Anne Applebaum: Democracy Under Siege (2020 Event)

‘Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will.’ Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Anne Applebaum’s bleak prognosis for liberal democracy lies at the heart of her intriguing new book, Twilight of Democracy, which blends deeply-felt memoir with cool political analysis.

Applebaum’s personal approach carries weight because she’s witnessed the rise and fall of democratic sentiment first hand in her adopted Poland. A staff writer for the Atlantic, she is also deeply connected to the US and British political scenes.

From the recently-converted Post-Communist states in Eastern Europe to those bastions of western liberal democracy, Britain and the USA, Applebaum analyses the rise of a nativist, authoritarian leadership style. Join her in this event, recorded live at the 2020 Book Festival, as she discusses the fractured present and tenuous future of liberal democracy with BBC special correspondent Allan Little.