2025 Summer Read
Join us in reading Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny
If you find yourself feeling disoriented when reading the daily headlines, it’s a good time to pick up a history book.
Why? Because in studying the past, historians are able to see patterns, to identify continuities as well as contingencies, to understand how specific actions often have predictable consequences. To quote Mark Twain, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
There’s a reason historians have been among the first to sound the alarm about the erosion of democracy. What we’re seeing, day by day, is earily familiar. Historians of the twentieth century will tell you: we’ve seen this before. What can we learn from the past to help us navigate our present? This will be the subject of our “Summer Read.”
Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 10, 8pm ET: ICS’s Free to be Faithful is hosting our first “Big Read” on Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny. Scroll down for all the details:
How to participate:
Grab a copy of On Tyranny at your library or your favorite local bookstore. It’s around $10 and can easily be read in one or two sittings. The book is also available as a graphic novel and, if reading really isn’t your thing, you can listen to John Lithgow recite the highlights here:
Gather a group. The goal here isn’t just to read the book, but to read the book in community. Grab some friends, neighbors, or coworkers. Friends from church, or friends you no longer go to church with. Get your teens to read it with you, or your grandparents. Why is it best read in a group? Historians will tell you that community is key to fighting tyranny. (Spoiler: Snyder’s Lesson 13, “practice corporeal politics,” includes: “Make new friends and march with them.”) So, find your people.
Whatever the future brings, it will be better faced with trusted friends at your side.
Register below to join historians Kristin Du Mez and Bruce Berglund in a live webinar on Thursday, July 10, 8pm ET. (Bruce is a historian of Eastern Europe and global sports; he has earned three Fulbright fellowships and is a writer
and editor at Gustavus Adolphus College when he’s not teaching in the Czech Republic.)
Plan your book club around this event…or simply discuss the book together…or use the video at a time that works for you and your people. (The conversation will be available on ICS’s YouTube channel soon after.)
Submit Questions: As you read, feel free to submit questions for Bruce and Kristin here.
Share on Social Media, if you’d like. One way to gather a group of friends is simply to share an open invitation on social media—you might be surprised who takes you up on it! Or, simply share this post or post this link on your social media channels to encourage others to host their own groups.
Mix some drinks! Be creative, but here are a couple of options to get you started:
Cherry Ossian X (nonalcoholic)
A tart synthesis with a nod to Ossian Sweet and Malcolm X whose legal struggles and public campaigns advanced equal rights for all.
Shopping List:
Fresh lemons, Luxardo Maraschino Originale Cherry Juice, Club soda, Ice
Optional: Non-alcoholic gin alternative (such as Ritual Zero Proof Gin or Lyre’s Dry London Spirit)Recipe:
Add 1 oz fresh lemon juice to shaker; Add 1 oz Luxardo Maraschino Originale Cherry Juice; Optional: Add 1.5 oz NA gin for added botanical depth
Shake with ice and strain into a glass over fresh ice; Top with 2 oz club soda; Garnish with a mascherano cherryCherry Cocktail Sojourner's Mitten
Michigan: Cherry Capital of the World, also known as The Mitten, and home of Sojourner Truth.
Shopping List: Dry gin; Fresh lemons; Luxardo Maraschino Originale Cherry Juice; Luxardo Cherry Liqueur "Sangue Morlacco"; Club soda; Ice
Recipe: Add 1.5 oz dry gin to shaker; Add ⅔ oz fresh lemon juice; Add ⅔ oz Luxardo Maraschino Originale Cherry Juice; Add ½ oz Luxardo Cherry Liqueur "Sangue Morlacco"
Shake with ice and strain into a glass over fresh ice; Top with club soda; Garnish with a mascherano cherry **Thanks to Matt Warner for contributing these
Keep learning:
If you like what you hear from Prof. Berglund and want to have a deeper historical understanding of the history of authoritarianism, consider signing up for his upcoming course on Twentieth Century Authoritarianism, available through ICS and starting this September. (Click here and scroll down to register.)
If you would like to support our efforts at Free to Be Faithful and ICS, consider donating to the project:
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Will this be a discussion of the book or are you going to read the book? The webinar description is a little confusing. How long is the webinar? Thanks.