Timothy Snyder, author and historian, has studied tyrants for decades. Even he doesn't know what comes next.

TIMOTHY SNYDER, AMERICA’S most famous (living) historian, has found himself north of the border.

- INTERVIEW BY KATIE UNDERWOOD

For decades, he’s parsed the ins and outs of authoritarianism—and the tyrants who weaponize it—both in his professorial post at Yale and in 16 books, including last September’s On Freedom and On Tyranny, a 20-point guide to dictator-proofing yourself, published shortly after Donald Trump was first elected and currently back on the bestseller lists. Now on sabbatical from Yale, Snyder was recently appointed director of the Public History Lab, a research hub at the University of Toronto, where he'll also begin teaching this fall. His particular brand of expertise is in demand everywhere—not just in Trump’s America—for obvious, if not uplifting reasons.

Snyder is often referred to as “the leading interpreter of our dark times.” He’s addressed parliaments and inspired protests, rap songs and an opera with his writing. And yet even he admits he can’t predict exactly what’s to come. Nevertheless, his work continues. Even in our “unprecedented” age, Snyder believes an awful lot, if not everything, can be learned from looking back. And there’s nothing a tyrant hates more than a good memory.

It seems like the ideal moment for you to spend some time abroad. Asking semi-facetiously, but did you experience any culture shock when you arrived up here?

I'll put it this way: I feel like I have a lot to learn. When I’m in Canada, I’m definitely in foreign-country or anthropological mode, like I would be if I were in Belgium or Morocco. I speak French, so I’m almost childishly excited to be in a country where there’s French-language radio. I also lived in Britain for a while, so I find myself looking for the times when Canadians are like Americans and times when you're more like the British. One way that Canadians are like us—that I didn’t think you would be—is that you'll walk up to someone and start asking personal questions right away.

Kind of like I’m doing today!

Yeah!