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Reading a Book

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Alvarism suggests supplementing your reading list with the following books.  Thomas E. Kurek uses them in his research, and has briefly reviewed them on this page.  The hashtags correspond to Alvarism's cultural and economic framework, which are also used on social media.

PHILOSOPHY

It is hard to imagine how a person can innovate for the good, provide leadership in communities, or executive management for organizations, if they lack sufficient philosophical acumen. It is what separates the robotic, credentialed charlatans from the true leaders and thinkers.

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THINKER'S GUIDE LIBRARY

Philosophy [#CultCont #CognitiveIntegrity]

You will be amazed at the precision of the authors' treatment of various modes of thinking for different industries.  Some of them are fairly short, but pleasantly straightforward and sufficient.  Choose the ones that will benefit your goals the most.

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THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy [#CultCont #CognitiveIntegrity]

MacMillan's 1972 publication is a compilation of entries by the world's leading thinkers of the mid 20th century.  Considering they operated prior to the perversion of global universities by postmodernism, this set is a must-have for any serious educator.  It has thorough answers to almost any question you can imagine. Thomas E. Kurek has used these post-graduate articles since age 14 in his gifted program.

PARAMOUNT HUMANITIES POSITS

These books form essential knowledge for any scholar of the humanities.  They are not to be missed.

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A CONFLICT OF VISIONS: IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF POLITICAL STRUGGLES
BY THOMAS SOWELL

Political Science [#CultSov #CivicsAndGov]

One of the most important political science books ever written.  To understand the implications of visions and ideology is to understand political conflict. Visions run deeper than the material interests, and the two are often at odds with each other, like a BLM extremist burning down the urban communities of democrats.

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INTELLECTUALS AND SOCIETY
BY THOMAS SOWELL

Sociology [#CultCont #Education #CivicsAndGov]

A truly brilliant posit, particularly in dirigiste & socialist societies where egalitarian credentials and bureaucracy mask genuine talent and merit. Sowell leaves no stone unturned, from the pure-socialist economic obliteration, where the government ineptly imposes micromanaged price controls, to the "experts" who hurl edicts with no competence in the subject. 

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THE ROAD TO SERFDOM
BY F.A. HAYEK

Political Science, Economics [#EconSov #Dirigisme #CultSov #CivicsAndGov #Socialism]

To truly understand totalitarian governance and its genesis, this book is a must-read.  The principles in this book at once apply to communism, junta, monarchy, fascism, and also the Brave-New-World ochlocracy made by democratic socialism.  To understand the social impetus for divesting liberty, social collectivism, and the features that bring compliance with totalitarian directives, is to genuinely suppress their emergence.

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THE PRINCE
BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

Political Science [#CultSov #CivicsAndGov]

Realpolitik has its most classic voice in this essential book.  Theocrats rely on the public being dumb to the exercise of power, confusing stated morals and intentions with reality.  This book disrupted that façade, by speaking honestly about government power, operating on special interests and often against the general interests of the people.  Practical to a fault, the theocrats slander his name to this day, referring to cruel pragmatism as "Machiavellian."

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THE POVERTY OF HISTORICISM
BY KARL POPPER

Philosophy, Education [#CultSov #Education]

Those who treat historical analysis like a math equation, and soothsayers will have a hard time answering this book. Popper obliterates the notion of historical determinism, in its socialist, progressive, and religious "futurist" forms. In the end, the remedy is not to abandon our projections of the future for pragmatic purposes, but rather, to ensure that whatever we project is justified by evidence and logic rather than presuppositions that rest upon flimsy historical anecdotes and analogies.

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THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
BY EDWARD GIBBON

Political Science, History [#EconCont #Demography #NationalSecurity #CultSov #CivicsAndGov]

While knowledge of the past can't predict the future, it certainly can give us guidelines.  This book is the definitive tome on Ancient Rome - as instrumental today as it was for the American forefathers.

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ARTIFICIAL HAPPINESS: THE DARK SIDE OF THE NEW HAPPY CLASS
BY RONALD W. DWORKIN

Psychology, Philosophy [#CultCont #Interpersonal #Psychology #CultSov #Religion]

A brilliant assessment and historical account of the rise of artificial happiness in the modern era.  From psychiatric drugs and narcotics, "spiritual medicine," fitness obsession, to managed care, Dworkin leaves few stones unturned.  In one book, he explains why so many Americans are unhappy despite following the shortcuts force-fed to them by consumerist and dirigiste oligarchs - be they a pile of pills, an exercise cult, or herbal placebos shrouded in spiritual chicanery.

JOURNALISM & RHETORIC

How can a person be an effective innovator or executive manager if they can't accurately acquire information about the world beyond their direct experience? The state of journalism is a cesspool, filled with liars driven by ideological, corporate, and government interests - foreign and domestic.  The knowledge in these books will make you immune to the lies and manipulations.

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PUBLIC OPINION
BY WALTER LIPPMANN

Journalism [#CultSov #Journalism #CultCont #CognitiveIntegrity #Propaganda]

The definitive book on journalism, as relevant today as it was nearly a century ago. Lippmann bridges the gap between concepts in information promulgation and government, as the citizen sees through their own eyes.  I would not trust a communications program that did not require mastery of this book to graduate. I would not trust a neighbor's opinion of the news and public policy who lacks the concepts therein.

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PROPAGANDA
BY EDWARD BERNAYS

Journalism [#CultSov #Journalism #CultCont #CognitiveIntegrity #Propaganda]

It's an easy oversight to miss the fact that "propaganda" comes from the term "propagate." Bernays built upon Walter Lippmann's essential work, Public Opinion. But unlike Lippmann, he shows us the dark side of applying this knowledge to manipulate people, aka "engineering consent," in his words.  Bernays goes beyond government and news applications and shows how these manipulations apply to nearly any kind of business, including STEM products. A must-read for all citizens.

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A RULEBOOK FOR ARGUMENTS
BY ANTHONY WESTON

Psychology, Rhetoric [#CultCont #CognitiveIntegrity #InterpersonalPsych]

We consider this book of logic-in-language to be a psychological benefit, since a person whose mind is filled with irrational processes will introduce psychological issues in their self-dialogue, and with those around them. The book is quite simply a perfect guide on justifying your own arguments and thinking. It should be core curriculum in every secondary school.

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THE ART OF ALWAYS BEING RIGHT: THE 38 SUBTLE WAYS OF PERSUASION
BY A.C. GRAYLING

Psychology, Rhetoric [#CultCont #CognitiveIntegrity #InterpersonalPsych]

It's a good supplement to the Rulebook for Arguments listed before. This book is more focused on manipulative language - and recognizing when others are using such tactics of persuasion.

ECONOMICS & BUSINESS

Manipulative economists from the Keynesian and Marxist schools feed students nonsense that destroys businesses and nations. They presume that central planning, dirigisme, and indiscriminate consumption is a recipe for healthy economy, no matter how much misery, poverty, starvation, and slaughter with which it has punished humanity. Alvarism presents a synthesized perspective from the accurate economists of the other schools.

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ECONOMIC SOVEREIGNTY: PROSPERITY IN A FREE SOCIETY
BY THOMAS E. KUREK

The greatest repudiation of socialism and dirigisme in the 21st century. A work of political economy that scuttles every socialist author in history, and sits comfortably next to Friedman, Sowell, Hayek, and von Mises. Mr. Kurek started this book at the same time as Thomas Piketty, and with it, destroyed the cornerstone of Piketty's arguments. 

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Information asymmetry and the perversion of valuation are root causes of every economic crisis. But every citizen who learns the powerful knowledge of Economic Sovereignty acts as a hero against the constant barrage of financial chicanery - on a national, state, local, and community level. Economic Sovereignty is not just high-minded abstraction about national prosperity; it begins with citizens who know their value, accurately perceive the value of others, and approach financial decisions with wisdom and virtue.

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In slightly less than 200 pages of reading material, and over 100 pages of supporting evidence, the complexity of politics, poverty, prosperity, jobs, and economics has never been more accessible.

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THE E-MYTH REVISITED
BY MICHAEL E. GERBER

All executive managers and small business owners should read this book.  It clearly lays out the mentality, and structure that all businesses require.  It astounds me, how many MBAs I have professionally encountered who lack the basic command of organizational design that is beautifully described in this book.

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CAPITALISM AND FREEDOM
BY MILTON FRIEDMAN

We can tell how excellent this book is by the complete ostracism offered to its Nobel-prize-winning author.  The democrats and socialists have good reason to treat Milton Friedman like kryptonite - he has destroyed the tenets of dirigisme with rigor and a flourish.

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This book has predicted many of the problems brought by dirigistes in the past three generations, including the bottleneck for medical labor that plagues America today.  It's written more approachably than Hayek and von Mises - which I do not prefer, since it leaves chinks in the armor for his opponents.  Still, it is a classic work on free markets, and highly recommended to those who don't yet feel ready for Hayek and von Mises, but feel comfortable with Sowell and Kurek.

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THE CAUSES OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS: AND OTHER ESSAYS BEFORE AND AFTER THE GREAT DEPRESSION
BY LUDWIG VON MISES

One of my favorite authors of all time, Ludwig von Mises was despised by the fascists, communists, and democratic socialists of the 20th century.  He had to flee the Nazis to continue his work.  And in this book, we see in Ludwig von Mises, the 20th century Thomas Kurek, who was advising against dirigisme for decades.  He was proven correct by the Great Depression and the conflagration of WW2, and then ostracized by the "consensus" of academia that preferred to keep dirigisme unopposed - even after WW2.

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And who could blame them? Leftists like Bertrand Russel were so wrong about the economy, warfare, communism, and fascism, that they had no choice but to ostracize their contemporaries who made them look like inept fools.


In this book, von Mises explains why the dirigistes are to blame for booms and busts - not the free market. I have yet to see any honest person repudiate his arguments, although I would quibble with nuances of a few.

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BASIC ECONOMICS
BY THOMAS SOWELL

Written for casual readers who do not want the rigor of quantitative economics, but want to understand the basics without math or deep logic underlying theories.  Sowell artfully makes the most basic concepts in economics accessible to anyone in this book

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APPLIED ECONOMICS: THINKING BEYOND STAGE ONE
BY THOMAS SOWELL

Follow up Basic Economics with this book, in order to see how the principles are applied in business and industry.  You'll also get a peak into Sowell's approach to political economy as well. This book is again, not written for technical readers, and incredibly accessible to anyone.

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THE HOUSING BOOM AND BUST
BY THOMAS SOWELL

While democrats were busy scapegoating "wall street greed," for the housing collapse, Thomas Sowell was diligently authoring this incredible book that explains the recession of 2008 - and the many players who made it happen.

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What I found fascinating - and something that no other scholar has mentioned - is that Thomas Sowell borrowed from the epidemiological method in his analysis.  He speaks of the complex chain of events in terms of "impelling, enabling, and precipitating factors."  A more appropriate methodology I couldn't imagine.  You will learn from his methods as much as the facts he puts on the table - which are instructive for any economic calamality-in-the-making.

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ENGINEERING ECONOMY 11TH ED.
BY SULLIVAN ET. AL.

Congratulations, you have a tech idea.  Even better, you have a prototype!  How will it make money?  How do you capitalize it? If you can direct the financial path for new technology (or improve the cost engineering and supply chain for existing tech), you have mastered economics.

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This book is technical, and the casual reader will not find a use for it.  This book is for serious professionals, particularly managers in the tech industry.  Stick with 11th edition. 

NATIONAL SECURITY & INTELLIGENCE

How can a person work productively for national security if the core knowledge is isolated in SMEs? Everyone in the security field should read these books.  Thomas E. Kurek read them during his years of service at the Pentagon and for JSOC & NRO.

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THWARTING ENEMIES AT HOME AND ABROAD: HOW TO BE A COUNTERINTELLIGENCE OFFICER
BY WILLIAM R. JOHNSON

Intelligence & Espionage [#EconCont #NationalSecurity #Intelligence]

This book is a truly fascinating read. While technology has changed counterintelligence, the principles in this book will never change.  All of the tasks, techniques, and challenges that face a counterintelligence officer are laid out clearly and without superfluous tangents.  Another application of this knowledge is, of course, to thwart counterintelligence and to evade stalkers.

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THE MANIPULATED MIND
BY DENISE WINN

Psychology [#CultCont #InterpersonalPsych #CognitiveIntegrity #EconCont #Intelligence]

If a person's mind is vulnerable to manipulation, how can they ever be a good manager, let alone national security officer of any branch? Indoctrination is a program in nearly every institution - military, universities, corporations, government departments, churches, cults, entertainment cliques, sports teams, political parties, and large news publishers. Ms. Winn masterfully reviews the many ways that our minds are manipulated. The early part of the book dealing with POWs of communists, and stockholm syndrome gives way to more pragmatic situations later in the book.

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SILENT WARFARE: UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD OF INTELLIGENCE
BY GARY J. SCHMITT

Intelligence & Espionage [#EconCont #NationalSecurity #Intelligence]

A landmark book on intelligence for students and people who must interact with intelligence products and services.  The utility of this knowledge to business executives?  How does your 5-year plan look?  Are you confident in your predictive ability?  One of the CEO's prized qualities is prescience.  If you understand how dire intelligence is interpreted, collected, and acted-upon, then you will be able to apply inductive and abductive reasoning to your business management, and strategically position your company. There's a reason they call it "business intelligence."  Of course, people involved in security will find more direct utility for this knowledge.

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THE CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE: AMERICA'S LEGENDARY SPY MASTER ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF INTELLIGENCE GATHERING FOR A FREE WORLD
BY ALLEN DULLES

Intelligence & Espionage [#EconCont #National Security #Intelligence]

From the legendary US spymaster himself, Dulles paints a broad picture of intelligence affairs, with incisive details that we expect from true masters.  His experience from the days of the OSS countering Nazis, and the Soviet menace cannot be rivaled today.  A must-read for anyone interested in espionage.

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THE CIA'S PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS - "CURING ANALYTIC PATHOLOGIES"
BY JEFFREY R. COOPER

STEM [#EconCont #NationalSecurity #Intelligence #STEM

I list this under STEM, because it is a short, pamphlet-length guide for an analyst in any field - business and political analysts included.  It won't give you insights like some of the other books in the Alvarism library, but it will give you some useful tips to improve the results of your analytical units. You may disregard the arrogant notions in other reviews that the manual is turgid and too formal. You are perfectly capable of determining the level of formality required for your own organization, risk tolerance, and mission-criticality of your services. The lessons are useful to small organizations as well.

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CHINESE INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS
BY NICHOLAS EFTIMIADES

Intelligence & Espionage [#EconCont #NationalSecurity #Intelligence]

What amazed me the most about reading other reviews of this book, is the number of people who expect to be entertained with gimmicks and emotive nonsense in a supremely professional book about Chinese espionage.  For intellectuals and innovators who seek true knowledge, this material is spectacular in its precision and depth. I would not trust a modern officer who lacks knowledge of the history of Chinese espionage.  This book is an essential foundation for that goal. Mr. Eftimiades was declared an "enemy of the people" for publishing this book. To be a formal enemy of inhuman totalitarians like the CCP is a badge of honor to which every author should aspire.

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THE ART OF WAR
BY SUN TZU

Military Science [#EconCont #NationalSecurity]

Many-a-charlatan has leeched from this book with banal argument-by-analogy fallacies. The Art of War for Business...Marketing...you name it.  The ancients had no such luxury of running in imaginative miseducated hamster wheels.  War was life or death, for resources, for stability, for control, for land.  All scholars of security should know this book - military, espionage, police. They should use the concepts when it comes to power and control in other affairs, but beware of false analogies in applying the concepts more broadly.

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COUNTERINSURGENCY WARFARE: THEORY AND PRACTICE
BY DAVID GALULA

Military Science [#EconCont #NationalSecurity]

The classic work on counterinsurgency instructs us that communications and mass psychology are often more useful than guns. A critical book for anyone involved in SO/LIC, peacekeeping, and modern warfare strategy and tactics.

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MIND PROGRAMMING
BY ELDON TAYLOR

Psychology [#CultCont #InterpersonalPsych #CognitiveIntegrity #EconCont #Intelligence]

Caveat emptor - the first half of the book is very good, analytical, and useful for anyone interested in subliminal programming and influence. Taylor's assessment of the problem is instructive and wise. The second half of the book meanders into spiritualistic prescriptions that I cannot endorse as a valid posit of universal truth and knowledge.  Mr. Taylor would have been wise to save the second half of the book for a new age or mystical religious publication.

SOCIALISM

Without the knowledge in these books, advocates and opponents of socialism have little room for intelligent arguments.

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SOCIALISM: AN ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
BY LUDWIG VON MISES

Political Economy [#EconSov #Dirigisme #Socialism]

This is the greatest book on socialism ever written.  It covers all forms of socialism - from communism, guild socialism, syndicalism, etatism, national socialism (fascism), democratic socialism, Christian socialism, etc.  The economic mastermind rips the heart out of the presuppositions that all socialists share.  There is even a section on "Free Love" reviewing the impact of socialism upon families and relationships. This is a must-read.

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THE LOST POLITBURO TRANSCRIPTS: FROM COLLECTIVE RULE TO STALIN'S DICTATORSHIP

Political Science, Economics [#CultSov #CivicsAndGov #Socialism]

What is fascinating about this book is how relevant it is to modern pseudo-democratic totalitarian methods.  The book does not cite Lamarckism, but many similar abuses are detailed - denying empirical reality for political motives, while calling it "science" and "objectivity." The scholars of Yale and Stanford did a stunning job on interpreting these obfuscated stenograms.

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IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO, AND IT NEVER HAPPENED ANYWAY
BY DAVID SATTER

Political Science [#CultSov #CivicsAndGov #Socialism]

In the spirit of The Road to Serfdom, this book explores the cultural features of totalitarian society.  Unlike Hayek's work, this is focused on The Soviet Union, maintaining it rather than impelling it, and it is more anecdotal than Hayek's pure logic.  Satter does benefit from more time on the historical clock to evaluate these issues, and also from a keen talent for drawing upon insightful Russian experiences.

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THE SOVIET TRAGEDY: A HISTORY OF SOCIALISM IN RUSSIA, 1917-1991
BY MARTIN MALIA

Political Science [#CulSov #CivicsAndGov #Socialism]

This book is a thorough history of the rise and fall of The Soviet Union.  Criticized as "incomplete" by progressives and democratic socialists, who continue to whitewash the horrors of communism. They seek some "pro-communist interpretations" as if we can reason with ideological zealots.  Then again, they are the same "social scientists" that Malia notes should be embarrassed to have covered up so much horror and yet still failed to predict the collapse of The Soviet Union.

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THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO
BY KARL MARX & FRIEDRICH ENGELS

Political Science, Propaganda [#CultSov #CultCont #Propaganda #Socialism]

Few items of pure garbage have ever brought more darkness upon humanity than this pseudo-intellectual, economically-and-morally bankrupt book. Communism has since slaughtered nearly 150 million people, by violence or by starvation, with nary an apology from the hordes of socialists who genuflected before the communists, dubbing them well-intentioned but misguided. For the intelligent and rational, the book is a fascinating study in how effective propaganda can incite the functionally illiterate and desperate into generations of evil and oppression.

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MEIN KAMPF
BY ADOLF HITLER

Political Science, Propaganda [#CultSov #CultCont #Propaganda #Socialism]

It will be obvious to you why this book had limited success until it became required reading by the German totalitarians.  The writing is irrational, contradictory, arrogant, repetitious, and meandering. Like the Communist Manifesto, it is an important example of mass psychology, written to access the incoherent grievances of the common man. It will be a good day when books like this are loathed by the common man, and not just scholars. Those who don't understand National Socialism (fascism) as a child of guild socialism, should first read Ludwig von Mises' book at the top of this section.

THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

For anyone interested in the history, culture, and government of the USA, these books are essential

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DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA: AND TWO ESSAYS ON AMERICA
BY ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE

A generation prior to The Civil War, a French historian spent nearly a year traveling and documenting the American experience.  This book is his account.  It is an essential resource for any student of American government, history, and culture.

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THE FEDERALIST PAPERS
BY ALEXANDER HAMILTON ET. AL.

This essential resource is required reading to understand true American government.  It contains the rationale behind the American forefathers' decisions for The Constitution.  Be wary when you purchase from Amazon.  Multiple complaints over the years implicate democrat subversives who hate America - perverting the book listing with reviews and descriptions from other books, claiming that it's the complete set of essays, when it's only a dozen, and completely ignoring customers who point these errors out to Amazon.


Obviously if democrats who hate true American history do not want you to read this book, it is even more important that you do.

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COMPLETE WORKS OF THOMAS PAINE

Thomas Paine is to liberty what Karl Marx was to communism.  His writing is emotive, and intends to activate the reader, rather than send them into deep contemplation or justification of the positions.  As such, those who despise liberty and the true American nation, criticize Paine's works in the same way that opponents of socialism criticize The Communist Manifesto.

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If you are looking for the language of liberty, for political speeches, PR, marketing, and persuasive writing - this is your go-to book.

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THE CREATION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, 1776-1787
BY GORDON S. WOOD

One of my favorites, considering it chronicles the genesis of the American nation, and the war - rather than the events of the war that we already have heard a dozen times.  What a delight to read a scholarly work that gives us keen insights as to the diplomatic and political affairs that can lead to balkanization of empires.

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THE IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
BY BERNARD BAILYN

This book focuses explicitly upon the ideology of the colonial era that led to the founding of the USA. Whigs, common law, Montesquieu, Ancient Roman studies - it's all in here. It would be difficult to understand the zeitgeist of the era as it relates to the founding, without the knowledge in this book.

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THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION
BY CHRISTOPHER WARD

The definitive book about the war itself, from start to end.  Ward gives us masterful narration with eloquent writing style.

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HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA FROM 1619 TO 1880
BY GEORGE WASHINGTON WILLIAMS

The first comprehensive history of blacks in America, and still the most important resource on the topic.

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