u003cbu003eA u003ciu003eFINANCIAL TIMESu003c/iu003e, u003ciu003eECONOMISTu003c/iu003e AND u003ciu003eNEW STATESMANu003c/iu003e BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020u003cbru003e u003cbru003e 'How did our democracy go wrong? This extraordinary document, written with urgency, intelligence and understanding, is her answer'u003c/bu003e u003cbu003eTimothy Snyderu003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003e In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually - as this book compellingly relates - the relationships soured too.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e Anne Applebaum traces this history in an unfamiliar way, looking at the trajectories of individuals caught up in the public events of the last three decades. When politics becomes polarized, which side do you back? If you are a journalist, an intellectual, a civic leader, how do you deal with the re-emergence of authoritarian or nationalist ideas in your country? When your leaders appropriate history, or pedal conspiracies, or eviscerate the media and the judiciary, do you go along with it?u003cbru003e u003cbru003e u003ciu003eTwilight of Democracyu003c/iu003e is an essay that combines the personal and the political in an original way and brings a fresh understanding to the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both now and in the recent past.
