This is an outstanding and extremely important book about what freedom really means. Professor Snyder explains that we often view freedom as "freedom from" something rather than "freedom to," but that real freedom is "freedom to" it's a positive concept, not a negative one. This is a very insightful distinction that I hadn't considered before.

Dear Mr. Synder,

How odd that I would finish this excellent book [in fact, as the numbers were coming in, I was reading the epilogue on just what it would take to have freedom] on the night that democracy and decency died [I initially wrote this on the 6th and here we are on the 8th and the rhetoric and hate and awfulness has amplified so much and so quickly, that the rest of us who are actually FOR democracy and decency and love not hate, are left gasping and swirling in its wake]. I have to wonder if you were surprised or shocked? Confused? Angry? like the rest of us who feel the same way or if you were partially resigned to the fact with what you already knew and had just written about so that your anger and frustration was already there?

I want to tell you that this book is amazing, and I learned a lot and there were real moments of emotion as I read about Ukraine; I can only hope we keep fighting for and with them [though now, I don't really see that happening]. The ideas behind freedom and what it really means [much like what is laid out in your book On Tyranny] were both not new to me AND also new to me [if you understand what I mean]. Some things I think are just inherently learned when you have parents and grandparents that raise you correctly [never have I ever been so glad to have been raised the way I was and that I can see the truth in the midst of the never-ending lies] and it was a good thing to have those beliefs reinforced by what I was reading.

Thank you Sir for this book. I hope it gets into the hands of all who need it [and to the ones who think they don't but are about to find out just how much they do]. I know just how much I did and I am forever grateful.

Onward with the fight!!

Signed,
Dawn Michelle, an extremely grateful reader.

Thank you to Timothy Snyder and his willingness to write the book we all need and to tell the truths we all need to hear, to Crown Publishing/Crown and to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny and was even more excited for the premise of On Freedom. It did not disappoint.

Snyder has a way of filtering through all the extraneous information to get right to the heart of an important argument and he does that very well in On Freedom. Snyder presents the idea of freedom as an action, not a passive concept. We must be willing to work for our freedom and not assume it has been given to us because we're not being constrained.

Like many books of this sort, you're presented with this grand, schema-shifting idea and then you realize you have little to no way to implement it beyond seeing the world differently. I love Snyder's theories, I just wish the people who needed to be exposed to them would be likely to pick a book like this up.

On Freedom by Timothy Snyder is a thoughtful work of political philosophy written for a general reader who's willing to work a bit.. The basic argument-- that freedom,. often defined by Americans as simply the absence of oppression, is much more that a lack of interference.. It's an active state requiring the presence of effort, collaboration, and character. This is a compelling read, particularly in an election year..

Having read Snyder's book On Tyrany, which was an eye opener, I jumped at the opportunty to receive an ARC.from NetGalley...I was not disappointed.
This a book that needed to be written, its concepts and facts (yes facts, remember those?) brought to light. I found myself highlighting page after page of this in depth work of both historical and current events, and how our current events can be traced back to historical events of the past.
However, while this book had to be written, will those who should read it do so? Probably not, but those of us who do read can benefit from Snyder's expertise involving European political and historical events and how they hold a mirror up to our current situation in the US.
This book is an educational, informational, thought provoking and fascinating deep dive into events, both past and present.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Crown Publishing for an advance copy of this look at how people look at the word freedom, the promises this word has to many, the expectations people have, and the exceptions that people are willing to deal with, for an idea that seems so simple, but is much more complex than we think.

My school had little in the way of civics classes, unless one took Honors American Government. This class was an honors class, so people taking it just wanted it for their college application, and the teaching reflected that. Half a semester, in out, done. Forgotten as soon as the exam was handed in. That's common in this country. Education is not to educate, it's to pick a good college, good jobs, add to the economy. Understanding the fundamentals gets in the way. Also, educating one about freedom makes it harder for people in power to keep power. A great country song is all one needs to make American's brag about the Land of the Free, that is slowly getting less free. People on both sides of the spectrum will agree to this. For all the talk about support the blue and the military, both sides don't seem happy about policing or maybe even the military taking over Texas, to quote popular conspiracy idea. We've traded a lot of freedoms for safety, not food safety, or going to school, concerts, political rallies without getting shot safety, but a safety that governments like us to think. That' why books like this are so important. I just hope unlike a class in high school the lessons are remembered. On Freedom by Timothy Snyder is a look at what freedom is too many people, and what it means in a world that is becoming less and less free, but more fearful.

The book begins in Ukraine in 2023, during the ongoing Russian invasion. Snyder has met a woman Mariia, who is 95 years old and is returning to her house in an are once controlled by th Russian invaders. The term for this is deoccupied, as in the occupiers have been tossed out again. Mariia is thankful for her government, and feels regret at all the tough things the Ukraine president has to deal with. Mariia's freedom has been granted her by her government. And for that she is thankful. From here Snyder talks about his youth growing up during the Centennial of American independence, and what freedom, the term and the idea meant then. And looking at the current world what it means now. Snyder looks at the ideas, who freedom isn't being free of limits, but freedom to be who one is, and what one wants to be. There are examples from classic works, current thinkers, and sadly a lot of examples from today about the state of the world, and its fear of freedom.

A book that is filled with a lot of ideas, that raises issues and points out the bad, the really bad, and the good. Snyder is not only a good writer, but a writer who gets passed the rigmarole, cutting out the propaganda, and double speak, getting to the meaning of things. The book is depressing in many ways, for many of us have sat clapping our hands like seals on Twitter while simple things have been taken away from us. Snyder suggest many good ideas, but I don't know if we as a people have the strength to do it. There is too much money, too much power in the hands of too few. As freedom in this country evolves, so do our morals, even our self-respect. That sounds awful, for those people, is something I hear quite a bit. Snyder points this out too. Snyder, is also right.

A book that looks at our modern world and finds us wanting in many ways. I enjoyed On Tyranny, Snyder's previous book, and was amazed at the different people I saw buying it, even if they scoffed a bit. This one is bigger, but I think more important, with lessons, and ideas that I hope someone soon will have the power to adopt.

A good read on the meaning of freedom. Thinking about freedom as a positive, things you can do, rather than simply the absence of constraints, is instructive. Freedom as a way of seeing others with empathy is particularly important and timely. I did find the writing rather circular in its logic - the text felt like it jumped around a lot.