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With all that’s happened since Donald Trump’s election and now with the American president’s unwillingness to denounce racism, hate, domestic terrorism and rifle-toting men in camouflage clothes, it’s hard to know what to do.

Yet, doing nothing isn’t an option. History teaches us that and it’s why Timothy Snyder’s book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, should be on this summer’s required reading list.

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It’s simple, thought-provoking and challenging. In 126 pages, it summarizes the past and provides a roadmap for prevention. And, it’s small enough to cart with you in a purse or pocket.

AP

Snyder draws his 20 lessons mainly from Europe — Nazi Germany and the Communist experience in Czechoslovakia, Russia and Ukraine with each lesson attached to a exhortation of what each of us ought to do.

His advice falls broadly into four categories:

• Be careful of language because it is a powerful tool for deception and harm, with patriotic words often being particularly treacherous.