Here’s my short list of books I would recommend to someone who is interested in the ideas on this site and wants to learn more. If you read and absorb these books you will never look at the world the same way again.
If you’re like me, you are annoyed by books that teach you three new things. My time is limited. I like books that are full of things I didn’t know, or ideas I’d never thought of.
The books I recommend below belong in that category. They teach you something new and unexpected on every page. And they are a perfect antidote to the propaganda fed to us in the ideological prison camps where most of us spent our formative years. I list them in no particular order.
These are not the only good books out there. There are many. But I’m especially partial to these.
The Revolution: A Manifesto, by Ron Paul. This is perfect for beginners. It has a good track record as a proselytizing device.
Modern Times: The World From the Twenties to the Nineties, by Paul Johnson. I strongly prefer the earlier edition that went only through the 1980s, because Johnson starts sounding like a neocon by the time he gets to the Persian Gulf War of 1991. Ignore all that. The rest of the book is astonishingly good, and a devastating indictment of the collectivism of the 20th century.
The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey, by Michael Huemer. An extremely convincing defense of freedom that features powerful common-sense analogies as well as arguments drawn from basic moral intuitions shared by everyone.
The Costs of War, ed. John V. Denson. An indispensable book that takes the government propaganda out of war and leaves you with its true consequences.
Democracy: The God that Failed, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe. Just read it. Trust me on this.
Great Wars and Great Leaders: A Libertarian Rebuttal, by Ralph Raico. If we had honest historians, this is the knowledge we would all have. But we don’t, so my readers have it.
The Left, the Right, and the State, by Lew Rockwell. Lew (who of course runs the indispensable LewRockwell.com) did the world an incalculable service with the founding of the Mises Institute, but he is grossly underrated as a thinker in his own right. He has extended Rothbardian thought in numerous ways, and has influenced my own thinking more than almost anyone in the world.
The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays. Features essays by Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Gottfried Haberler, and Murray N. Rothbard. An effective introduction to the Austrian theory of the business cycle.
What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray N. Rothbard. An excellent little overview of the origin of money and its fate at the hands of government.
Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays, by Murray N. Rothbard. You will not think the same way ever again after reading “Anatomy of the State” and “War, Peace, and the State,” to name just two.
I hope you’ll understand that I’m particularly happy with my own book (my 13th), Diary of a Psychosis: How Public Health Disgraced Itself During COVID Mania. I’m linking to the audiobook version in particular because I read it myself, and it therefore contains just that balance of sarcasm and contempt that you crave, and that the subject deserves.
After you read these, I recommend the following if you have a particular interest in economics:
A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe.
The Economics and Ethics of Private Property, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe. This book blew me away when I first read it. Its title makes it sound dull. It is one of the most intellectually exciting books I have ever read.
Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles, by Murray N. Rothbard. This one, and the two that follow, are for the especially ambitious. This is a systematic exposition of Austrian economics. The sheer elegance of the Austrian system is on impressive display here.
Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, by Ludwig von Mises. (Some disagree with me, but I favor beginning with Rothbard before moving on to Human Action.)
Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles, by Jesús Huerta de Soto. Here is the Austrian theory on money, banking, and business cycles, presented in systematic fashion, and compared with the Chicago and Keynesian alternatives. I have a friend who was so impressed by this book that he learned Spanish so he could pursue his Ph.D. under the author in Spain.
I could name other books, naturally, but to my mind these are the absolutely indispensable ones.
I hope you find these helpful!
And of course, there are always the free Tom Woods eBooks.
