The publishers of On Tyranny, written by Yale professor Timothy Snyder, are blaming Russian hackers for altering the Amazon listing of the book, a manual for resisting President Trump and other populist leaders, according to The Guardian.
On Tuesday, the cover photo of the book was replaced with a non-existent coloring book with a similar title. On Tyranny‘s author was changed to “Timothy Strauss.”
The book’s description was also altered to include “Make [sic] World Great Again”—a clear nod to the Trump campaign slogan. In November 2016, a billboard appeared in Danilovgrad, Montenegro featuring pictures of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin with a similar saying underneath (see below).
Snyder, a historian specializing in European history and the Holocaust, told The Guardian that the slogan left by the hacker was only used by Russian or pro-Russian supporters. He suggested that the timing of his defaced Amazon listing was prompted by Trump’s recent failed health care replacement plan.
On Tyranny, a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon, is a collection of Snyder’s insights inspired by 20th-century history. The book’s publisher, Vintage, informed Amazon and the listing has since been restored.
—RealClearLife
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
