Twilight of Democracy
The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
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Twilight of Democracy
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Narrated by:
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Anne Applebaum
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Written by:
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Anne Applebaum
About this listen
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "How did our democracy go wrong? This extraordinary document ... is Applebaum's answer."—Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny
The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian explains, with electrifying clarity, why elites in democracies around the world are turning toward nationalism and authoritarianism.
From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else. Elegantly written and urgently argued, Twilight of Democracy is a brilliant dissection of a world-shaking shift and a stirring glimpse of the road back to democratic values.
©2020 Anne Applebaum (P)2020 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
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The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The times they are a changing!! But which way?
- By MW "Photodude." on 2019-05-06
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Autocracy, Inc.
- The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
- Written by: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents. But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Must read / listen
- By Simondes on 2025-03-10
Written by: Anne Applebaum
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Gulag
- A History
- Written by: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 27 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
The Gulag - a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners - was a system of repression and punishment that terrorized the entire society, embodying the worst tendencies of Soviet communism. In this magisterial and acclaimed history, Anne Applebaum offers the first fully documented portrait of the Gulag, from its origins in the Russian Revolution, through its expansion under Stalin, to its collapse in the era of glasnost.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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Essential reading in today's times
- By Kendall L. Harding on 2022-04-10
Written by: Anne Applebaum
-
How Fascism Works
- The Politics of Us and Them
- Written by: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely Terrible
- By Ronan Lynch on 2022-07-10
Written by: Jason Stanley
-
On Tyranny (Expanded Audio Edition)
- Updated with Twenty New Lessons from Russia's War on Ukraine
- Written by: Timothy Snyder
- Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
In this exclusive audiobook edition, which includes eight hours of new content, Snyder combines the original essays from On Tyranny with twenty new lessons that answer the questions everyone is asking about this war. With forays into history, he clarifies the causes of the Russian invasion and the meaning of Ukrainian resistance, and explains the war's connections to threats to democracy here in the United States and around the world. Linking past and present, speaking only from notes, he guides the listener into the larger moral universe of On Tyranny.
-
2 out of 5 stars
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Trump Derangement Syndrome as academic essay.
- By R. Ward on 2022-11-06
Written by: Timothy Snyder
-
Red Famine
- Stalin's War on Ukraine
- Written by: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 84
In 1929 Stalin launched his policy of agricultural collectivization - in effect a second Russian Revolution - which forced millions of peasants off their land and onto collective farms. The result was a catastrophic famine, the most lethal in European history. At least five million people died between 1931 and 1933 in the USSR. But instead of sending relief, the Soviet state made use of the catastrophe to rid itself of a political problem.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must read
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-04-09
Written by: Anne Applebaum
-
On Tyranny
- Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
- Written by: Timothy Snyder
- Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The times they are a changing!! But which way?
- By MW "Photodude." on 2019-05-06
Written by: Timothy Snyder
What listeners say about Twilight of Democracy
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stan
- 2020-11-14
An insider's quality observations
Anne has got it all right. And the angle of her view somewhere from Liberal Center, from best times of the Western Civilization, yes - from year 2000 AD. Narrator is good, sometime sounds overworked.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- karl roth
- 2021-03-10
an insightful book
enjoyed the narration and Ms Applebaum's voice and delivery, it very much lined up with how i imagined her to be from reading her columns
i don't agree with everything Ms Applebaum has to say about the left (probably more a question of degree) and the American projection of their power (if more people in positions to do something had the idealism that Applebaum espouses on this issue i might be swayed) i am with her on her analysis and insights regarding current events, issues and governments.
i think she is one of the more or even most insightful observers and commenters currently commenting on these issues and also follow her columns for theatlantic.com
will stand with her to fight the good fight for a better more inclusive world and against nihilism.
thankyou Anne Applebaum
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ValD
- 2020-11-07
Totally absorbing book
The author examines the concept why authoritarianism is so seductive to formerly liberal-minded people. Those who lived in formerly totalitarian countries were expecting democracy to lead to happiness, more money , fulfilling jobs etc. So when the Soviet era collapsed they cheered and embraced ‘democracy’. But democracy is messy. Decisions are not clear and negotiations as well as political decisions mean compromise. People often prefer to be told what to do than to find a consensus that doesn’t fully satisfy anyone
The examples in Hungary really spoke to me as I am am immigrant who came to Canada. Then we saw the changes in Hungary and going back to elitism and totalitarianism.
The author is an amazing story teller/historian. She traces her personal experiences in Poland and US ans UK and describes the political and social changes after 2000.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Martell Thompson
- 2021-07-05
Mandatory Reading
Thoughtful and well articulated warnings of the ongoing demise of the greatest gifts from the greatest generation. This is a must read.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- G Kozroski
- 2021-01-23
Not a lot of hope and joy
She knits together a history of events that, though not very hopeful, may alert us to the paths not to take as we head into the future. She exhorts us to care and act. Thank you for your work.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David T
- 2024-08-10
Wonderful insight into new generation facisim
sad but brilliant insight with examples of how authoritarian works. Now that we know how it works we must figure out to stop it.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mary-Anne
- 2020-08-16
informative on Poland and Hungary
Very interesting story of the author's personal experience and connections in Poland, Hungary, and Brittain. Short on experience and facts on the U.S. I share her distaste for authoritarianism and was sad to hear her insider's perspective on Poland and Hungary. Would have preferred more facts and details and fewer generalizations throughout.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Chuong Nguyen
- 2022-03-27
Not her best work
Anne Applebaum is a great historian, but this is not a work of history. It’s a short, critical monograph aimed mostly at Right-wing Authoritarianism. She lost me at her Britain chapter, where she subtly includes Roger Scruton into the vehement pro-Brexit camp. Better books can, and should be written, about the rising tide of Right-wing Authoritarianism in the West. This one, unfortunately, is not one of them.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Candace Boyd
- 2020-11-23
One Sided View of the World
If you believe in globalism, then this book is for you. Not much good to say about those who believe in protectionism. To me, it sounds like the author is exactly the kind of elite that populist groups rally against.
I did appreciate her comments about how friends of twenty years ago can't even speak to one another now because political positions become entrenched. I'm afraid that is now too real and I wish we could reverse that trend.
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