"The wise man reads both books and life itself." Lin Yutang
While I realize conservatives don't read or they wouldn't be conservatives, conservatives do believe in fairy tales like the 'free market' and 'republicans care for the people', so then they must still believe in Santa Claus. So seeing as they still believe in the 'tooth fairy' as well as libertarianism, ask Santa for the top three books and have mommy and daddy read them to you.
Conservative reactionary politics. 'The Rhetoric of Reaction'
The Rhetoric of Reaction - Albert O. Hirschman - Harvard University Press
Narrative American history 1932 - 1972
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Dream-Narrative-History-1932-1972/dp/0553345893/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972 (9780553345896): William Manchester: Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
History of Ideas - superb
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Mind-Intellectual-History-Century/dp/0060084383/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century (9780060084387): Peter Watson: Books[/ame]
======================================================
Serious fun, thought provoking.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Have-Changed-Your-About/dp/0061686549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: What Have You Changed Your Mind About?: Today's Leading Minds Rethink Everything (9780061686542): John Brockman: Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-Believe-but-Cannot-Prove/dp/0060841818/ref=pd_sim_b_3]Amazon.com: What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty (9780060841812): John Brockman: Books[/ame]
Media / Hate / Ecology ****
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Make-Believe-Derrick-Jensen/dp/1931498571/ref=pd_sim_b_10]Amazon.com: The Culture of Make Believe (9781931498579): Derrick Jensen: Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
Evil
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Evil-Ordinary-Genocide-Killing/dp/0195189493/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (9780195189490): Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
Martin Gardner
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Night-Large-Collected-Essays-1938-1995/dp/0312169493/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Night Is Large: Collected Essays, 1938-1995 (9780312169497): Martin Gardner: Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
Economics / Culture
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Culture-Contentment-Penguin-economics-Galbraith/dp/0140173668/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2]Amazon.com: Culture of Contentment, the (Penguin economics) (9780140173666): John Kenneth Galbraith: Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
Ethics - profound and deep
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Persons-Oxford-Paperbacks-Parfit/dp/019824908X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Reasons and Persons (Oxford Paperbacks) (9780198249085): Derek Parfit: Books[/ame]
Renaissance another Manchester gem.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/World-Lit-Only-Fire-Renaissance/dp/0316545562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age (9780316545563): William Manchester: Books[/ame]
Middle East / Islam
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/History-Middle-East-Peter-Mansfield/dp/0143034332/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: A History of the Middle East (9780143034339): Peter Mansfield, Nicolas Pelham: Books: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]
The Rise and Fall of Communism - Archie Brown
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Communism-Archie-Brown/dp/0061138797/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Rise and Fall of Communism (9780061138799): Archie Brown: Books[/ame]
Deer hunting with Jesus ****- excellent picture from a hick on hicks - said with respect.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Deer-Hunting-Jesus-Dispatches-Americas/dp/0307339378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books]Amazon.com: Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (9780307339379): Joe Bageant: Books[/ame]
some good fiction
Go Tell It On The Mountain By James Baldwin
Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison
Man's Fate, André Malraux
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey
Slaughterhouse-Five By Kurt Vonnegut
Sophie's Choice By William Styron
The Fall, The Plague, Albert Camus
The Heart Of The Matter By Graham Greene
The Moviegoer By Walker Percy
The Satanic Verses By Salman Rushdie
To The Lighthouse By Virginia Woolf
* Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance By Robert Pirsig
"A book is a mirror: When a monkey looks in, no apostle can look out." anon
