So Middle Guy has asked me for a “core list” of 20 books he just has to read on politics, political philosophy, and economics.
He’s a smart 18 year old high school senior who has worked at the State Capitol and a hospice, so he’s got some experience in the world.
I’ve got – surprise!! – some ideas in this regard, but it occurs to me that you folks might – just might – have some ideas in this area too.
So put them down here…
The short list:
1. The Anatomy of Power, by J. K. Galbraith
– dissects the different forms of power. An excellent starting point for any political discussion. Well reasoned, and an easy read.
2. Lies my teacher told me, by James W. Loewen
– Fills in many of the blanks in high school history courses. It has a somewhat liberal bias, but the factual parts are accurate as far as I can tell, and it’s a good antidote to the whitewashing of history which is a major obstacle to understanding why the world is the way it is.
3. How to lie with statistics, by Darrell Huff and Irving Geis
– Good basic book on the way statistics are routinely used to mislead and confuse. Nobody with an interest in public policy should miss this book. A real eye opener.
4. The Discourses, by Machiavelli (note: *NOT* The Prince, wich is a stripped down version of The Discourses with all the pro-democracy stuff taken out)
– Hugely influential on the founding fathers. Tightly written, deeply insightful. Macchiavelli is unjustly maligned because people tend to read The Prince because it is shorter, but The Discourses make a compelling case for republican government on pure grounds of national interest.
5. Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
– A much more spiritual book than the others on my list, but its focus on virtue is much needed in this day and age. Written by one of the best Emperors Rome ever had, a man who genuinely tried to live his beliefs. An excellent guide to life, with political insights scattered throughout.
I favor books providing context and framework. The other stuff makes much more sense within a broader picture. In no particular order, these ought to appear somewhere on the list:
a) _Dawn to Decadence_ by Barzun. An overview of western civ written by an historian in his 90s.
b) _Generations_ by Strauss & Howe. ‘The history of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069.’ A reasonably convincing discussion of the cyclical progression of generational types and its affect on history.
c) _Fourth Turning_ also by Strauss & Howe. A disturbing but important discussion of the roughly 80-year recurrence of existential crises in American history.
d) _The Great Wave_ by Fischer. Price revolutions and the rhythm of history. Discussion and data back to ~2000 BCE.
e) _History of the English-Speaking Peoples_ by Churchill. Several volumes. It’s who we are.
f) _The Bible_ Regardless of one’s faith, this should be read in some depth to understand much of western civilisation, and in particular what it means to have a “Judaeo-Christian” cultural heritage. Genesis, Exodus, Samuel (I,II), Kings (I,II), Proverbs, Isaiah, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, and Corinthians (I,II) form a pretty good core.
g) _Holistic Management_ by Savory. A powerful discussion of an effective approach to environmental and business management. Important discussion on why so many civilisations have failed.
.
“Clausewitz _On_ _War_”:http://www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/WhichTrans.html#Rec
“Sun Tzu _The_ _Art_ _of_ _War_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486425576/
Knowing the options is important, knowing the military mindset is important, and there’s a lot of parallels between military thinking and dictatorial thinking.
These are some I’ve enjoyed recently:
The Ideas that Conquered the World
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The Future of Freedom
Modern Times
The Savage Wars of Peace
Albion’s Seed
The Federalist Papers
Democracy and Leadership by Irving Babbitt, 1924.
Examines the origins in the work of Rousseau and Burke of the left/right divide.
And this essay on Disraeli gives insight on modern conservatism and again the left/right problem.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=5198&R=C3D22F3EC
The Road to Serfdom FA Hayek
I would suggest that Bastiat’s “The Law” be included on any conservative must-read list.
1) The Proper Study of Mankind by Isaiah Berlin
2) Diplomacy, by Henry Kissinger
3) The Opium of the Intellectuals, by Raymond Aron
4) Modern Times, by Paul Johnson
5) The Open Society and Its Enemies, by Karl Popper
_Starship Trooper_, _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, and _Stranger in a Strange Land_ by Robert Heinlein.
_On Becoming a Person_ and _A Way of Being_ by Carl R Rogers.
Some books that’ve influenced my thought on how politics works:
The End of History by Francis Fukuyama
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
The basis of all human behaviour lies in our psychology, which was optimised for the challenges our ancestors faced in the evolutionary past. To understand people, we need to know about evolutionary psychology:
How the Mind Works by Stephen Pinker
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright
Some backgound on evolutionary theory might be useful:
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
– Carl Schmitt: The Concept of the Political – amazingly lucid, relatively short, really helps to understand what exactly ‘political’ means, helps to think about the value and purpose of the state productively
– Hannah Arendt: The Human Condition – beautiful and inspiring and useful too
… and I second Clausewitz!
A. L., I’m glad that you are doing this for your son, and I am sure that we will all be glad to help!
I recommend the following:
This Kind of War
This Kind of Peace
Fire and Blood
Lone Star
(all by T. R. Fehrenbach)
Plagues and Peoples
The Rise of the West
The Pursuit of Power
(all by William H. McNeill)
The Evolution of Man and Society
The Little Universe of Man
(both by C. D. Darlington)
The Strategy of Technology
(Steffan Possony and Jerry Pournelle)
Decisive Warfare
(Reginald Bretnor)
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
(sorry, I’ve forgotten the author)
These should get your son well started. I do agree with most of the recommendations listed above, although I have now seen some criticism of Jared Diamond’s last two books.
I made an attempt to add a few and second a few via trackback, but my ping was rejected.
“Here are my suggestions”:http://dimer.tamu.edu/simplog/archive.php?blogid=3&pid=1047
Reccommendations, roughly in the order that I would suggest reading them:
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
The Open Society and its Enemies by Karl Popper
A Theory of Justice by John Rawls
Law, Legislation and Liberty (3 volumes) by F.A. Hayek
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
On War by Carl von Clausewitz
The Sling and the Stone by Thomas Hammes
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam by Gilles Kepel
Why Globalization Works by Martin Wolf
The Pentagon’s New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett
“The Fountainhead” & “Atlas Shrugged”
Author: Ayn Rand
Democracy in America
The Federalist Papers
I’d second a number of the suggestions above, particularly Leviathan and I’d add Common Sense. Also Thomas Sowell’s basic econ book, whos title escapes me for the moment.
And tell him to take a few minutes to actually read the Constitution of the United States. There’s a lot more there than just abortion and sodomy (What? No, of course those two are in there!).
Jack Rakove’s Pulitzer-winning book on the perils of Originalism.
Robert Caro’s prize-winning (Pulitzer again, IIRC) bio of Robert Moses.
_On Liberty_, by J.S. Mill
Richard M. Stallman’s collection of speeches and essays
_The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, by Robert Heinlein
Play the computer game “Master of Orion 2.” Strategic simulations can be very instructive.
_The Cathedral and the Bazaar_, by Eric S. Raymond
_The English Constitution_, by Walter Bagehot, esp. if you can find the edition with Crossman’s forward
_The Asan Heresy_, by Jason Kuznicki (posted as a serial on his blog: “PositiveLiberty.com)”:http://positiveliberty.com
It’s clear we live in a time where the Rightist anti-Democratic Forces are in power, and have educated people away from good thought…
“‘The Fathers’ had for their oracle of political philosophy the treatise of Montesquieu on the Spirit of Laws,” James Bryce, American Commonwealth, vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan Company, 1911), 29.
“The oracles usually consulted were Blackstone and Montesquieu. The Spirit of Laws was studied by Washington as part of his preparation for the work of the convention,” Hannis Taylor, The Origin and Growth of the English Constitution, vol. 1 (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1889), 60.
“Montesquieu is accepted as the oracle of political theory for that time,” R. A. Ames and H. C. Montgomery, “The Influence of Rome on the American Constitution,” CJ 30 (1935): 27.
The American Right would hate Montesquieu, the Oracle of the American Republic, if they took the time to read Esprit de Lois.
The focus on Tocqueville is morally repugnant to me.
Oh, and Gouvernor Morris, the guy who actually penned the US Constitution. His politics would make the modern right croak in their boots. The point of the House of Representatives? To watch over the rich, to see that they don’t get up to the schemes they always and everywhere try. Have to read Farrand’s records, I think, to get them.
In that vein, Adam Smith had some unkind words for corporations getting involved in the legistlative process, but that’s only in the unedited version of the Wealth of Nations.
Some comments on the other books.
Take Carl Schmitt’s “Concept of the Political” and shove it. He was the foremost Nazi legal authority.
Screw Machiavelli (dolt) and Marcus Aurelius was father to Commodus, so he couldn’t have been all that. Didn’t know his wife was sleeping around with half of Rome’s citizen’s, either.
No one mentioned the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire? Someone did mention The Federalist Papers.
I’d say no to Fukuyama (spotty guy) and perhaps to Dimaond’s G,G&S, but not for its accuracy, only its scope.
Matt McIntosh has a great reading list, if you want the guy to get a think tank job at Heritage. Bah to all of it. (OK, Rawls is not strictly rightist, but its a terrible way to pigeonhole the left).
R Caro on R Moses? Sounds interesting.
On Liberty, by JS Mill, great suggestion.
The elite are in a sorry state, AL.
Interesting lists, but no _Clash of Civilizations_?
For current events: The Savage Wars of Peace (Max Boot) and Just and Unjust Wars (Walzer, used in the core ethics course at West Point, very readable with historical examples and representing many viewpoints)
For opposing approaches to predicting future trends: Limits to Growth (Meadows et al, the work out of MIT that underlies the Club of Rome predictions in the 70s) and The Next 200 Years (Herman Kahn, who founded the Hudson Institute after playing a major role at Rand)
Man and His Symbols (Jung)
If he’s not very math-oriented OR wants to get a jump on college studies, Calculus Made Easy (Thompson with Gardner’s new intro. Originally written for high school seniors, a non-technical, narrative approach that is very accessible. Gardner keeps the theory straight for those who will go farther, but for those who won’t, a basic understanding of the calculus is invaluable for e.g. public policy analysis.)
Lots more, not enough time right now to list them.
Oh, yes, re: economics, Schumpeter. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. If he grasps the idea of creative destruction, a lot of the rest of econ will make more sense.
MBA hat off now …. LOL
Oliver E. Williamson, The Economic Institutions of Capitalism
The _Federalist Papers_ are a good idea; an even better one that includes them is _The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification : Part One, September 1787-February 1788_, Vols. 1 and 2. That’s _the Federalist_ in the larger debate about what America should be. From a very good (and very reasonably priced) Library of America series of original writings of some very original Americans.
_Writings_, Thomas Jefferson. A another Library of America work; collection of his letters, treatises, papers.
_Personal Memoirs_, Ulysses S. Grant. One of the best military memoirs ever, by someone whose prose is surprisingly candid and terse.
_The Mystery of Capital_ and _The Other Path_ by Hernando de Soto. A Peruvian economist with a very sharp view of the present day.
_The Transformation of War_ by Martin van Creveld. For that matter, _anything_ by van Creveld if you’re interested in current military affairs.
_Make No Law_ by Anthony Lewis, a good overview of the First Amendment and the contributions to this country of Justices Brandeis and Holmes. If you’re further interested in the law, Lawrence Friedman’s _A History of American Law_ and _American Law in the 20th Century_ are very readable histories — in a way, our social history as well.
The Revised English Bible. A modern translation, readable but not simplistic in its prose.
_Guns of August_ and _The Proud Tower_ by Barbara Tuchman. Maybe not on point but personal favorites for their vivid approach to history. Ditto for Edward Crankshaw’s _The Shadow of the Winter Palace_.
I concur with the others on _The Prince and the Discourses_ by Machiavelli, on _Democracy in America_, and Churchill’s _History of the English-Speaking Peoples_. Shakespeare’s complete works as well, I suppose.
Add this one:
“Omnipotent Government, The Rise of the Total State and Total War”:http://www.mises.org/store/product1.asp?SID=2&Product_ID=53 , by Ludwig von Mises
If he plans to work for the government (or really any big bureaucracy), Kafka’s _The Castle_ and _The Trial_.
Orwell’s_1984_
Add _Animal_ _Farm_ if you’re reading Orwell.
Well, I’m reflecting my personal biases by including a whole pile of history and historical sociology, alongside political philosophy, and being light on economics and general philosophy (not really my areas).
Plus a few oddments.
And rather more than 20, I’m afraid.
(Good general introductions )
J.S. McLelland – A History of Western Political Thought
Bertrand Russell – A History of Western Philosophy
Plato – The Republic
Aristotle – The Politics
Aristotle – Ethics
Thomas Aquinas – Summa Theologicae (Concise Translation, ed. T. McDermott)
Machiavelli – The Prince
Machiavelli – The Discourses
Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan
John Locke – Treatises
David Hume – Political Essays
Tom Paine – On Liberty
Tom Paine – Common Sense
Hamilton, Madison, Jay – The Federalist Papers
Jean-Jacques Rousseau – The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau – A Discourse on Inequality
Edmund Burke – Reflections on the Revolution in France
Alexis de Toqueville – Democracy in America
J.S. Mill – On Liberty
J.S. Mill – Utilitarianism
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels – Manifesto of the Communist Party
George Woodcock (ed) – The Anarchist Reader
George Santayana – Dominations and Powers
Robert Nozick – Anarchy, State and Utopia
Schumpeter – Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Karl Popper – The Open Society and its Enemies
J. Rawls – A Theory of Justice
Roger Scruton – The Meaning of Conservatism
Thucydides – The Peloponessian Wars
Edward Gibbon – The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (abridged edition by D.M. Low)
Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations
Stephen Pinker – The Blank Slate
Michael Mann – The Sources of Social Power
Barrington Moore – The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
John A. Hall – Powers and Liberties
Paul Colinvaux – The Fates of Nations: A Biological Theory of History
Jared Diamond – Guns, Germs and Steel
David Landes – The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
Raymond Aron – Peace and War
Martin Wright – Power Politics
Theda Skocpol – States and Social Revolutions
A. O’Hear – What Philosophy Is
D.W. Hamlyn – A History of Western Philosophy
Robert Heilbroner – The Worldly Philosophers
Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey – History of Political Philosphy
G. H. Sabine – History of Political Philosophy
J.H. Burns (ed) – The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought 350-1450
J.H. Burns (ed) – The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700
Ian Hampsher-Monk – A History of Modern Political Thought
John Finnis – Aquinas
Leszek Kolakowski – Main Currents of Marxism
J.G.A Pocock (ed) – The Varieties of British Political Thought 1500-1800
Gertrude Himmelfarb – Victorian Minds
Raymond Aron – Main Currents in Sociological Thought
A.J.P. Taylor – The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1948-1918
Fernand Braudel – Capitalism and Material Life
Colin McEvedy – Penguin Historical Atlas
Barbara Tuchmann – A Distant Mirror
Jaques Pirenne – The Tides of History
Robin Lane Fox – Pagans and Christians
Elaine Pagels – Adam, Eve and the Serpent
Herbert J. Muller – Freedom in the Ancient World
Alex Goodwin – The Friends of Liberty: the English democratic movement in the age of the French revolution
Judith Herrin – The Formation of Christendom
Peter Brown – The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity 200-1000 AD
C.D. Darlington – The Evolution of Man and Society
J.L. Talmon – The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy
J.L. Talmon – Political Messianism: The Romantic Phease
J.L. Talmon – The Myth of the Nation and the Vision of Revolution
Peter Farb – Man’s Rise to Civilisation
Lawrence Stone – The Causes of the English Revolution
Norman Cohn – The Pursuit of the Millenium
W.H. McNeill – Plagues and Peoples
W.H. McNeill – The Rise of the West
Malise Ruthven – Islam in the World
Daniel J. Borstin – The Discoverers
Raymond Burke – Connections
Jacob Bronowski – The Ascent of Man
Kenneth Clarke – Civilisation
Ernest Gombrich – The Story of Art
Nigel Calder – Spaceships of the Mind
Freeman Dyson – The World, the Flesh and the Devil
Not mentioned so far:
Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson.
On the theory side I agree with the recommendations for Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu. I had always heard that Locke was the most influential writer for the founders. The Federalist, absolutely.
Animal Farm and 1984, yes, PLEASE make sure at least one of these are in the final list of 20.
But I’m the camp that finds history the best teacher of all.
“The Gulag Archipelago”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060007761/ by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn cannot be left out.
“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517102943/ by William Shirer should be in the list also, to learn how H-tler came to power.
_The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution_ by Andrew Bard Schmookler (University of California). It explains more about why the world has evolved as it has than any other single book I know.
_Topsoil and Civilization_ by Tom Dale & Vernon Gill (University of Oklahoma). How societies have destroyed themselves through ecological damage.
Marc,
I’ve waited, probably far too long for your attention span within the blogosphere, to see what is put out for “middle Guy’s” reading list.
I was quite negatively surprised that only one commenter, John Farren, put forth one – Alexis de Toqueville – Democracy in America, of the two, Federalist Papers being the other, absolutely must reads.
As a “fan” of Gordon Woods, no-one can understand American History without reading Dr. Woods’ “Radicalism of the American Revolution”
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679736883/qid=1108106388/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-7886287-6940844?v=glance&s=books
The other must read, IMHO, would be Daniel Boorstin’s “The Discoverers”
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394402294/qid=1108106224/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/002-7886287-6940844?v=glance&s=books