Books everyone should read

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

SupaNova

I much prefer Rothbard's America's Great Depression. Rothbard begins presenting the different theories of the boom bust and the flaws of each before going on to give an account from a Misean perspective. There is also a recording of Rothbard criticizing Friedman available on mises.org. Friedman's view of the Great Depression is covered:
http://mises.org/media/2322/On-Milton-Friedman

I really would not recommend Human Action lightly. I am re-reading from start to finish at the moment. The first time i gave up and selectively came back to it and read parts of it as i pleased, it is not for the feint of heart. For someone who wants to get a very good feel for Mises without reading a 1000 page treatise, he gave 6 lectures to a lay audience in Buenos Aires that is available as a pdf. For the average person I would highly recommend reading this instead of Human Action:
http://mises.org/etexts/ecopol.pdf

If one is enthusiastic, and has the time to consume a treatise on Economics, and wants the Austrian perspective, i would recommend Man Economy and State over Human Action, but if you have the time to read a treatise you probably have the time to read both.

Manach

From a conservative PoV that I've read:

• The Uses of Pessimism: and the Danger of False Hope by Rodger Scruton
• Parliament of Whores by P. J. O'Rourke
• History of the peloponnesian war by Thucydides
• Reflections on the revolution in France By Burke
• Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda by Michael Burleigh

Fergus_Nash

I don't have any books but what is the general consensus of Hayek?



(I love watching the Keynes vs Hayek rap video)

Lockstep

Soldie wrote: »

Capitalism and Freedom is an informative and concise book.

Yes, I found it a very good read (albeit I disagree with Friedman on most issues)

Lockstep

I should also add Globalisation and its Discontent by Stiglitz.

That was the book that got me interested in both politics and economics.

Suryavarman

SupaNova wrote: »

I much prefer Rothbard's America's Great Depression. Rothbard begins presenting the different theories of the boom bust and the flaws of each before going on to give an account from a Misean perspective. There is also a recording of Rothbard criticizing Friedman available on mises.org. Friedman's view of the Great Depression is covered:
http://mises.org/media/2322/On-Milton-Friedman

Excellent book. Give's a really good insight into what caused the Great Depression and what Hoover attempted to do to try bring it to an end. I don't think it's possible to believe that capitalism caused the Great Depression or that Hoover was a laissez-faire president after reading this book.

I really would not recommend Human Action lightly. I am re-reading from start to finish at the moment. The first time i gave up and selectively came back to it and read parts of it as i pleased, it is not for the feint of heart. For someone who wants to get a very good feel for Mises without reading a 1000 page treatise, he gave 6 lectures to a lay audience in Buenos Aires that is available as a pdf. For the average person I would highly recommend reading this instead of Human Action:
http://mises.org/etexts/ecopol.pdf

If one is enthusiastic, and has the time to consume a treatise on Economics, and wants the Austrian perspective, i would recommend Man Economy and State over Human Action, but if you have the time to read a treatise you probably have the time to read both.

If your having trouble with Human action then maybe you could try Robert Murphy's study guide.

He has one for Man Economy and State as well.

I can't say that I've read either, but they are there if anyone wants them.

RandomName2

The Republic - Plato
The Bible - Multiple authors
Magna Carta - Multiple authors
Leviathan - Hobbes
95 Theses - Luther
Social Contract and Discourses - Rousseau
The Prince - Machiavelli
Vindiciae contra tyrannos - "Stephen Junius Brutus"
Elements of the Philosophy of Right - Hegel
Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzche
A house divided against itself cannot stand - Lincoln
Mein Kampf - Hitler
Schuman Declaration - Schuman
Strategies of Containment - Gaddis

as per the OP.

And all of the above are very biased

Benny_Cake

I recently read Francis Wheen's biography of Karl Marx. It was a superb and entertaining read, from a non-Marxist writer which explodes a few of the myths surrounding Marx. The one conclusion I drew from reading it is that Marx wouldn't have got on too well with many of those who called themselves his disciples over the course of the 20th century.

Ostrom

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I recently read Francis Wheen's biography of Karl Marx. It was a superb and entertaining read, from a non-Marxist writer which explodes a few of the myths surrounding Marx. The one conclusion I drew from reading it is that Marx wouldn't have got on too well with many of those who called themselves his disciples over the course of the 20th century.

Aye, a very enjoyable read. On that point, there are a few books all professing Marxists should read;

John Hutnyk's Bad Marxism - more of an insiders auto-critique, but does a good job of separating more relevant applications from the distortions of cultural studies

Raymond Aron's The Opium of the Intellectuals - timeless account of academic institutionalisation and political philosophy

Joseph Schumpeter's Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy - for one of the more balanced critiques of Marxism (particularly part one - which is presented in a manner similar to that of Aron)

Plautus

Manach wrote: »

From a conservative PoV that I've read:

• The Uses of Pessimism: and the Danger of False Hope by Rodger Scruton
• Parliament of Whores by P. J. O'Rourke
• History of the peloponnesian war by Thucydides
• Reflections on the revolution in France By Burke
• Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda by Michael Burleigh

Would Thucydides really be a 'conservative' though? I know he's a fall back for foreign policy realists, who claim him as a prototype, but I think that might lie in a misinterpretation of the Melian Dialogue.

bradlente

RandomName2 wrote: »

The Republic - Plato
The Bible - Multiple authors
Magna Carta - Multiple authors
Leviathan - Hobbes
95 Theses - Luther
Social Contract and Discourses - Rousseau
The Prince - Machiavelli
Vindiciae contra tyrannos - "Stephen Junius Brutus"
Elements of the Philosophy of Right - Hegel
Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzche
A house divided against itself cannot stand - Lincoln
Mein Kampf - Hitler
Schuman Declaration - Schuman
Strategies of Containment - Gaddis

as per the OP.

And all of the above are very biased

Surely you jest good sir?

AhSureTisGrand

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The one that gets compared to 1984. It's not as overtly political as its companion, but it really gets you thinking about your views, whatever they may be. By my reading, it is anti-utilitarianism and anti-materialism

Duke Leonal Felmet

A look at the short twentieth century through the eyes of a communist, although I didn't sense an enormous bias (bar the glossing over of the odd communist mishap). I would also recommend:




However, for both books, I would recommend some basic knowledge of these eras, as he makes assumptions on the readers knowledge.

Benny_Cake

Manach wrote: »

From a conservative PoV that I've read:

• The Uses of Pessimism: and the Danger of False Hope by Rodger Scruton
• Parliament of Whores by P. J. O'Rourke
• History of the peloponnesian war by Thucydides
• Reflections on the revolution in France By Burke
• Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda by Michael Burleigh

I really enjoyed Michael Burleigh's "The Third Reich: A Complete History" but I found Sacred Causes bizarre - he seemed to have nothing good to say about the modern world and the bits about Ireland were highly inaccurate and like something out of Punch magazine.

Sand

Id second PBs reccomendation of "The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else" by Hernando de Soto. Its an excellent book which explores the reasons for why the West >>>> Rest in the modern economic order. And what the Rest can do about it.

"Banana Republic: The Failure of the Irish State and How to Fix It" - Anthony Sweeney - Well written exploration of the problems within the Irish state and policymaking, with the presentation of solutions and ideas. It challenges a lot of the pessimism that surrounds us.

"We did nothing" by Linda Polman - account of a reporters presence in several UN missions. The Rwanda episode is particularly tragic.

"The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad" by Fareed Zakaria - explores if individual freedom is actually served by more and more democracy, which is a common view these days.

"Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic" by Tom Holland - basically a case study of the dangers of illiberal democracy and populist "reformers" laid out by Fareed Zakaria. Everything Caesar did was in the cause of the common working man...

"Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580" by Roger Crowley - Not quite sure this is a political book as such, but its a brilliant book covering an earlier, nearly forgotten "clash of civillisations" when Ottoman fleets ravaged the coasts of Europe from Cyprus to Italy to France to Spain punctuated by the terrible siege of Malta and the Battle of Lepanto, a naval battle up there with Salamis, Trafalgar and Midway in terms of historical import. Fantastic read.

ILikeBananas

RandomName2 wrote: »

A house divided against itself cannot stand - Lincoln

Sounds very relevant to US politics these days

pacquiao

ILikeBananas wrote: »

Great thread idea.

Here's my submission:



It's an absolute tome but I found it a very informative read. Fisk wouldn't be the biggest fan of the state of Israel or American foreign policy but there's a lot more to it than that angle. If nothing else this book will educate the reader about numerous conflicts, revolutions and tragedies throughout the Arab world as well as in Iran, Afghanistan, Israel and Turkey.

Serious question. Does he mention Churchill being a Zionist?

My own recommendation would be


Currency Wars
The Making of the Next Global Crisis

JustinDee

Manach wrote: »

Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda by Michael Burleigh

Utter tosh from a pro-agendaic curmudgeon and shows not much more than an inability to transcribe research properly if researched at all.

Duke Leonal Felmet

JustinDee wrote: »

Manach wrote: »

Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda by Michael Burleigh

Utter tosh from a pro-agendaic curmudgeon and shows not much more than an inability to transcribe research properly if researched at all.

Just a suggestion, but could we leave this sort of posting out of the thread? Or else it is just doomed to being closed at some future date. What do people/mods think?

MungBean

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

Just a suggestion, but could we leave this sort of posting out of the thread? Or else it is just doomed to being closed at some future date. What do people/mods think?

Confine it to threads where you want to do it you mean ? If its acceptable in other threads its acceptable here.

nesf

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

Just a suggestion, but could we leave this sort of posting out of the thread? Or else it is just doomed to being closed at some future date. What do people/mods think?

I think some level of reasonable argument about the merits of particular books isn't a bad thing. I don't want unqualified recommendations on this thread or unchallenged ones. If someone posts up a very biased book and doesn't flag it as such then it should be challenged on the thread I think.

Duke Leonal Felmet

Poor Mungbean

Duke Leonal Felmet

anymore wrote: »

The Bible - self explanatory,

Yes, everyone should read this homophobic, racist and bigoted tome. A fine read from the greatest minds of the bronze age.

Manach

JustinDee wrote: »

Utter tosh from a pro-agendaic curmudgeon and shows not much more than an inability to transcribe research properly if researched at all.

I did initially mention this is from a conservative agenda. I found the sections giving his analysis on Nazi Germany and how it came into being excellent and compares well with other works on the subject.
Saying that, I'd agree with other posters his sections on Ireland/IRA is poor and at times overly sweeping in his conclusions.

MungBean

Poor leonal

Duke Leonal Felmet

An old classic is 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy' by Schumpeter, who was an 'Austrian School' economist.

Also, for those enquirying about Friedman, 'The Road to Serfdom' by Hayek is worth a read, again a extreme libertarian.

two wheels good

matthew8 wrote: »

I always felt that politics takes away from 1984 as a book as people don't appreciate it for what it is.

Re: Orwell's 1984
I always felt the politics was an essential part of the book. I'm thinking especially of the section in the middle, unconnected with the plot, and what it teaches about militarisation and the economy and the way war can be used for nationalism and propaganda.

It was where I first encountered the notion of "the military-industrial complex", how militarism can revive an ailing economy.

Still topical today considering the privatisation of war and security and how much profit corporations such as Halliburton\Bechetel\Blackwater made from the Iraq war.

As for the comment elsewhere that "lefties" should read Animal Farm and 1984.
I came to view 1984 it as a warning against facism - the nexus of state and corporate power oppressing the citizen on the pretext of national security.

To add a book, or two, to the list:

Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein
Bad Samaritans - Ha-joon Chang.

PS Thanks for many interesting book suggestions. So many I hope to investigate.

Valmont

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

Yes, everyone should read this homophobic, racist and bigoted tome. A fine read from the greatest minds of the bronze age.

I think you might glossing unnecessarily over the massive historical importance of the Bible. Just a smidge.

SupaNova

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

An old classic is 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy' by Schumpeter, who was an 'Austrian School' economist.

Also, for those enquirying about Friedman, 'The Road to Serfdom' by Hayek is worth a read, again a extreme libertarian.

Schumpeter although from Austria is not an 'Austrian School' economist. Hayek is far from an extreme libertarian, he was open to intervention and a minimal welfare state, as was Friedman.