How to be a Dissident

‘Invites us to learn from those more courageous than ourselves’ TIMOTHY SNYDER

‘A beautiful, profound book … feels essential in these times’ SARAH BAKEWELL

An invigorating guide to fighting back – part philosophy, part history, and part manual for living with integrity in an age of conformity and authoritarian drift.

How do we push back in a world where political leaders wield fear and intimidation? Where digital technology dehumanises and flattens us? We need role models, and in this engaging book, acclaimed writer Gal Beckerman goes looking for them. Drawing on the stories of dissidents from around the globe and across time, from Socrates to Ai Weiwei, and thinkers like Hannah Arendt and Iris Murdoch, Beckerman reveals the defining characteristics these extraordinary figures share, a set of attributes and practices for anyone navigating the pressures of modern tyranny.

Structured around ten qualities – among them, Be Pessimistic, Be Funny, Be Reckless, and Be Immortal – this illuminating, surprising book blends intellectual history, biography, and cultural criticism. It charts a dissident’s journey from the solitary moment of recognizing the truth, through the risks of speaking it, to the legacy that can outlast a life. What makes dissidents tick? And how might we change when we encounter them?

Urgent and inspiring, Beckerman’s book shows that dissidence is a human capacity we can all cultivate, a refusal to betray one’s inner voice, no matter the cost. In a polarised America and a world sliding toward authoritarianism, we need dissidents – not only the jailed and martyred, but also those of us who face small daily compromises of conscience. How to Be a Dissident lights the way.

‘Urgent, wise, and immensely compelling … Everyone should read this book’ CLAIRE MESSUD, author of The Emperor’s Children

‘A sharp, cogent analysis of what dissidents really do to fight repressive regimes’ ANNE APPLEBAUM, author of Autocracy, Inc.

Reviews

Praise for How to be a Dissident:

‘One way to change the world is to be yourself. This is harder than it sounds. Gal Beckerman, one of our most thoughtful commentators on the soul of politics, appealingly invites us to learn from those more courageous than ourselves. Along the way we learn some history that we should know and find ourselves by the end not only instructed but wiser’ Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny

‘Urgent, wise, and immensely compelling, Gal Beckerman’s How to Be a Dissident illuminates an inspiring gallery of history’s independent thinkers, their lives both reassurance and exhortation in these challenging times. Everyone should read this book’ Claire Messud, author of The Emperor’s Children

‘A sharp, cogent analysis of what dissidents really do to fight repressive regimes, with essential advice for anyone who wants to join them’ Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc.

‘A beautiful, profound book, rich in examples. It helped me to think more clearly, to feel heartened, and to focus on what is most important – all of which feels essential in these times’ Sarah Bakewell, author of How to Live