

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This is a sobering polemic on political apathy and a visually stunning reminder of the genuine threat that democracies face.

It cleverly uses historical examples to validate the points about the actions one should take to safeguard their democratic freedoms.

By mixing photographs, collages, and illustrations, Krug expertly amplifies Snyder’s message. The graphic edition is eloquent and impassioned in its call for all of us to make every effort we can to avoid tyranny. It can be rage-inducing to read but at its heart is the significance of being kind, being active and, as the book itself puts it, not accepting the traps of inevitability.

Along with Save It for Later by Nate Powell, On Tyranny is another excellent example of how persuasive graphic novels can be when exploring themes as complex and as perplexing as what we can do as individuals to make our communities and counties better places to live and prosper. Highly recommended.

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Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. Timothy Snyder is probably my favorite historian and I am endlessly fascinated by his lectures. He is a foremost expert on the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the holocaust, with much to teach about nazism and fascism. Although the contents of this book were not entirely new to me (On Tyranny was released in March 2017), it’s always worthwhile to review the twenty tips contained in this book.

I enjoyed the illustrations much more than expected. I usually find graphic novels confusing because I cannot discern which part is supposed to be read next. I did not have that problem with this book. The sequence was clearly indicated and graphics enhanced the narrative by being engaging and unique.

Overall, I was impressed and plan to purchase at least one copy so I can share it with friends and family.

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“On Tyranny” is a fantastic book that should be required reading for all. That said, I did not find this graphic version added much substance to Snyder’s narrative. I mainly hated the typography choice - it looked juvenile and messy (but maybe that’s what they were going for?). I also found some of the illustrations to be creepy and distracting from Snyder’s lessons. The visual storytelling just did not work for me in this format.

Thank you Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for an advanced readers copy. “On Tyranny” the Graphic Edition hits U.S. shelves October 4, 2021.

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This was a very interesting book to read. I wasn't sure what to expect because I do not normally read political non-fiction books, but I was pleasantly surprised. I really think that having the book in a graphic novel helped make the book feel less "heavy". It was clear that Snyder did a lot of research which I appreciate. There were some serious topics in the book and having the illustrations (and having the book be in a graphic novel format) really helped lighten the topics. Essentially, it made it easier to get through. The book is comprised of 20 lessons and there are illustrations throughout the lessons. Timothy Snyder mainly focused on Europe and the United States. At first, I thought it was a bit odd and, honestly, amusing that Snyder refused to reference Trump's name even when it was clear that he was referring to him. I'm not a fan of Trump, but it's ok to say his name. Overall, this was a great read, and I highly recommend it.

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I was unable to access the file in order to read On Tranny. I am still interested in reading this book. I know that the text version initially released was well received, and I was excited to read this.

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Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review ::

This little book is full of powerful information. I don't usually read graphic novels, so it took a bit to get used to the format, but I was really impressed at the amount of information. The author provides his twenty lessons on resisting modern-day authoritarianism in an easy to comprehend way, with support and historical references. The in depth discussions of authoritarianism is so necessary for all of us, especially after recent events in the United States. This book should be required reading for all high school and college political science courses.

The only challenge I had was trying to navigate the beautiful drawings on my e-reader, as occasionally the page would skip up or down as I was reading.

I would definitely recommend this book.

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I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect, so if you’re looking for something along the lines of Mr. Snyder’s well researched ‘Bloodlands’ or ‘Black Earth’, you’re going to be disappointed. This was a graphic novel, and so targeted for younger adults or those who appreciate the format, but saying that, I was disappointed in this.

The fault was not in the drawings, which where well-done watercolors that drew the eye to them and added interest to the text, the fault laid in the text itself, which sounded like a partisan rant.

I agree with his 20 lessons, less so with his examples. All Mr. Snyder’s points of interest targeted European and American “right-wing”, as the sole evil in the world but not once did he mention Latin American and Asian oppression, which as I write this, China has concentration camps for the Uyghur’s (Chinese Muslims) and harvesting their organs, while Cuba is starving under the communist regime - and this is not the first time these countries have the world questioning their humanitarian efforts.

Also, I found it rather petty that Mr Snyder couldn’t say former President Trump’s name and instead resorted to
“the 2016 presidential campaign” “or presidential candidate” as an example of, what he believed as American totalitarianism; which I don’t think is aging well, considering our current President (Biden), is quickly showing he’s quite fond of signing executive orders, trying to enforce mandates, and… “you know the thing.”

No thank you, you can keep this.

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This book was beautiful while being very informative and thought provoking. It is not a graphic novel in the traditional sense but the illustrations help to lighten up the subject matter, make the work visually interesting, and give you time to stop and think.

The author, Timothy Snyder, is a professor at Yale and a historian specializing in the holocaust and modern eastern Europe. Thus placing himself in a unique position to write this book which is essentially 20 ways in which the US and a particular recent former president were following trends that happened in eastern Europe in the 1930s.

I can't stress how much I liked this book! I kind of hate to admit it, but I'm not usually much of one for novel-length works on politics. But this was not dry or confusing at all. The graphic format (again, it's not really a graphic novel!) made this book so much lighter and more accessible than I believe it would have been without all of the color and images and yet I feel like I still got a lot out of reading it.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in how history can repeat itself and how tyrants take power.

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Lots of good advice in here, but systems of government are not explored at all. Communism is lumped in with fascism as an equal boogeyman, despite the structural differences being vast.

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I received an ebook copy of this book from Netgalley to read and review. I have not read Snyder's original edition On Tyranny, but this is a re-release as a "graphic edition". All in all I feel the content is important and Snyder does a great job of tying together the red flags of tyranny, understanding freedom versus security, and how our fear drives us into the arms of dictatorships. However, I was not a fan on the layout of this book. It was extremely word-heavy and lacking in the illustrations telling the story, as I am accustomed to when reading graphic novels. The collages of art/old photos are great additions, but do not really play a superior role. It just kind of seems unnecessary. If anything, I recommend skipping this edition and going directly to Snyder's book to get more in-depth content. In my opinion, Snyder just has too much to say for this format to really work.

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This was unlike any book I’ve read before. I don’t often pick up political Non-Fiction or opinion pieces, but I have to say I really enjoyed it. And when I say enjoyed, I don’t mean in the same way that one might enjoy an action-packed Sci-fi, or magic-drenched fantasy book, but there was something entirely engaging about the research and time put into both the narrative and art that accompanied the histories and events that lead up to various authoritarian governments across history.

There’s no denying that Snyder makes plenty of comparisons of historical dictators to a very recent US president - without ever using his name - so despite some of the alarmingly accurate and detailed parallels, this book will very likely be left unread by a great number of 45 supporters. I genuinely think that’s a shame, because there is some startling information in here about how misinformation, people, and outright lies have been and continue to be used to manipulate voters and communities, and that’s something that everyone should be aware of. I also say all of this as someone who never really had an interest in world history, so many of the events described in the examples were either new to me, or at least the specifics were.

It’s also worth noting that the artwork was fascinating and added a whole new level of complexity to the narrative. Krug’s artwork was unique and added visuals that often drew out emotions and deeper thought than would have the simple text edition, so I enjoyed the experience of analysing both words and images together.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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