Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary

　　《暴政：掌控關鍵年代的獨裁風潮，洞悉時代之惡的20堂課》作者、耶魯大學教授提摩希‧史奈德，揭發美國醫療體系弊端──

　　2019年12月29日，史奈德突然感到身體疼痛不已，站不起來也沒辦法思考，於是他到了急診室報到，等了幾個小時候，也沒等到像樣的問診。之後住院時間長達數月，還曾發生與新冠肺炎病人一起排隊的荒唐事件，飽受摧殘的他，深深體會到，在醫療體系面前，美國所重視的人權、自由，根本不值一提。

　　在住院這段時間，他發現醫療系統重視的是營利多寡，而非病人健康，更誇張的是，許多醫療指示是藉由電腦運算跑出來的，而不是醫生與病人問診後的結果，醫療資源有多不足，不言而喻。這樣的醫療體系，新冠肺炎會被忽略、最後大爆發，造成數以千記的人因此過世，根本不足為奇。

　　史奈德並不是為了抱怨現況而寫下這本書，他探討新冠肺炎怎麼會成為不可控制的致命疾病，回溯受難的歷史及他自身經驗，找出走出陰霾、邁向希望的道路。唯有視醫療體系為人權的一環、培養更多專業的醫生、普及醫療知識，才能為我們及下一代打造出真正的自由世代。(文/博客來編譯)

　　From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller On Tyranny comes an impassioned condemnation of America's coronavirus response and an urgent call to rethink health and freedom.

　　On December 29, 2019, historian Timothy Snyder fell gravely ill. Unable to stand, barely able to think, he waited for hours in an emergency room before being correctly diagnosed and rushed into surgery. Over the next few days, as he clung to life and the first light of a new year came through his window, he found himself reflecting on the fragility of health, not recognized in America as a human right but without which all rights and freedoms have no meaning.

　　And that was before the pandemic. We have since watched American hospitals, long understaffed and undersupplied, buckling under waves of coronavirus patients. The federal government made matters worse through willful ignorance, misinformation, and profiteering. Our system of commercial medicine failed the ultimate test, and thousands of Americans died.

　　In this eye-opening cri de coeur, Snyder traces the societal forces that led us here and outlines the lessons we must learn to survive. In examining some of the darkest moments of recent history and of his own life, Snyder finds glimmers of hope and principles that could lead us out of our current malaise. Only by enshrining healthcare as a human right, elevating the authority of doctors and medical knowledge, and planning for our children's future can we create an America where everyone is truly free.

Timothy Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale University and the author of The Road to Unfreedom, On Tyranny, Black Earth, and Bloodlands. His work has received the Hannah Arendt Prize, the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, and an award in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.