From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation [Paperback]

What Sun Tzu and Clausewitz were to war, Sharp. . . was to nonviolent strugglestrategist, philosopher, guru.—The New York Times

The revolutionary word-of-mouth phenomenon, available for the first time as a trade book

Twenty-one years ago, at a friend’s request, a Massachusetts professor sketched out a blueprint for nonviolent resistance to repressive regimes. It would go on to be translated, photocopied, and handed from one activist to another, traveling from country to country across the globe: from Iran to Venezuela—wherebothcountries consider Gene Sharp to be an enemy of the state—to Serbia; Afghanistan; Vietnam; the former Soviet Union; China; Nepal; and, more recently and notably, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and Syria, where it has served as a guiding light of the Arab Spring.

This short, pithy, inspiring, and extraordinarily clear guide to overthrowing a dictatorship by nonviolent means lists 198 specific methods to consider, depending on the circumstances: sit-ins, popular nonobedience, selective strikes, withdrawal of bank deposits, revenue refusal, walkouts, silence, and hunger strikes.From Dictatorship to Democracyis the remarkable work that has made the little-known Sharp into the world’s most effective and sought-after analyst of resistance to authoritarian regimes.

Praise forFrom Dictatorship to Democracy:
Not since Machiavelli has a book had such impact in shifting the balance of power
—The The Times of London

Few Americans have heard of Dr. Sharp. But for decades, his practical writings on nonviolent revolutionmost notably [his] guide to toppling autocratshave inspired dissidents around the world, including Burma, Bosnia, Estonia and Zimbabwe, and now Tunisia and Egypt.
—The New York Times

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