On Tyranny: A Conversation with Timothy Snyder and Nora Krug

About this event

Deutsches Haus at NYU presents a conversation with the author Timothy Snyder and the author and illustrator Nora Krug about the graphic edition of Snyder’s book “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.” A bold connection between past and present, the book is a warning that the lesson of 20th century’s European shift to fascism, Nazism, and communism is highly applicable to the 21st century United States. Now beautifully illustrated by Nora Krug, On Tyranny (Penguin Random House, October 2021) speaks to the ways in which we can draw lessons from the past that should inform the way we move through our present moment.

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About “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century:”

Timothy Snyder’s New York Times bestseller On Tyranny uses the darkest moments in twentieth-century history, from Nazism to Communism, to teach twenty lessons on resisting modern-day authoritarianism. The twenty lessons include a warning to be aware of how symbols used today could affect tomorrow (“4: Take responsibility for the face of the world”), an urgent reminder to research everything for yourself and to the fullest extent (“11: Investigate”), a point to use personalized and individualized speech rather than clichéd phrases for the sake of mass appeal (“9: Be kind to our language”), and more.

In the graphic edition, Nora Krug draws from her highly inventive art style in Belonging—at once a graphic memoir, collage-style scrapbook, historical narrative, and trove of memories—to breathe new life, color, and power into Snyder’s riveting historical references, turning a quick-read pocket guide of lessons into a visually striking rumination. In a time of great uncertainty and instability, this edition of On Tyrannyemphasizes the importance of being active, conscious, and deliberate participants in resistance.