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afwjam
01-08-2012, 08:21 PM
I have not read many books since I quit school recently, just been reading stuff on the internet. I would like to read some more books. I just read "Atlas Shrugged", good book. What books do you guys recommend that are particularly worthy for our cause? Austrian economics books? Constitutional history books? Foreign policy books? Books written by the founding fathers? I intend to read "The Law" soon. What other books do you all recommend? Books that Paul would recommend.... I'm sure there are others that would benefit from such a list....

Nate K
01-08-2012, 08:23 PM
Human Action

Adrock
01-08-2012, 08:26 PM
The Road to Serfdom

mport1
01-08-2012, 08:28 PM
Anything by Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, or Stefan Molyneux. I'd also suggest:

The Market for Liberty - Linda and Morris Tannehill
No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority - Lysander Spooner
Economics in One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt

NC5Paul
01-08-2012, 08:29 PM
Everything Dr. Paul has written is worth reading. If you're posting here you're obviously already aboard the Liberty Train, but I would still suggest reading Revolution: A Manifesto if you've yet to give it a look. I was curious about Dr. Paul and liked what I'd heard from him, but reading Revolution truly changed the way I think about politics, government, and personal freedom.

runningdiz
01-08-2012, 08:30 PM
entire sub-forum full of books http://www.ronpaulforums.com/forumdisplay.php?195-Liberty-Books

Nate-ForLiberty
01-08-2012, 08:33 PM
entire sub-forum full of books http://www.ronpaulforums.com/forumdisplay.php?195-Liberty-Books

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?129762-Books-for-Liberty

S (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?129762-Books-for-Liberty)pecifically here^


But really, just pick up "The Revolution: A Manifesto" by Ron Paul. Wonderful reading list in the back of that book. A lot of these books are offered in digital format by the Mises Institute for free.

Mises.org

joshnorris14
01-08-2012, 08:36 PM
Economics in One Lesson- Henry Hazlitt
Human Action- Murray Rothbard
Man, Economy, and State- Murray Rothbard

Nate K
01-08-2012, 08:38 PM
Economics in One Lesson- Henry Hazlitt
Human Action- Murray Rothbard
Man, Economy, and State- Murray Rothbard

Human Action was by Mises lol

Southron
01-08-2012, 08:39 PM
The 5000 Year Leap

Xenophage
01-08-2012, 08:42 PM
I really like Tom Swift books. The first one was Tom Swift and the Great Searchlight. A searchlight! CRAZY!

Xenophage
01-08-2012, 08:44 PM
Of course if you can handle the adult themes, Twilight is supposed to be super cool.

icon124
01-08-2012, 08:47 PM
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?129762-Books-for-Liberty

S (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?129762-Books-for-Liberty)pecifically here^


But really, just pick up "The Revolution: A Manifesto" by Ron Paul. Wonderful reading list in the back of that book. A lot of these books are offered in digital format by the Mises Institute for free.

Mises.org

I remember this thread. I learned so much back in 07 and 08 from this place and this thread had me reading for months!!!!!!

Brick-in-the-Wall
01-08-2012, 08:49 PM
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Nate-ForLiberty
01-08-2012, 08:50 PM
I remember this thread. I learned so much back in 07 and 08 from this place and this thread had me reading for months!!!!!!

you must be a fast reader! I'm still working my way through :p

Erazmus
01-08-2012, 08:55 PM
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Beat me too it. Also Animal Farm, The Fountainhead, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (Etienne de la Boetie), The Law (Bastiat), Anatomy of the State (Rothbard), just to name a few. And for the love of god, read Lewrockwell.com! :)

KingNothing
01-08-2012, 08:58 PM
Rothbard, Hazlitt, Spooner... those are givens.

I'd suggest some others too, to dig to an even deeper level of what it means to be human, part of our society, and part of universe:

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Moral Calculations: Game Theory, Logic and Human Frailty by Laszlo Mero
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Thoreau
On Liberty by JS Mill
The Tao Te Ching and The Hagakure
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy
Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky

Books like that... well... they help you understand the crap that happens throughout your life and the people in it and they help you to keep it all in perspective. Without the foundation of that perspective, all of the political theory and Libertarian principle in the world won't help us.

Brick-in-the-Wall
01-08-2012, 09:00 PM
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein is another good one. Well, that is if you want to read a science-fiction novel that talks about the failures of democracy and why fascism is a great alternative. It's still a good book and much better than the movie.

Erazmus
01-08-2012, 09:05 PM
Rothbard, Hazlitt, Spooner... those are givens.

I'd suggest some others too, to dig to an even deeper level of what it means to be human, part of our society, and part of universe:

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Moral Calculations: Game Theory, Logic and Human Frailty by Laszlo Mero
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Thoreau
On Liberty by JS Mill
The Tao Te Ching and The Hagakure
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy
Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky

Books like that... well... they help you understand the crap that happens throughout your life and the people in it and they help you to keep it all in perspective. Without the foundation of that perspective, all of the political theory and Libertarian principle in the world won't help us.

I'd add Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram and The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo to that list as well. I think the actual footage for the Milgram experiment is also on Youtube.

Endthefednow
01-08-2012, 09:06 PM
End the FED for all new people :)

KingNothing
01-08-2012, 09:10 PM
I'd add Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram and The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo to that list as well. I think the actual footage for the Milgram experiment is also on Youtube.


Awesome stuff, absolutely.

jersdream
01-08-2012, 09:10 PM
The Constitution-Various Authors (Mainly James Madison)

Sola_Fide
01-08-2012, 09:13 PM
One of the best books I've ever read:


http://store.nicenecouncil.com/images/Freedom%20and%20Capitalism.jpg

The relationship between Christianity, freedom, and capitalism has been a subject of scholarly study for centuries. In this volume, John Robbins argues that political and economic freedom are the results of Biblical Christianity.

Political freedom and capitalism arose in Northwestern Europe and North America after the Christian Reformation of the 16th Century, and they are unique in world history. The nations and peoples that heard and accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ as proclaimed by the Reformers quickly became free and prosperous on a scale previously unimaginable.

Some historians and economists have denied any causal connection between Christianity, capitalism, but they are able to deny this connection only by ignoring clear philosophical, economic, legal, sociological, and historical evidence demonstrating that Christianity is the source of capitalism. Laissez- faire capitalism, which is the only moral economic system, is in fact the economic system of Christianity.

Dr John W. Robbins attended Grove City College (A.B. 1969) and The Johns Hopkins University (M.A. 1970, Ph.D. 1973). He has served as chief of staff for Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, editor of The Freeman magazine, Economist for The Heritage Foundation, and Professor of Political Philosophy in The Freedom School.

agorist ninja
01-08-2012, 09:15 PM
If you want to begin undoing the layers upon layers of historical propaganda, which was crammed into your brain while in school, I strongly recommend starting with "The Real Lincoln" by Thomas DiLorenzo. I've started quite a few people down the path to liberty with this book. The most common response I get: "What else are they lying about?"

The second book would be "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt. This is simply a must read. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Read it. Twice.

From there, Rothbard, Von Mises, Tom Woods, etc.

AlexMerced
01-08-2012, 09:25 PM
MUST READ BOOKS

Invisible Wealth by Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz (best modern economics book IMHO)
Defending the Undefendable by Walter Block
Americas Great Depression by Murray Rothbard
Deflation and Liberty by Jorg Guido Hulssman
Socialism by Ludwig von Mises
Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression by Robert Murphy
Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Tom Woods
Money, Sound and Unsound by Joseph Salerno

other non austrian economists who should at read articles or essays from to be well rounded:

Keynesians - Keynes, Stiletz, James Galbraith, Krugman, Yglesias

New Institutional - Douglass C. North (awesome stuff)

Institutional - John Kenneth Galbraith, THorstein Veblen (interesting stuff)

Public Choice - John Buchanan

Monetarist - Milton Friendman


as far as different sects of Libertaianism

Objectivism - Ayn Rand

Minarchism - Robert Nozick

Anarcho-Capitalist: Fall into two categories those more aligned more with Murray Rothbard and those more Aligned with David Friedman (Miltons Son)

*David Friedmans son Patri Friedman has probably been one of the most effective anarchist starting the Seasteading Institute and starting Free Cities starting a new sovereign city in Honduras.

* for a more moderate libertarian read I'd recommend "Declaration of Independents" by Nick Gillespie and Matt Walsh

jsteilKS
01-08-2012, 09:37 PM
I've been reading a very good book by Robert A Pape called Dying to win.

dagnybell
01-08-2012, 09:39 PM
Lots of good books already mentioned.

Here's one more that's not that well known - "The Roosevelt Myth" by John T. Flynn. Flynn was a contemporary of Roosevelt's who was an investigative reporter. I think it is an outstanding book.

http://www.amazon.com/Roosevelt-Myth-John-T-Flynn/dp/0930073274

realtonygoodwin
01-08-2012, 10:58 PM
The Law - Frederic Bastiat
Conscience of a Conservative: Barry Goldwater
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? - Richard Maybury

joshnorris14
01-08-2012, 11:01 PM
Human Action was by Mises lol

I really can't believe I put Rothbard lol

muh_roads
01-08-2012, 11:05 PM
Wealth of Nations

messana
01-08-2012, 11:10 PM
Nullification by Tom Woods.

Okie RP fan
01-08-2012, 11:10 PM
Here's a very short and basic list off the top of my head that every American should read, in my opinion:

The 5000 Year Leap (saw someone else mentioned that one)
Economics in One Lesson- Henry Hazlitt
End the Fed- Ron Paul
Liberty Defined- Ron Paul
The Revolution- Ron Paul
Blowback- Chalmers Johnson
It is Dangerous to be Right, when the Government is Wrong- Judge Andrew Napolitano

majinkoola
01-08-2012, 11:36 PM
33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask - Tom Woods
Defending the Undefendable - Walter Block

majinkoola
01-08-2012, 11:37 PM
Conceived in Liberty by Rothbard - Particularly Part III, it talks a lot about the radical actions the colonists actually took to defend their liberty against the British in the pre-Revolutionary times.

A History of Money and Banking in the United States - Rothbard - especially part I. I really like when it talks about the Suffolk system. That shows how free banking can work.

helmuth_hubener
01-08-2012, 11:41 PM
Of course if you can handle the adult themes, Twilight is supposed to be super cool. Uhhh... for girls! :p

I do agree with you on Tom Swift. The Great Brain series is along the same lines. Entrepreneurship, creativity, kids doing their own cool things largely free from adult interference and circumventing what little there was.

dagnybell
01-08-2012, 11:42 PM
Oh, and I know this isn't a book, but it's just a great primer on the philosophy of individual liberty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muHg86Mys7I

The video is derived and condensed from a story called "The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey", which is a great short story that is so accessible that you can share it with your children to explain the concepts of freedom and liberty.

http://jonathangullible.com/

american.swan
01-08-2012, 11:43 PM
www.mises.org/books/ (http://www.mises.org/books/)

http://media.mises.org/mp3

affa
01-08-2012, 11:46 PM
Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes -- Jacques Ellul
New York: Vintage Books, 1973

-perhaps the most important book on the subject.

jcarcinogen
01-08-2012, 11:47 PM
http://mises.org/ Has great literature to read and recommended if you want something on monetary policy. A Road to Serfdom changed my life and led me to discover Paul.

basebalf1rst
01-08-2012, 11:53 PM
If you want to read the book that cured by apathy towards governmental policies and led me to contribute to and support Ron Paul, read Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt. I'm an 18 year old high school student and had neither formal nor informal economic education before reading that book. Now I can honestly say I know more about true economics than at least 90% of all the people I know and I can easily explain why Romney is economically retarded and Paul is right during debates.

noneedtoaggress
01-08-2012, 11:53 PM
http://mises.org/store/Assets/ProductImages/SS434.jpg (http://mises.org/easaran/chap3.asp)
^Click (just an essay)

http://mises.org/store/Assets/ProductImages/B592.jpg (http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp)
^Click

eye opening ;)

ord33
01-08-2012, 11:55 PM
If you want to begin undoing the layers upon layers of historical propaganda, which was crammed into your brain while in school, I strongly recommend starting with "The Real Lincoln" by Thomas DiLorenzo. I've started quite a few people down the path to liberty with this book. The most common response I get: "What else are they lying about?"

The second book would be "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt. This is simply a must read. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Read it. Twice.

From there, Rothbard, Von Mises, Tom Woods, etc.

My wife got me "The Real Lincoln" for Christmas. It is a very good book and pretty easy to read. Definitely an eye opener in comparison to what most people were taught in schools!

ord33
01-08-2012, 11:58 PM
I've been reading a very good book by Robert A Pape called Dying to win.

How is that book? I watched the 4 part lecture on You Tube from him. Content was very good and interesting, however his voice/tone got on my nerves at times. I bet the book is a good read though?

Xenophage
01-09-2012, 12:02 AM
Uhhh... for girls! :p

I do agree with you on Tom Swift. The Great Brain series is along the same lines. Entrepreneurship, creativity, kids doing their own cool things largely free from adult interference and circumventing what little there was.

I was just being silly because I knew this thread would explode with great suggestions with or without me.

But, yeah, actually... Tom Swift is great for kids.

I grew up reading Robert Heinlein. The first full length novel I read all on my own was "Have Spacesuit... Will Travel." I think Heinlein did a lot to shape my political and ethical views, and of course he ignited my interest in science and technology.

jsteilKS
01-09-2012, 01:12 PM
na

jsteilKS
01-09-2012, 01:13 PM
How is that book? I watched the 4 part lecture on You Tube from him. Content was very good and interesting, however his voice/tone got on my nerves at times. I bet the book is a good read though?

I've only read the first 40 pages or so, but the research is very good. Especially about democracy and terrorist organizations. The book talks about something I had no idea about. The Timil Tigers make up most of the suicide terrorist attaks in the world. They are a Hindu group that does suicide terrorist attacks against the Sri Lanka government. I guess after Iran we will head to Sri Lanka ha ha.