Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Snyder's book, "The Road to Unfreedom" is daunting. It's jacket has the words "Russia, Europe, America," and that might lead you to believe it covers each country in succession. Instead it covers them in parallel with a lot of emphasis on Russia. You need to know that at the outset. Snyder has terms of his own construction such as the "politics of inevitability" and the "politics of eternity." Reread these very carefully on pages 8 and 9 and dog ear those pages. They are central to the rest of the book. Unfortunately, they are not intuitively clear, never well defined, and referred to often. This is the major flaw of the book. Snyder has a peculiarly insightful analysis of events. It can be both revealing and confusing at the same time. His prose ranges from clear and concise to intertwined and difficult. I had to double back often to track some thoughts (something I almost never have to do). The short ending epilogue is particularly obtuse. All that said, the man has done his homework remarkably well (with help from his grad students). His accumulation of specific facts and his tying them together make the book a compelling read and a punch to the gut. You get insights not found elsewhere. Just three examples...1. The influence of the political philosopher Ivan Ilyn on Putin and contemporary Russia, 2. The truth behind the war in Ukraine especially it's cyber and propaganda elements, 3. The links between Russian oligarchical and criminal money and Donald Trump's business ventures. Snyder makes a strong case that Trump is at best a Russian patsy if not much worse. Trump lovers will gag on the facts he lays out. If you want to get more on Trump and where America is headed, I recommend reading "Trumpocracy" and "Killing Democracy." You may also like Snyder's very short book "On Tyranny." If you get caught up in his idea of the "politics of eternity," you might find "The Fourth Turning" worth reading. It's a bit bizarre, but it espouses a cyclical form of history that complements Snyder's description. This last book has been deemed "Steve Bannon's Bible" by some. All thee books are on Amazon. (Spoiler alert - stop here unless you want to find out more about the content.) There are some inescapable conclusions from the book. Russian media is managed to present the story the government wants presented and bears absolutely no connection to the truth. It is the ultimate in "fake news." This is so blatant that Americans really cannot imagine the breadth and depth of its lies. Russia is actively workjng to destabilize America and Europe in order to bring them down to the economic and undemocratic level of Russia. Since Russia cannot improve due to its kleptocracy and oligarchy, it's only option is to ruin the West. The Russians have financed Trump to cover his failed businesses and massive debts putting him in their pocket. The ties between the government and the oligarchs enable Putin to use them as intermediaries so that support is not directly tied to the government. Hence, "no collusion." Russia back Trump because they realized how destructive his personality and illogical actions would be to U.S. government. Snyder lays out the fact that all of Russia's efforts were for Trump and against Clinton to make that point. America is in an information war for the truth in order to save it's democracy. Fox News and the far left are not helping as both get baited and ensnared by Russia misinformation.