NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On Tyranny comes
an impassioned condemnation of America's pandemic response and an urgent call to rethink health
and freedom.On December 29 2019 historian Timothy Snyder fell gravely ill. Unable to stand
barely able to think he waited for hours in an emergency room before being correctly diagnosed
and rushed into surgery. Over the next few days as he clung to life and the first light of a
new year came through his window he found himself reflecting on the fragility of health not
recognized in America as a human right but without which all rights and freedoms have no
meaning.And that was before the pandemic. We have since watched American hospitals long
understaffed and undersupplied buckling under waves of ill patients. The federal government
made matters worse through willful ignorance misinformation and profiteering. Our system of
commercial medicine failed the ultimate test and thousands of Americans died.In this
eye-opening cri de coeur Snyder traces the societal forces that led us here and outlines the
lessons we must learn to survive. In examining some of the darkest moments of recent history
and of his own life Snyder finds glimmers of hope and principles that could lead us out of our
current malaise. Only by enshrining healthcare as a human right elevating the authority of
doctors and medical knowledge and planning for our children s future can we create an America
where everyone is truly free.
