Posted on 09/03/2011 2:16:51 PM PDT by ixtl
I am preparing a list for my children and grandchildren of the _____ (to be filled in) non-fiction books everyone should read. To date, I have only four, all of which I have read. In alphabetical order by author:
Charles Darwin, "On the Origin of Species by Natuarla Selectin."
Noccolo Machiavelli, "The Prince."
Sun-Tzu, "The Art of War."
H. G. Wells, "The Outline of History (1939 edition).
For the record, I am a 70+ year old retired attorney, who has always been a voarcious reader.
Criticism and suggestions are welcome.
My all time favorite since I was 10 is The Complete Book of Marvels by Richard Haliburton.
He visited all the truly cool places in the world and tells about it
Herodotus’ Histories. No matter what else.
A book on the writing of the Constitution, there are several good ones.
“Pivot of Civilization” by Margaret Sanger
“The Outline of Sanity” and “What’s Wrong with the World” by G.K.Chesterton
Except for Bacon’s and Spengler’s, whose works I have not read, I must endorse your compilation.
St. Augustine is a tough slog, but worth it for those ready for him.
Plato's "The Republic"
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: a series of very plain talks on very practical politics
The Book that Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi.
The 5,000 Year Leap.
The Federalist Papers.
The Road to Serfdom.
The Forgotten Man.
“The Face of Battle”, by John Keegan. This is a must read for any military history fan.
Xenophon's Anabasis is a good read...the story of the march of the Ten Thousand. The Penguin translation is called The Persian Expedition.
Great list! I must get to reading those that I have missed!
I found “The Civilization of the Middle Ages” by Norman Cantor a great intro to Western history of the last 2,000 years.
Got em.... Thanks !
Bacon’s quite worth your time. Spengler is long, but also worthwhile.
Tougher than nails to walk across Africa.... Much less the other expeditions.
Hopefully our last hundred degree day was yesterday. Supposed to be 75 degrees Sunday here in the Panhandle.
Low 80’s rest of next week... !
Stay Safe !
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
“Common Sense” by Thomas Paine
“Free to Choose” by Milton Friedman
“The Double Helix” by James Watson
Anything by Steven Ambrose.
That's a good one!
Of course, the Bible and the Federalist Papers are necessary, too. Tacitus and de Tocqueville are good, Guns, Germs, and Steel is not. Bad history is good lawyering and vice versa, but far too many modern historians fail to understand the distinction, the effect of the politicization of the academy. For an older student, Churchill on WWII is good, but long. His History of the English-speaking Peoples is an excellent general history. I highly recommend Harold J. Berman's Law and Revolution and its sequel, though these are college-level texts on the development of Mediaeval and Renaissance law (late pre-modern and early modern era to use the new politically correct terms). Philosophy, The Federalist, and the Constitution by Morton White is a good overview of natural-law theory.
Beyond that, I can't do much better than other posts recommending Sowell on economics and Hanson on ancient history. Oh, and I concur that the Discourses is better the Prince, but I understand that the Prince is nearly as necessary as Shakespeare to a well-rounded library.
Bad history is good lawyering and vice versa,
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For the record, he’s the lawyer and I’m the historian.
REFERENCE BUMP.
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