And when Putin explained Russia’s need to combat the expansion of the European Union, and laid out the argument to invade Ukraine, it was Ilyin’s arguments on which the president relied. New editions of Ilyin’s dense books of political philosophy became popular in Kremlin circles – and all of Russia’s civil servants reportedly received a collection of his essays in 2014. Ilyin’s personal papers, held in a library in Michigan, were also brought “home” at the president’s request. Putin first drew attention to him – Ilyin was a philosopher, not a historian, a Russian who died in exile in Switzerland in 1954 – when he organised the repatriation of Ilyin’s remains for reburial in Moscow in 2005. Ilyin is a figure who might have been easily lost to history were it not for the posthumous patronage of Russia’s leader. When asked, in 2014, by a delegation of students and history teachers for his chosen chronicler of Russia’s past, Vladimir Putin came up with a single name: Ivan Ilyin. He is also the author of "Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning" and, forthcoming in April, "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America.E ven presidents who don’t believe in history need a historian to rely on.
His most recent book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," explores the everyday ways a citizen can resist the authoritarianism of today.
His books have received widespread acclaim. Timothy Snyder is a historian at Yale University, specializing in eastern Europe, totalitarianism, and the Holocaust. Are Christians forgiven for everything because they find ways to blame others for their own actions? Perhaps the meaning of Christmas is something else, extending an idea of the good rather than defending what is plainly bad, and perhaps a Christmas greeting is a way to affirm others rather than claiming all righteousness for ourselves. Too often these days invoking the name of Jesus or claiming Christian religion has become an escape from responsibility for plainly un-Christian behavior.
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