# Lifestyles & Discussion > Family, Parenting & Education > Books & Literature >  Which book should I buy?

## randpaul2016

This will be my FIRST book purchase. 

Liberty Defined by Ron Paul
Government Bullies by Rand Paul
Rebloodicans and Democrips by Jesse Ventura
????
Plato Republic?

I DONT read books lol But am going to buy 1 for a looong plane ride (vacation). 


Anyone here read any? Recommendations? 


I also might pick up reading as a new hobby, just to educate myself more. Figured out rather than spending time on the internet learning stuff that way, I might get more out of reading a book.

----------


## kcchiefs6465

Liberty Defined is excellent. William Blum has some good ones out. (Rogue State, Killing Hope) If you feel like being annoyed on the plane ride, Mark Zepezauer's Take the Rich Off Welfare documents *all* welfare in the country. (not just the rich.. truly astounding to see the figures) Dark Alliance by Gary Webb documents Iran-Contras scandal and CIA operative cocaine importation, a very good read. Judge Napolitano has some good ones. A Nation of Sheep off of the top of my head.

----------


## fr33

The only one I've read out of those is Liberty Defined. It's a good one.

----------


## fr33

If you want to save money.

Free e-books from Mises:
http://mises.org/Literature

Free audio-books from Mises:
http://mises.org/media/categories/159/Audio-Books

----------


## VoluntaryAmerican

> If you want to save money.
> 
> Free e-books from Mises:
> http://mises.org/Literature
> 
> Free audio-books from Mises:
> http://mises.org/media/categories/159/Audio-Books


Ya I would just suggest doing this^

But Liberty Defined was real good, haven't gotten round to Govt. Bullies yet.

----------


## jbauer

Liberty Defined is a WONDERFUL book.  Rand's is full of stories, ok read but nothing spectacular.  I've not read Jesse's or Plato Republic.

----------


## green73

For a New Liberty
http://mises.org/document/1010

The Ethics of Liberty
http://mises.org/document/1179/

----------


## Henry Rogue

I'm reading "It Didn't Have To Be This Way" by Harry C. Veryser. I wouldn't say it's exactly a page turner, but it's not making my eyes glaze over either. Can't go wrong with "The Law" By Frederic Bastiat if you haven't already read it. I devoured that little book.

----------


## asurfaholic

All of Ron Paul's books are excellent and easy to read.

----------


## Acala

I would start with some foundational documents:

The Law

The Road to Serfdom

Liberty Primer by Alan Burris

----------


## Sola_Fide

You do know that Plato was a statist, right?

----------


## asurfaholic

> I would start with some foundational documents:
> 
> The Law
> 
> The Road to Serfdom
> 
> Liberty Primer by Alan Burris


I find that the original "the road to serfdom" is a difficult book to read. The OP stated that he doesn't read books much, so I might caution this one. The book is written by a very very intelligent man, and requires very deep focus to grasp what he says. Not a good book to read when you may be focused on your flight and vacation.

But it definitely should be required reading....

----------


## Acala

> I find that the original "the road to serfdom" is a difficult book to read. The OP stated that he doesn't read books much, so I might caution this one. The book is written by a very very intelligent man, and requires very deep focus to grasp what he says. Not a good book to read when you may be focused on your flight and vacation.
> 
> But it definitely should be required reading....


It has been a few years since I read it.  You could be right.  Maybe "Free to Choose" would be better?  I don't think Milton Friedman goes into monetary policy in that book.

----------


## gwax23

Economics in one Lesson by henry hazlitt

----------


## green73

> Economics in one Lesson by henry hazlitt


!!!

----------


## gwax23

> !!!


Whats wrong with Economics in one Lesson??

----------


## The Free Hornet

> Economics in one Lesson by henry hazlitt


This is also available for free in PDF and other formats:

http://www.fee.org/library/detail/ec...#axzz2OYmebkdt

Unfortunately, the screw-ups at FEE are promoting Facebook so I'm not sure what clicknastics are required to get to the download.

----------


## asurfaholic

> It has been a few years since I read it.  You could be right.  Maybe "Free to Choose" would be better?  I don't think Milton Friedman goes into monetary policy in that book.


Haven't read that one.

Economics in one lesson is another must read.

----------


## gwax23

> This is also available for free in PDF and other formats:
> 
> http://www.fee.org/library/detail/ec...#axzz2OYmebkdt
> 
> Unfortunately, the screw-ups at FEE are promoting Facebook so I'm not sure what clicknastics are required to get to the download.


I know the Mises Institutes website has a free downloadable PDF of the book. No registration needed.

I still recommend buying a physical copy though. Great book for anyones library.

Free To choose is also a good book unless your a die hard anarcho capitalist purist who rejects everything.

----------


## VoluntaryAmerican

ECON in 1 lesson is a must read.

Haven't seen anyone recommend End the Fed yet.

Read it.

----------


## Henry Rogue

> I know the Mises Institutes website has a free downloadable PDF of the book. No registration needed.
> 
> I still recommend buying a physical copy though. Great book for anyones library.
> 
> Free To choose is also a good book unless your a die hard anarcho capitalist purist who rejects everything.


Here's the link>http://mises.org/books/economics_in_...on_hazlitt.pdf I read it on pdf and then I bought the book. I just wanted a personal copy that I could loan out. Spread the Idea.

----------


## gwax23

> ECON in 1 lesson is a must read.
> 
> Haven't seen anyone recommend End the Fed yet.
> 
> Read it.


Thats next on my list.

----------


## Seth

The best book to start with is The Revolution by Ron Paul. It's a very easy read and covers all the basics of liberty. He also gives some excellent further reading suggestions at the end. I'd follow it with The Law, Economics in One Lesson, and What Has Government Done to Our Money? Just reading those books will give you a better understanding of economics and the basis of law than 99% of the population.

----------


## P3ter_Griffin

I'm reading Walden and Civil Disobedience by Thoreau right now and it is very enjoyable!  Seriously can't recommend it enough.  Economics in One Lesson which has already been mentioned is another easy and enjoyable book.  I'd stay away from Hayek and Mises for a first read, their writing style makes reading their books more difficult, and while very informative, less enjoyable.  Not vacation material IMO.  Just my $.02.

----------


## PierzStyx

If no one has suggest these yet "End The Fed" and "The Case For Gold" by Ron Paul will both give you everything you need to know to understand why the Federal Reserve is an immoral, ineffective, idiotic institution and why hard money based on gold (and possibly silver) is best choice for monetary policy and economy. "The Case For Gold" is even a free pdf on mises.org.

----------


## PierzStyx

If no one has suggest these yet "End The Fed" and "The Case For Gold" by Ron Paul will both give you everything you need to know to understand why the Federal Reserve is an immoral, ineffective, idiotic institution and why hard money based on gold (and possibly silver) is best choice for monetary policy and economy. "The Case For Gold" is even a free pdf on mises.org.

----------


## Carson

Might I suggest you try and find the one you pick, leather bound. Specially if it has any thing to do with college taught economics.

That way maybe when things get bad we can make a soup or broth out of it and try get something out of it.

----------


## RickyJ

Read the holy bible, it is the best book out there. Ron is good, but God is great!

----------


## randpaul2016

Wow thanks guys! Didn't even know about that mises website. Thanks for some links too!

Noticed The Law is only like 80 pages long...I kinda like that lol




> The best book to start with is The Revolution by Ron Paul. It's a very easy read and covers all the basics of liberty. He also gives some excellent further reading suggestions at the end. I'd follow it with The Law, Economics in One Lesson, and What Has Government Done to Our Money? Just reading those books will give you a better understanding of economics and the basis of law than 99% of the population.


There are so many good ones out there. Thinking of making a list.

http://www.amazon.com/Economics-One-.../dp/0517548232
"There are countless important books to consider, but the following are an excellent starting point: The Law by Frédéric Bastiat; Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; What has Government Done to our Money? by Murray Rothbard; The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek; and Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan."

----------


## bolil

Propaganda by Jacques Ellul.

Osan, still working on that report.

----------


## RonPaulFanInGA

New York Times and Amazon.com #1 bestseller in May 2008.

----------


## Weston White

*Other considerations:*

Leviathan–Thomas Hobbes
Second Treatise of Civil Government; An Essay Concerning Human Understanding–John Locke
American Crisis; Common Sense; Rights of Man–Thomas Paine
The Prince–Niccolo Machiavelli
The Social Contract–Jean-Jacques Rousseau
On Liberty–John Stuart Mills
Art of War–Sun Tzu
Tao Te Ching: An Illustrated Journey–Lao Tzu (Revisioned by: Stephen Mitchell)

----------


## bolil

Lesser known does not mean less important

Propaganda by Jacques Ellul.

----------


## Galileo Galilei

> This will be my FIRST book purchase. 
> 
> Liberty Defined by Ron Paul
> Government Bullies by Rand Paul
> Rebloodicans and Democrips by Jesse Ventura
> ????
> Plato Republic?
> 
> I DONT read books lol But am going to buy 1 for a looong plane ride (vacation). 
> ...


The Rand Paul book is the best one, the Ron Paul one is 2nd.

The Ventura book is not that great, his earlier books are better.

If you want to read a dialogue, read Galileo's dialogue, they are a lot better than Plato.

----------


## oyarde

Art of War , Road to Serfdom, End The Fed are all very good.

----------


## green73

> Whats wrong with Economics in one Lesson??


That damn book has made Walter Block a statist. He believes there should be a state for one reason and one reason only, to make everybody read that book.

----------


## randpaul2016

> New York Times and Amazon.com #1 bestseller in May 2008.


hmm doesn't matter that its 5 years old?




> The Rand Paul book is the best one, the Ron Paul one is 2nd.
> 
> The Ventura book is not that great, his earlier books are better.


hmmm so many to choose from lol

----------


## Galileo Galilei

Here is one of the greatest books ever written that Libertarians do not know about**:

*The Mexican Wars for Independence [Paperback]*
_Timothy J. Henderson (Author)_ 
http://www.amazon.com/Mexican-Wars-I.../dp/0809069237

It is a short easy-to-read book.  It covers the main people in the Revolution; Hidalgo, Allende, Guerrero, Mina, Morales, Iturbide, and Santa Ana.

Read this book and you will have new-found respect for the American Founding Fathers.  This is a MUST-READ.

----------


## randpaul2016

what about blackwater?

----------


## Galileo Galilei

> what about blackwater?



*Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Kindle Edition]*
_Jeremy Scahill (Author)_ 
http://www.amazon.com/Blackwater-Wor.../dp/B000Z9PYIY

----------

