the Enemies Foreign and Domestic trilogy, Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead nad Witness if you haven't already read any of them...Thomas Sowell, “Basic Economics” and “Applied Economics.”
Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom.”
Outside of the obvious answers I’m sure you’ll get, I would suggest some great Science Fiction that teaches much deeper social/political, right-leaning lessons. Grab some science-fiction novels by Orson Scott Card or Robert Heinlein for some of the most overt Conservative/(small l)libertarian lessons. Although he wasn’t a Conservative, the novels by Philip K Dick appeal to libertarian leaning right readers.
“Gates of Fire” by Pressman
Anything on the life and times of George Washington
Tax-chick is right about ‘BASIC ECONOMICS’ don’t read “Applied” until you’ve read ‘Basics’, though. Be willing to take your time through it....the book LOOKS intimidating because it is thick, but the man or woman who reads it carefully will be much smarter having worked through it.
The reading isn’t difficult, you just have to pay attention.
I also would recommend “The Conservative Mind” by Russell Kirk.
Finally, if you’re just traveling or sitting on the beach, consider a simple four or five dollar copy of the Constitution...and I’m not being sarcastic. So many people do not know what is in our founding document. If you really want to delve deeper, get the Heritage Guide to the Constitution...it goes through every clause of the document and explains them and their history in Supreme Court decisions.
Also, subscribe to a magazine like World, Human Events, National Review or The Weekly Standard. These not only take on current events, but they also provide an insight into popular books, film, etc. and give a conservative point of view on the culture.
2. Anthem by Ayn Rand (far less Godless than Rand herself and a classic of intellectual liberty and individual freedom)
3. Suicide of the West by James Burnham
4. The Holy Bible
5. In Defense of Freedom by Frank Meyer
6. Modern Times by Paul Johnson
7. Stonewall Jackson by James I. Robertson
8. A Generation Awakes by Wayne Thorburn
9. The Anti-Capitalist Mentality by Ludwig von Mises
10. Protestant, Catholic and Jew by Will Herberg
the Enemies Foreign and Domestic trilogy, Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead nad Witness if you haven't already read any of them...Whatever Happened to Penny Candy, Richard Maybury
A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard
The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer
As a Man Thinketh, James Allen
That should give you a days read in short form. It also encapsulates the outline of decent Western philosophy.
The Law, by Frederick Bastiat
Anti-Capitalist Mentality, by von Mises as Black Elk mentioned
How to Lie with Statistics, by Darrell Huff
Each of the above are thin little tomes that you can stick in your pocket at the beach. Actually, some of those are probably at archive.org or mises institute for free.
At some point (soon) as SoFloFreeper says, read A Conservative Mind by Kirk. Much much heavier, but it's like a fine porterhouse steak to the above M&M's.
And for sci-fi fun, read A Step Farther Out from Jerry Pournelle, and or Lucifer's Hammer. The former to see what optimism in science was once like, the latter to see how badly hollywierd gets their asteroid impact movies wrong in science and in sociology terms. Scary!
And for refresher, read Reagan's An American Life. You got nothin else to do! =)
Johnny Tremain (sorry but I don’t know how to do italics) by Esther Forbes is wonderful American fiction. Although it was written as a children’s book, there are many underlying themes that appeal to an adult. I read it the first time when I was in third grade, and I have reread it several times since then. In fact I just read it this summer and I am soon to be 33. It’s a quick read but cuts to the bone the sacrifices made by our founders as well as average colonists.
I’ll add, from a fiction perspective, Free Republic’s own Travis McGee has some great novels.
http://www.enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/
The left has attempted to spin these as extreme radical novels, however, they aren’t. (Funny they are similar to Card’s Empire novels yet because these books deal with illegal immigration pretty bluntly, they claim it as racist.)
They are a cross between Vince Flynn and Act of Valor.
A nice big readable book in trade paper from isi.org is Russell Kirk’s “The Roots of American Order”. Total $14.50 cost.
This book outlines the roots of our western civilization that our republic was founded upon.
Thank you all for your great contributions.
This list is getting so good I think it should be compiled, posted, and sent to our elected officials (fed. (including exec & judicial branches), state, and local) for THEIR Summer Reading List...
Most of them seem fairly illiterate when it comes to basic economic and conservative principles!
Thank you all for your great contributions.
This list is getting so good I think it should be compiled, posted, and sent to our elected officials (fed. (including exec & judicial branches), state, and local) for THEIR Summer Reading List...
Most of them seem fairly illiterate when it comes to basic economic and conservative principles!
“The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization” by Anthony Esolen A good basic foundational reading that you didn’t get in school.
“ PC professors don’t want you to know that:
* Patriarchy and civilization go hand-in-hand (just ask the ancient Romans)
* Modern science came from the Middle Ages (and a Biblical view of the universe)
* The Renaissance was the flowering of a specifically Christian and classical culture
* The “progressive ideas” of the nineteenth century led to the fascism, communism, and two world wars of the twentieth century “
Don’t forget Mark Steyn.