Books everyone should read

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.

Duke Leonal Felmet

Valmont wrote: »

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.

I never said it wasn't important. Doesn't mean it's not contemptible.

Duke Leonal Felmet

SupaNova wrote: »

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.

No? The Mises Institute seem to adore him. I made the assumption. It's a flaky term anyway.

Valmont

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

No? The Mises Institute seem to adore him. I made the assumption. It's a flaky term anyway.

Not really-Austrian economists write about Austrian economics. That's about it.

Duke Leonal Felmet

Valmont wrote: »

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

No? The Mises Institute seem to adore him. I made the assumption. It's a flaky term anyway.

Not really-Austrian economists write about Austrian economics. That's about it.

Right. Because Austrian Economics is really unambiguously defined.

As good as 2+2=4.

I hold no hope of getting through. So I will leave you have the delusional last word.

LuckyLloyd

Suryavarman wrote: »

Finally I'll recommend the infamous Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. A survey once found that it was the most influential book behind the Bible. When it was first released it was widely panned by critics. A widely divisive book but one that I personally consider a masterpiece.

Valmont wrote: »

Great idea for a thread! I can think of a few I want to read already.

It's a work of fiction but also a philosophical treatise and a meditation on the real nature of the engines of progress: rational self-interest, individual rights, and a free economy.

I'm personally shocked that anyone who has read this would recommend it to others. It's such an acquired taste and, frankly, an absolute slog that I don't think it is the kind of thing that could be considered "essential".

I'd echo that to a lot of the books recommended here. Niche interests or the capacity to devour incredibly demanding works are no doubt excellent things - but they do not fit comfortably with a thread titled "Books everyone should read".

SupaNova

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

No? The Mises Institute seem to adore him. I made the assumption. It's a flaky term anyway.

I really don't know how you got the impression the Mises Institute adores him, they give very little coverage to his work. I will agree the term is flaky though.

nesf

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

I'd echo that to a lot of the books recommended here. Niche interests or the capacity to devour incredibly demanding works are no doubt excellent things - but they do not fit comfortably with a thread titled "Books everyone should read".

Welcome to everyone having very biased views about the world, myself included.

alejandro1977

Robert Caro's Lyndon B Johnson Biographies are epic. Really enjoyable.

His biography of Robert Moses is also excellent; obviously these books aren't purely political but the JBJ books in particular are just so enjoyable - a real social history as well as a study of a great character.

Conrad Black's biographies (of Nixon and FDR) are worthy, but by comparison rather boring (they are so long it's a struggle at times).

Duke Leonal Felmet

SupaNova wrote: »

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

No? The Mises Institute seem to adore him. I made the assumption. It's a flaky term anyway.

I really don't know how you got the impression the Mises Institute adores him, they give very little coverage to his work. I will agree the term is flaky though.

I dunno, I thought I spotted him in there a lot when I was in Uni. I don't go there much now. It is possible that I confused his birthplace with his writings. Anyway, an interesting read, nonetheless. Very esoteric type economics, way ahead of his time on things like the economics of innovation.

LuckyLloyd

Read this and you'll understand the underpinnings of the financial crises and the world's current economic malaise. Easy to read, boils down some very complex ideas and events into a very palatable (and enjoyable) bite sized chunk.



Read this and you'll understand why America is a very different place in terms of its politics. It is seven years old now, and the conservative landscape has definitely moved on some, but it serves as a very good introduction.



Read this and you'll have a window into the realities of a low skilled / low wage existence outside of the EU.



Read this and - aside from finding the author to be incredibly arrogant and obnoxious - you'll look at most everything from a different perspective and be able to pick holes in well worn cliches and truisms.

nesf wrote: »

Welcome to everyone having very biased views about the world, myself included.

That is, of course, true. Everyone should always know that no matter what you read, you can probably find a book or series of arguments that contend the opposite to every line. Got to keep your head on the swivel so to speak.

There are many excellent books also recommended in this thread, but many probably require prior knowledge, education or a certain disposition to be properly taken on board.

Laminations

Expert Political Judgement by Philip Tetlock

Hopefully when you do read it -a book actually based on the collection of evidence over a 20year period- you'll step back from boards politics and stop wasting your time with self-deluded, self-obsessed posters who are in love with their pet ideology (or as nesf more nicely puts it, are biased). Banging your head off their hedgehog spines quickly loses it's appeal... I mean to seriously call someone's philosophical and ideological musings 'non-fiction' is as legitimate a recommendation as Gene Roddenberrys Star Trek and the utopia he envisioned. Read books based on experimentation and evidence not just on opinion and ideology.

From Tetlocks evidence it is fact that people generally make ****ty judgements about future political and economic trends, ideologically driven and biased people even moreso. Boards politics isn't a place for foxes.

Permabear

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nesf

Laminations wrote: »

From Tetlocks evidence it is fact that people generally make ****ty judgements about future political and economic trends, ideologically driven and biased people even moreso. Boards politics isn't a place for foxes.

The evidence I've seen is that experts tend to be slightly better than ordinary people at calling the future but they are still wrong most of the time. Tim Hardford's latest book I think has a section on this.

As to the latter point. Well two things, one this is a general interest site so one expects there to be plenty of not hugely informed ordinary people on this forum and not just political geeks. The second is that many of the long timers here are here because they enjoy chatting about this stuff. They avoid the unwinnable debates and don't take things too much to heart.

My idea behind this thread is that people can come on, see a poster whose posts they enjoy and get an idea of what kind of books that person recommends. It's of course going to be biased and ideological but I hope people reading this thread will be smart enough to figure this stuff out for themselves from reading this forum.

nesf

I suppose I should give a proper list of books I'd recommend:

Anything by Tim Hardford. Learn about economics in a fun and relaxed way and see how it can explain quite ordinary behaviour. There's a lot more to it than just big macro-economic forecasts.

Steven Pinker's "The Blank Slate" and "The Stuff of Thought", both do away with some myths about human nature and how we think.

Reinventing the Bazaar - A Natural History of Markets is another I'd go for. An excellent and simple explanation of markets big and small, how they work, why they work and where they're a bad idea.

The Red Queen - Sex and the evolution of Human Nature. Essential reading for understanding why we are the way we are which is key to many political positions.

Guns, Germs and Steel, not everyone's cup of tea but a good read nonetheless. It investigates why the West is on top and everyone else on the bottom in an interesting way.

The Wisdom of Crowds. To be read very carefully. He shows where crowd thinking works very well but you must pay attention to where he shows it doesn't work. It'll make you radically rethink how good an idea democracy really is (though there isn't a better model out there for a nation).

Empire - How Britain Made the Modern World, a controversial one this one but a nice antidote to the traditional anti-British Empire stuff you're taught from the cradle. Plenty to disagree with here but "Whatever did the Brits ever do for us?" etc. (The idea here being to have a more balanced view of Britain rather than the rar, rar 800 years of OPPRESSION!!11! kind of view)


I'll think of more later maybe.

LuckyLloyd

Permabear wrote: »

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Eh, wow. I'll resist commenting on that.

Suryavarman

Permabear wrote: »

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It could be considered demanding in so far as it is a very long book. John Galt's speech could also be considered quite demanding as well, it's not often that you would find a 70 page speech in a book

Suryavarman

Suryavarman wrote: »

It could be considered demanding in so far as it is a very long book. John Galt's speech could also be considered quite demanding as well, it's not often that you would find a 70 page speech in a book

and i thought terry goodkind was bad for that

Ostrom

Duke Leonal Felmet wrote: »

No? The Mises Institute seem to adore him. I made the assumption. It's a flaky term anyway.

Schumpeter's position is a bit difficult to pin down. I would place him as essential reading (along with any of Joan Robinson's papers of the time) due to the balanced nature of his critique. He neither rejected Marx outright on methodological grounds as with the neoclassicals, nor outright endorsed the liberalism of others such as Von Mises or Hayek; although ultimately his prognosis for the future of capitalism (in c,s & d) was pessimistic.

I think the reason he is categorised as such is because those divisions were considered relatively clear-cut at his time of writing, whereas his commentary endorses much of Marx's method, yet emphasises the necessity of preserving space for entrepreneurialism, creativity etc.

For these reasons, he is an essential read.

oscarBravo

Permabear wrote: »

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Having read Atlas Shrugged twice and failed miserably both times to finish John Galt's monologue, I'll echo the sentiment that it can be hard work. I don't find it a particularly compelling exposition of a political philosophy, to be honest.

Neal Stephenson: The System of the World

Out of curiosity, why pick that book in isolation? It doesn't work outside of the Baroque Cycle as a whole (which I love to bits).

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Read this and - aside from finding the author to be incredibly arrogant and obnoxious - you'll look at most everything from a different perspective and be able to pick holes in well worn cliches and truisms.

I've read his Black Swan - I didn't find him arrogant or obnoxious at all; I really enjoyed the book.


All The Devils Are Here by Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean is a book I recommend frequently to anyone who wants to understand the current financial crisis all the way back to its roots several decades ago.

nuac

Re economics and politics - very interesting lists. Congrats to all on your erudition. Have some of those tomes, but little time to study them

I remember articles by George Schwarz in the Sunday Times in late fifties - very readable and clear exposition of economic theories. Apart from some of Garret Fitzgeralds articles never came across anything so good..

Regarding some suggestions above I agree re Schumpeter and Galbraith.

Would iinclude Richard Douthwaite ( sadly just died _) always very readable - a modest friendly man and he actually tried to put theory into practice e.g. LETS scheme in Westport..

Thucydides - read him in UCG, but regarded it as history rather than politics.

The Bible, of course. Have several English editions, and Latin, Greek and German versions. Going to throw out the German version, which cost me all of two euro off a barrow in Berlin. Some guy called Martin Luther has scrawled his name all over the title page, and the typeface is really old fashioned..

Mein Kampf (AH) - a rant

My library is all over the place currently in boxes be cause of some building work, but have biographies on many politicians, plus a lot of history ( social, naval, military, land war, struggle for independencl, exploration)

I find Michener's novels re various parts of the US very interesting - giving a picture of how the US developed.

Proud to say that over the years I have bought more books than I can get around to reading. Children threatening a cull ( of books, not kids )

Permabear

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oscarBravo

Permabear wrote: »

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I'd argue that the collectivist characters are portrayed as untermenschen. The overdone contrast between them and Galt (and even Taggart and Rearden) gave the book an almost cartoonish quality for my taste.

I will confess that the story is pretty compelling, I had more than a few late nights reading it.

nesf

Another one: The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies choose bad policies. Controversial, a bit heavy but fascinating.

MagicMarker

nesf wrote: »

Another one: The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies choose bad policies. Controversial, a bit heavy but fascinating.

lol, the cover speaks a thousand words.

nesf

MagicMarker wrote: »

lol, the cover speaks a thousand words.

Yeah, it basically deals with how people for some reason hold firmly to beliefs that are totally at odds with reality. Like that we're worse off now than we were in the past generally (untrue), free trade is bad, protectionism is good (untrue) and so on.

Manach

nesf wrote: »

Like that we're worse off now than we were in the past generally (untrue).

In terms of technology, social freedom or in general?

nesf

Manach wrote: »

In terms of technology, social freedom or in general?

Health, material wealth and general safety and security.

Permabear

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Suryavarman

nesf wrote: »

Another one: The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies choose bad policies. Controversial, a bit heavy but fascinating.

Good to hear, I have it on my to do list after I finish the Road to Serfdom!

snafuk35

anymore wrote: »

The Bible - self explanatory,

The passage in the Bible where Solomon assumed the throne and knocked off all of King David's enemies inspired the christening scene in The Godfather. It's actually quite entertaining.

This book is the best political book I have read in years:

zero_hope

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

By reading Ayn Rand novels I learned that woman enjoy rape and by reading statements from other leading Objectivists I realise that we should commit genocide on arabs and iranians.

MagicMarker

Great thread, I'm currently reading Capitalism and Freedom which is excellent I must admit, especially for someone so ignorant in matters of economics and politics such as myself.

sarkozy

The Transformation of Ireland - Diarmaid Ferriter - a historical work covering Ireland 1900-2000 but with political import, incisively written.

Ill Fares the Land - Tony Judt - a bite-sized treatise on why we need social democracy more than ever.

The State in Africa - Jean-Francois Bayart - an authoritative, structural account of how and why sub-Saharan African states developed as they did.

Disciplining Democracy - Rita Abrahamsen - a 'neo-Gramscian' account of how the World Bank's promotion of 'good governance' is actually an extension of failed IMF structural adjustment policies and therefore anti-democratic.

Fleeing Vesuvius - Edited by Richard Douthwaite - an interesting collection of environmental economics articles relevant to Ireland.

Reinventing Ireland - Edited Peadar Kirby - published in the early 2000s, an academic critique of Celtic Tiger Ireland from a range of perspectives.

Violence & Vulnerability - Peadar Kirby - an attempt at small 'big theory' to explain how many countries may be becoming more 'developed' but we are consequently becoming more 'vulnerable'.

Kicking Away the Ladder - Ha Joon Chang - a classic of development political-economics, an authoritative yet heterodox account of how south-east Asian countries - and all countries - developed because of decisive state intervention.

The Great Transformation - Karl Polanyi - a classic of economic history, Polyani's book proposes a dynamic of capitalism whereby political-economies shift between markets being under social control and society being under social control.

The Invention of Tradition - Eric Hobsbawm - an amazing story about how the 'traditions' we believe to be so old were actually invented during the industrial revolution for political ends.

Capital Vol 1. - Karl Marx - what efla said - a work of incredible genius and a historical oddity that continues to offer people different ways of thinking about our world.

No Logo - Naomi Klein - really the first critical account of globalised consumerism and the global social justice movement - brilliantly readable.

Open Veins of Latin America - Eduardo Galeano - finally re-published after decades out of print, this passionately written history of the exploitation of Latin America by Uruguay's most famous journalist is just incredible.

Spaces of Hope - David Harvey - an amazing story of urban development, its ideological underpinnings and our urban future.

Lipstick Traces - Greil Marcus - a famous rock journalist/critic links the Paris Commune, Dadaism, Situationism, Punk and Post-Punk with key movements in European and American philosophy and politics. With pictures!

hoorsmelt

The libertarians seem to infest this section (:pac:) so I think I'll recommend a couple of books on the left, and from a left wing POV, to balance things up.

A good history of the West European left and social democracy in action is '100 years of Socialism- a history of the West European left' by Donald Sassoon, a brick of a book but very well researched and interesting with alot of figures, graphs, comparisons and policy case studies from most of the countries in western Europe in the latter half of the 20th century.

Another good one is the Prison Notebooks by Gramsci, probably the most influential and original Marxist theorist in the middle third of the 20th century.

Lenin's pamphlet 'Imperialism- the highest stage of capitalism' is also highly recommended, it's a good overview of how globalisation progressed and why poorer countries are unable to develop themselves by relying on FDI. Another good read by him is 'What is to be done?', the book in which he sets forth his ideas of how to organise a vanguard party- it has to rank as one of the most influential works on political organisation ever written, even if you disagree with its main premises.

James Connolly's book 'Labour in Irish History' is a must for anyone with an interest in Connolly and his place as a very accomplished political writer, with his own independent socialist positions. Another good book (at least in fact, if not in conclusions) is Liam Cahill's book 'The Limerick Soviet', about a general strike and mini socialist revolution in Limerick where workers ran the city for two weeks, continuing production and printing their own currency. (it can be found online incidentall, here's a link http://www.limericksoviet.com/Book.html)

Friedrich Engels, Marx's great companion, has a number of interesting works which helped develop dialectical materialism and historical materialism, the two non-economic facets of what came to be orthodox marxism: 'Socialism- Scientific or Utopian?', and 'The origins of the family, private property, and the state'.

Another good work on the Soviet Union, and how it degenerated to Stalinism, is Leon Trotsky's work, 'The Revolution Betrayed', which is quite an interesting work as a left-wing explanation of how Stalin took over the USSR.

There are a few other quite interesting books I can think of off the top of my head, 'Ship of Fools' by Fintan O'Toole is quite a good explanation of the causes of the crisis in Ireland, 'The Lost Revolution' is a good by about the Worker's Party and the influence they had in the past, and 'Devils' by Fyodor Dostoesvsky is quite a good fictional portrayal, albeit from a reactionary Slavophile perspective, of the political tensions and revolutionary politics in mid 19th century Russia.

Mr Vengeance

Peter Mathews TD recommended an economics book last night on Vincent Browne as essential reading - I can't remember the name of it - does anyone know?


Cheers.

southsiderosie

Stumbled across this thread and figured I'd add my two cents...maybe we can get another round of recommendations?

William Easterly - The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
This book is a good introduction to development economics and why it has failed over the last fifty years. It is very accessible, even for those without an economics background, but it also includes a scholarly overview of theories of growth and development.

Samuel Huntington - Political Order in Changing Societies
Goes a long way in explaining the failures of democratization in many post-colonial and developing societies.

E.E. Schattschneider - The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America
Very short, but a great treatise on pluralism and political conflict.

Mike Royko - Boss
Perhaps the best insight into big-city machine politics ever written.

Mancur Olson - The Logic of Collective Action
This book has heavily influenced economics, political science, and sociology. Makes an argument for the irrationality of collective action.

junder

John pilgers 'hidden agendas'

Eamon Collins 'killing rage' good insight into the pira

johnnyskeleton

Valmont wrote: »

Great idea for a thread! I can think of a few I want to read already.

It's a work of fiction but also a philosophical treatise and a meditation on the real nature of the engines of progress: rational self-interest, individual rights, and a free economy.

Or romanticised delusion. So an heiress who takes wild risks based on passion to save her ailing business and an entrepeneur whose big innovation was to make other (from his pov inferior)people invent a magical alloy are somehow captains of industry, eh?

It could be written by sean quinn, how all the state looters are trying to scoop up his entitlement to a massive business empire.

When I first read it I thought it was just unrealistic. Now having seen the desparation of the economic crash I know there are some people who genuinely think like her characters.

As to recommendations, I would rather suggest how to read not what to read. You shouldn't read only those view pouts that you are iterested in, and you should read everything with scepticism.

Eggy Baby!

The leftie members of the site [an especially the "occupy movement" extremists] could do with a read of Animal Farm, before proceeding to read 1984

You do realise Orwell was a socialist don't you?

EDIT: The guy already got hit with the truth stick


The Taliban by Ahmed Rashid is very good.

A friend of mine recommended Lions, Donkeys and Dinosaurs by Lewis Page. Its essentially about how wasteful the British army is.

Eggy Baby!

Just bought I, Putin by Jennifer Ciotta on Amazon. Will read and post thoughts when done.