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Politics thread recommended book list?

dudalb said:
I recommend highly the Landmark annotated edition. It is more expensive them most, but the added material is so massive and extensive it is well worth it. The maps alone are worth the extra money.
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A new annotated version of this book has just been released, complete with dozens of maps and margin notes.

A volume on Herodotus from the same series is also available.
 
Tsukasa Buddha said:
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes is a must read. It pretty much sets up the core assumptions in Western political philosophy.
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In 1635, Hobbes sailed to Italy to visit his idol, me, Galileo, who was under house arrest.

Hobbes was heavily influenced by Galileo.
 
billydkid said:
Of course, I will get slammed for this, but I think the most important, current book you can read involving politics is Ron Paul's The Revolution/A Manifesto. Also, Hans-Hermann Hoppe A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism, Ludwig von Mises Human Action, Murray N. Rothbard The Ethics of Liberty and Bastiat's The Law. I don't care if people detest Ron Paul and all he stands for as long as they take the time to actually read and understand what they are detesting rather than relying on what they have been told
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Excellent book selections. I agree you will likely get slammed, most of the readers here are of an anti-Liberty bent.
 
I have'nt finished reading it yet but i think that Joel Bakan's book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power" is essential to understanding how and why our modern idustrialized capitalist societies works the way they do, politically and economically. I would even call it a vital book!

Webpage
http://thecorporation.com/
But it?
http://amazon.com/Corporation-Pathological-Pursuit-Profit-Power/dp/0743247442
A documentary was made along with the book. Here:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0379225/
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For something radically politically incorrect i would recommend:
Judith Levine's "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex"
http://www.amazon.com/Harmful-Minors-Perils-Protecting-Children/dp/1560255161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262892772&sr=1-1

I have'nt read that one but i have read enough about it to know that it is an important book so i think it is justified for me to recommend it anyway. ;)
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And one from my favourite (if a have a such) philosopher Herbert Marcuse. One of the most important books in the history of mankind (i'm not exaggerating!), and it's free!

http://marcuse.org/herbert/pubs/64onedim/odmcontents.html

Peace!

/Lars
 
A novel I just finished, Wolf Hall, is an excellent study of politics and political men and women.
 
"The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine. Particularly recommended for those searching for America's "Judeau Christian roots." (the second sentence with pure, unhomeopathicized sarcasm in my voice).:cool:
 
"The Wrecking Crew" by Thomas Frank.

What happens when people who hate government with a passion gain control of government?

The question answers itself.
 
Galileo said:
Originally Posted by D'rok
Ugh. The USA needs to take a non-myopic look at the rest of the world and notice that there are plenty of sources of political freedom that are not the US Constitution.
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Name one.
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Two Treatises of Government: In the Former, The False Principles and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, And His Followers, are Detected and Overthrown. The Latter is an Essay concerning The True Original, Extent, and End of Civil-Government by John Locke.
 
Denying the Holocaust by Deborah Lipstadt. It's a very good survey of the holocaust denial movement, and can help as a reference in any discussion with the deniers themselves.
 
The Mitrokhin Archive: Volume 2, which dealt with KGB operations in the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and Africa throughout the Cold War.

I am also making my way through Spymaster, by Oleg Kalugin, which deals with a former KGB General's perspective on the Cold war.:cool:
 
"The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli -It gives perspective on some of the games politicians play in attempts to secure the people's favor and discusses the essence of power and how one may obtain it.

"The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith -Lands down the foundation of economics as an organized field of study and gives historical perspective on the economics situation of Europe from around the 1400's to around the 1780's (note: it was originally published in 1776, but most edition you'll find will be the 5th edition, so the history will go a bit beyond its original publication date).

"Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes -In addition to the points discussed above, I believe it is important to hear both sides of an argument (Hobbes' is strongly opposed to Democracy and delivers his arguments against it and for Monarchy throughout the book).
 
BUMP
I'd like a couple of recommendations if someone doesn't mind offering a suggestion since I've never discussed politics at any real length, and as a result wind up hovering around on making any consistent points. I recently got the 5,000 year Leap, but I'd like one or two other books that run through politics from another perspective. I don't mind if they're from title's already posted here.

I'm really interested in having regular talks in the subsection can't really do it with my current standing.
 
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen is pretty much what it says on the cover. There are a few errors, but it's overall amazing and, excuse the cliche, pretty damn hard to put down. Recommended for those who would like a left-leaning critique of history textbooks without the communist apologetics of Howard "I stand to the left of Mao Zedong" Zinn.

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi. A bit out of date, but by God I wish every nonfiction writer in the world wrote like this. A perfect example of how the zeitgeist can be so, so wrong (in this case, in regards to the beliefs that a) almost all problems women had were solved and b) any problems that weren't were feminism's fault.)

The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz. If anyone ever utters the phrase "back in the old days" or anything similar in any discussion on the American family, immediately throw - do not toss, throw - this book at them.

From the Gulag to the Killing Fields: Personal Accounts of Political Violence and Repression in Communist States; edited by Paul Hollander. Anyone with a criticism of American Cold War policies, even a well-founded criticism, should read this book first. While primarily personal, not scholarly, it's still sticks with you.

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression; edited by Stephane Courtois. A more scholarly version of the above. I found the translation from French to be a bit rough, but I don't read many books not originally in English, so I'm not sure.

The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz. Essential reading. I'll change what I wrote above by saying I wish all nonfiction writers wrote like Faludi or Dershowitz. This book changed my mind on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi is a skeptic's guide to the killings of JFK, Tippit, and Oswald. Can you marry a book?

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali may not qualify because it's about religion and it's a bio. But I mainly put it in here because I have a crush on Ms. Ali. At least I think it's a crush. Whatever the gay male equivalent of a man-crush is, that's what I have.

Almo said:
Denying the Holocaust by Deborah Lipstadt. It's a very good survey of the holocaust denial movement, and can help as a reference in any discussion with the deniers themselves.
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While the book is amazing as an analysis of the denier movement, Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It? by Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman is a better reference for discussions. Lipstadt does address some specific factual inaccuracies, but since the book is a history of the movement these debunkings are scattered around the book. Shermer and Grobman lightly hit upon the history and sociology of deniers for a few chapters, but then fully delve into the specific arguments in different chapters.

Both books are essential reading.
 
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