“On Freedom”

Timothy Snyder

It is summer 1976, a sunny afternoon on an Ohio farm. Wisps of cloud flit across the sky; gravel presses underfoot. A boy of six, going on seven, stands in line next to a farmhouse to ring a bell: the me that I once was, full of futures.

This is a beautifully-written book about all kinds of things, but I think the core discussion that sticks with me is the distinction between positive and negative freedom—the difference of freedom to and freedom from. And I truly won’t be able to do it justice, if I try to summarize any more than that; this is a book that I’ll be chewing on for a while, I think. It’s certainly not a light read, but it’s one well worth reading. Give it a go.1