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The Guardian
book review of
Christopher Clark's Prisoners of Time
review by Andrew Anthony
another reader comment:
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An endlessly fascinating subject. And why do so many who should know better go along with the unhindered concentration of power in one person?
Even last week the Economist published a letter from an American man complaining about the paper's critical coverage of increasingly authoritarian China. This person said that "most people want stability," without offering evidence.
But does authoritarianism give us stability?
I think the opposite.
It gives us the unbearable stress of living in an arbitrary regime where even the most lowly don't know the boundaries and can be unwittingly undone by crossing them.
Democracy is messy and really annoying but if the rules are adhered to it offers the chance of fulfillment.
For me the scariest thing right now is the number of people in democratic countries who seem willing to bend the rules to ensure continued power right through to those who would countenance authoritarian take over.
They range from the cowardly to the downright evil and dangerous and they are out there.
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