GC Recomended Authors List
 

when it comes to Economic, International Relations, Political Economy, and Political Science:

I'll start with some authors:

Hedley Bull
Antonio Gramsci
Milton Friedman
Frederich Hayek
Karl Marx
Karl Polanyi
Robert Gilpin
Adam Smith
Thomas Jefferson
Ernest Gellner
Ken Waltz

nobody else want to contribute?

The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Madison, & Jay
Plato
Aristotle
Machiavelli
Alexis De Tocqueville
Friedrich Nietzsche

John Stuart Mill

Ayn Rand

One of his famous quotes:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety; is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

Harper Lee ~ To Kill A Mockingbird
John Steinbeck ~ Of Mice and Men
Zora Neale Hurston ~ Their Eyes Were Watching God

I've always thought The Mystery of Capital by De Soto was a pretty good read.

It's quite obvious since I'm the most well-read person on here.

-Rudey
--Just wanted to let you know

So what is your suggested reading list, well-read one?

Grab a list of the "great books" curriculum. Read it - in the original.

Most of what I read now are bizarre foreign books or really weird business and motivational books. Sometimes I pick up fun things like "Better Golf" but not too often.

-Rudey

The Savage Nation
 

I'm currently reading syndicated talk show host Michael Savage's The Savage Nation . It's very informative and well-written, but senisitive reader's beware, it's not PC at all, which is part of it's appeal. He tells it like it is, and it's full of humor.

Sun Tzu - The Art of War
von Clausewitz - On War

About von Clausewitz, many have argued that his centre of gravity theory no longer applies to current warfare. What do you think Russ?

I'm not an expert where I can really comment, but his military philosophy shaped warfare for a few centuries, and historically, is important.

What do you think?

Sun Tzu is my favorite because his Taoist perspective is relevant to everything.

Jane Jacobs
 

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs.

This might be the most important book on modern urbanism.

James Joyce
Stanislavski

There are so many presidential biogrpahies out there, anyone recommend one in particular?

Don't know about a must read of biographies (there are so many).

However books that I would recommend:
Macrcus Aurelisus Meditations -the Gregory Hays translation was professionally done
Cicero - On Government
In The Company of Soldiers by Rick Atkinson, a good read following the 101st and the invasion of Iraq
The Sharp End: A Canadian Solider's Story by James R. Davis, a good autobiographical account of the Canadian military - served with the guy and to be honest it's a good read.. my copy is currently in Iraq somewhere;)

Not sure if this counts, but when George Washington was 14 he wrote a code behavior he thought was polite/gentlemanly. There is an edition out now that has what he wrote, plus some modern political examples of what happens when you do/don't follow that advice.

King Arthur, Karl Marx, Charlemenge, Franco, Kruchev, Zapita, Thomas Paine, Makavelli, Plato, Aristotle, and Regan. HEIL REAGAN

Didn't read the whole thread, but everyone... get thee to a bookstore and get some F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sylvia Plath. It will change you, for the better. Oh, and grab some Jack Kerouac while you're at it...

Um, babe, i'm pretty sure we're trying to stick to important political and sociological writers - although I do agree w/ your advice in a more general sense.


Here's two off-beat social/political writers that haven't been mentioned yet:

-Daniel Quinn (natural historian; revises human historical record in an interesting way)
-Kurt Vonnegut (humorist/satirist/political observer)

Here are the ones I remember - exact titles I'm not sure of.

Lyndon Johnson biography by Robert Dallek
John Adams biography by David McCullough
"Ronald Reagan: Role of a Lifetime" by Lou Cannon

I'll add more as I think of them.

Like I said - I didn't read the thread. I was wondering why it was in the News & Politics area though, so now it's all making sense now. On the political and social commentary though... I recommend Nietzsche. If nothing else, it is provocative.

Dan Rather

Tucker Carlson

and i didn't notice any Votaire on your lists.

Poor Candide!

I just finished Colin Powell: My American Journey, it's a fairly long read but it's well worth it. Dereliction of Duty is an interesting peek at what went on during the Clinton years. Another great book is In the Company of Heroes by Michael Durant, possibly my favorite book. Got it autographed and the whole shabang...

Sounds like my old AP English IV syllabus from high school Don't forget:

Brave New World- Aldous Huxley

Catch-22- Joseph Heller

Farenheit 451-Kurt Vonnegut

1984-Gorge Orwell

Black Boy- Richard Wright

Manchild in the Promised Land- Claude Brown

Um... Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury

MOST DEFINITELY!!!!! Anything by her is a must read!

do you have a particular favorite?

- marissa

More of a well-rounded list, in no particular order:

Starship Troopers - Robert K. Heinlein
Infantry Attacks - Erwin Rommel
1984 - George Orwell
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
On War - Clausewitz
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
A Book of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi
The Art of War - Sun Tzu

I meant "Slaughterhouse Five".

Anything by Mike Royko. Boss, his biography of Mayor Richard J. Daley, is an excellent read, especially if you want an account of how old-school Machine politics work. There are also several collections of his columns in print.

Jeffrey Winters
Benedict Anderson
Daniel S. Lev

Noam Chomsky. I think that Hannity calling him an idiot adds to Chomsky's credibility.

Chomsky is an absolute idiot.

-Rudey

Before you call him that, you might want to read up on some of his contributions. He's done some important work in linguistics, even if you don't agree with his political views.

Actually I have read his work and not just what he's contributed. Linguistics and politics are different.

Given that this is a News and Politics forum and that you brought up Hannity, you would think you were talking about his material on politics, wouldn't ya?

-Rudey

Okay time to add to the list:

Romeo Dalaire - Shaking Hands with the Devil

Great book about the UN General in Rawanda that tried to warn the world about the impending massacre, and then how he dealt with what happened... He is an excellent speaker to see also; a interesting analysis of the role of military force in international stablization missions, and the ethical and moral implications of these missions.

I would also recommend the documentary that should be released this year under the same name... viewed it at the film festival, and it was very thought provoking.

Bill Burkett...hes a machine with a word processor