"Totalitarian domination … bases itself on loneliness, on the experience of not belonging to the world at all, which is among the most radical and desperate experiences of man." Hannah Arendt wrote in her 1951 classic "The Origins of Totalitarianism". State tyranny and oppression have been in the spotlight for much of the past year with the growing violence against and isolation of women, minorities, or political opposition across the globe. We're mostly thinking here of Iran, Afghanistan, China and, of course, Russia, as this month will mark one year since its invasion of Ukraine. This is why, this month, we propose books that look into the experiences of the oppressed. The titles in this selection shed light on the struggles of ordinary people in the tyrannical regimes in Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea and Soviet Russia. We also propose a bonus book - a wonderfully illustrated edition of Snyder's 'On Tyranny'. These books will tell you stories that are hard to hear, but that deserve to be heard. So read on!

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