Los silencios de la libertad

Since its birth in Athens in the 5th century BC, democracy has shown its fragility and has run many dangers. Since that historical moment, there have been few occasions on which European citizens (and not all) have enjoyed full political freedom. How do dictatorships arise? How do they stay in power? How do they manage to manipulate the past and information? This book explores the history of coups, from Greco-Latin antiquity to the 1922 March on Rome or 1936 Spain. After describing the way in which totalitarian systems ruin the lives of citizens, it addresses the infamous role of executioners and voluntary genocides, from Auschwitz to the Balkans, but also the suicidal courage of so many resistant to tyranny. Relying on readings, travels and his personal experiences as a war correspondent, the author travels through the European landscapes where dictatorships of all kinds have left their mark and recreates episodes (such as the Carnation Revolution, the Spanish Transition or the fall of the Wall of Berlin) in which, against all odds, democracy finally managed to take root.