Thank you for the ping. Your dystopian list is good, I’ve re-read 1984 just about every year since 1977 - and it scares me more each time.
Another good line of reading is about “how things get done/made” in America prior to litigation and environmental impact statements, such as McCullough’s “The Great Bridge” about the Brooklyn Bridge or Rhicard Rhode’s “The Making of the Atomic Bomb”.
I will look into those!
best!