Description: Power grabs, partisan stand-offs, propaganda, and riots make for tantalizing fiction, but the US seems to have devolved into a land that celebrates real-life dictators. Applying historical lessons to contemporary events, Fiala uses the history of tyranny to reveal how we can s...
Brief description: Andrew Fiala is Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno. Recent books include: Christian Nationalism and the Secular Paradox (2025); Can War be Justified? A Debate (ed. with Jennifer Kling, 2023); and Transformative Pacifism (2018). Fiala is a past President of Concerned Philosophers for Peace and former Director of the Ethics Center at Fresno State.
Review Quotes:
It is always heartening when a classicist applies the lessons of ancient political thought to the contemporary world; there is much to be learned. Fiala points to the ancient critique of tyranny, especially as found in Plato's Republic, and shows how frighteningly relevant it is to the Trump phenomenon.... This book draws timely lessons from the ancients and leaves open questions we must grapple with. Highly recommended. Undergraduates and general readers.