I'm working on a web project, and would like a list of what books people think are most read, most respected and still in print liberty books (philosophy and economics).
I am not looking for obscure texts, no matter how great they may be. The purpose of this project is first to promote the more common and accessible texts, and then later use that to promote the more obscure ones. But if we start off promoting obscure texts, then the project will never gain traction.
Examples of what I am looking for,
Don't worry about offering multiple titles from the same author. We want the best of the most read books regardless if they were all written by Mises, Hayek, Rothbard etc.
List as many as you can. And thanks in advance!
Here's some I'd add:
Those come to mind.
-Jon
Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...
Defending the Undefendable by Walter Block is a good one, very accessable and easy to read.
I'm not sure what you mean by "obscure" since just about every libertarian book except for a few (by people like Rand, Paul, Friedman &c) are pretty obscure, at least enough so that you will never find them in B&N or Borders. I guess you mean stuff so obscure that finding it on amazon or in libraries is quite difficult, I would add to the list Nock's "Our Enemy, the State," because it is a very readable, concise and convincing book that shows the you that, well, the state is our enemy, a fundamentally anti social institution. In fact, I think Nock is so brilliant that any libertarian should read as much of him as they can especially his memoirs. He has more insight into culture, education, religion, and other such topics, which are unfortuanately often overlooked by libertarians, than just about any other 20th century author. "Economics in One Lesson," by Hazlitt is great. Some of the pre Austrians like Bastiat and Say (especially Bastiat) are nearly as readable as any 20th century introductory economics text. Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" or "Civil Disobedience" is essential and should not be overlooked. "No Treason" is also absolutely essential.
Thanks guys, these are great, keep them coming! And yes majevska, you understand where I am coming from when I ask to avoid the very obscure texts. It's not to diminsh them, just difficult to build a website around books that might individually generate 10 or 20 google searches per year. That's why we'll start with the popular and accessible and gradually include the more obscure and rare.
For something a little different and for the kids:
Yertle The Turtle (where burping Max smashes the stacked turrtle state. What is not to love about it?)
The Devils Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce still provides great insight today as well.
Sometimes good for the "How does the enemy think?" question is the very insightful "Georgetown Institute of Policy Studies 1963" by Kissenger, Acheson, Kennan and McNamara (and others).
Here you see the statist blueprint for war in Vietnam (and how we were going to secure Indochina by 1975) and the really frightening 38 (I think it was 38) Rungs of Nuclear Escalation that advises that we seek out both real and imaginary Soviet Agents at home and persecute them....also possibly leading to nuclear war.
I have to dig that book up again but understandably I enjoy reading what I agree with more than reading policy "experts".
http://www.comebackalive.com/phpBB2 Travel, Adventure Travel, Arguments, Recipes.
I can personally recomend Menken's Notes on Democracy, which is both insightfull, and full of Menken's rapier wit.
You can't take the sky from me.
The Man Vs. The State - Herbert Spencer
The Forgotten Man ?
Power & Market, What Gov't Done Money?, For A New Liberty - Rothbard
Road To Serfdom, Constitution For Liberty - Hayek
The State - Franz Oppenhiemer
Libertarian Reader - David Boaz
Radicals For Capitalism - Brian Doherty
Fugitive Essays - Frank Chodorov
Rights of Man - Paine
Democracy is nothing more than replacing bullets with ballots
If Pro is the opposite of Con. What is the opposite of Progress?
Andrew: The Forgotten Man ?
The Forgotten Man was by William Grahm Sumner (not sure if I spelled that right).
Ok, this is the list I have so far.
Some of these are obscure, and some may not be in print, but can people please rank these for me? If you can rank 5 or 10 from that would really help. Thanks!
John Locke - Two Treatises of Government.
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"
Bob Dylan
Is it in print? Is it obscure?
I need to get a list to meet the requirements in my first post. Rare or obscure liberty texts can come later. I need books that as many people as possible know and can buy.
Yes it is in print and no it isn't obscure.
And although I've not read it, I've seen a lot of people recommended Anarchy and the Law by Stringham, if people are looking for something more basic than Economics for Real People Gordon's Introduction to Economic Reasoning.
Are you going to rank the list?
Unfortunately there's a great deal of them I haven't read (yet), so no.
What's this for if you don't mind me asking?
I'm setting up a liberty oriented book review site.
Bump for top 5s? top 10s?
The number one most overlooked but wonderful book is Frank Chodorov's Rise and Fall of Society. I would give that book to anyone. It pretty much wipes out whole disciplines based on nonsense.
How can we get this book better known? It just dropped down a memory hole for no good reason.
Publisher, Laissez-Faire Books
Jeffrey, you are a sight for sore eyes indeed.
Would you please pick a few more of your favorites out of the list? I'm not an authority on books, but I can help get them promoted again. This is what I can contribute externally right now to furthering the cause of liberty.
HI
Two books I find easy to read and understand that are printed and not on your list are...
Union and Liberty by John C. Calhoun
The Philosophy of Ownership by Robert Leferve
I also was thinking a fine and readable book is...
The Discovery of Freedom by Rose Wilder Lane.
I hope those help. Good day.
Individualism Rocks
2 of my favorites are -
How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World - Harry Browne
The Sovereign Individual - James Dale Davidson & Lord William Rees-Moog
Jain
Let me add that Our Enemy the State by Nock is an amazing treasure, as his his Memoirs of a Superflous Man. Memoirs should be read with patience. It has a different pacing than the usual policy book. But the impact is huge. It is an adult book and not really suitable for teens, for example. But for anyone in college or later, it is highly recommended.
Both books are available in PDF or through the store.
I'm hoping that we can do a special edition of Our Enemy the State next year. Hardback etc.
Ok, this is my list so far from the master list further back in the thread.
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty - Harry BrowneEconomics in One Lesson - Henry HazlittDefending the Undefendable - Walter BlockOur Enemy, the State - AJ NockThe Revolution: A Manifesto - Ron Paul
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Any others? It has to be in print, fairly common (for the liberty movement) and good for newbies.
Thanks in advance.
I'd suggest Callahan's book to replace Hazlitt's.
And Rothbard's The Ethics of Liberty is essential.
I'm not very familiar with either. Any particular reason? And is Callahan's in print and more widely read?
Callahan's book goes more in depth in regards to Austrian Theory whereas Hazlitt merely goes through various policies and shows the economic fallacies. In addition to this Callahan's book is easier to read than Hazlitt's and starts from the beginning.
I think Economics in One Lesson is useful and is a good read but if you're introducing people to Austrian Economics it makes more sense to start from the beginning.
As for you're last question I'm not sure, although I'd guess that Hazlitt's is more popular, but as I said that's just a guess.
And as I said in the other post I think Rothard's The Ethics of Liberty is missing from that list.
Without giving it all away, I need books that enough people have read, so that I can solicit a good number of short reviews.
There are probably all sorts of amazing books offered in this thread, but if they aren't (1) in print and (2) widely read, they aren't useful for phase 1 of this project.
I'll investigate Callahan's book tomorrrow. Thanks. If it doesn't make phase 1, it can make phase 2.
Callahan's book is a must. It's free online too.
Just rehashing the list above...but with links(!):
Human Action, Liberalism, Socialism, The Theory of Money and Credit, and Omnipotent Government (Mises)
Man, Economy, and State, For a New Liberty, What Has Government Done to Our Money?, The Ethics of Liberty, and Power and Market (Rothbard)
Democracy: The God that Failed, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property, and A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (Hoppe)
The Market for Liberty (Morris and Linda Tannehill)
The Virtue of Selfishness, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
The Machinery of Freedom (David Friedman)
Prices and Production, Individualism and Economic Order, The Road to Serfdom and The Constitution of Liberty (Hayek)
Reason and Value (R. Long)
Nature, Justice, and Rights in Aristotle's Politics (F. Miller)
The Libertarian Idea (Jan Narveson)
The Elements of Justice (David Schmidtz)
Principles of Economics (Menger)
Economics for Real People (Callahan)
Rational Man and For an Ontology of Morals (H. B. Veatch)
Defending the Undefendable (Walter Block)
Our Enemy, the State and Memoirs of a Superfluous Man (Albert J. Nock)
Economics in One Lesson (Henry Hazlitt)
Notes on Democracy (H. L. Mencken)
The Man Versus the State (Herbert Spencer)
The Forgotten Man (W. G. Sumner)
The State (Franz Oppenheimer)
The Libertarian Reader (David Boaz)
Radicals for Capitalism (Brian Doherty)
Fugitive Essays and The Rise and Fall of Society (Frank Chodorov)
Rights of Man (Paine)
Two Treatises of Government (Locke)
Anarchy and the Law (Edward Stringham)
An Introduction to Economic Reasoning (David Gordon)
Union and Liberty (John C. Calhoun)
The Philosophy of Ownership (Robert LeFevre)
The Discovery of Freedom (Rose Wilder Lane)
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (Browne)
The Sovereign Individual (Davidson/Rees-Mogg)
The Revolution: A Manifesto (Ron Paul)