What gun/freedom related books would you buy?

[Justin]

If you had a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card, what gun-related, or liberty-related philosophy books would you pick up?

Or should I just buy Monty Python's 'All the Words?'

(Moderators, if this post doesn't have the required amount of gun content, feel free to delete it.)

 

[Steve Smith]

Anarchist Cookbook

Guerrilla Warfare by Che Gueverra

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man


(ducking!) (this is a joke)

 

[Henry Bowman]

"Unintended Consequenses" by John Ross

"More Guns, Less Crime" by John Lott Jr.

"The Bias Against Guns" by John Lott Jr.

Not gun-related, but relevant to freedom:
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand

 

[Tamara]

My most recent Amazon purchase?

The Ballad Of Carl Drega by Vin Suprynowicz, Lever Action: Essays on Liberty by L. Neil Smith, and Landsknecht Soldier 1486-1560 from Osprey Publishing.

 

[Justin]

Argh!
Y'all are listing books I've read. Well, except for two of the ones Tamara posted, and as we all know, Steve's post doesn't count.
'Atlas Shrugged' changed my life.
There's a copy of 'More Guns, Less Crime' floating around here somewhere, and I've gotten through the first few chapters, though I must say, it's about as dry as a saltine.
Tamara-
I ordered my copy of Lever Action Essays from the man himself when I did my tour in New Jersey. (He was cool enough to sign it and everything!)

Hmm, lemme see if I can think of a few books I've already read in order to help narrow the list down.

Fahrenheit 451
1984
Animal Farm
Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead
The Virtue of Selfishness

I've become somewhat aliterate lately due to having the attention-span of a gnat. (Darn internet!)

 

[Jim March]

Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" just came out in paper. You'll probably find it in the Science Fiction section even though it is NOT any such thing.

*Highly* recommended; some RKBA stuff but mostly it covers the issues surrounding cryptography in a hilariously entertaining fashion.

 

[jsalcedo]

NRA an American Legend
(to big for bathroom reading)

Cartridges of the world

Gun Digest 2003

 

[Henry Bowman]

"More Guns, Less Crime" is dry and scientific. "The Bias Against Guns" is very readable and only uses a few chart to visually illustrate his points. It is like being preached to in the chior, but it provides you with excellent ammo against anti's dumb arguments and misconceptions.

 

[Steve Smith]

Che Gueverra's book DOES TOO count!

 

[Baron Holbach]

Most books by Paul Johnson, Victor Davis Hanson, and James Bovard, among others.

 

[powerstrk]

"In the Gravest Extreme" by Ayoob

 

[Soap]

So how long before you post pictures of your newly purchased Katzblager Tam?

 

[Bonker]

As a history teacher I could list a dozen or so books on political thought through the ages.

But if I had to pick the 2 that really influenced the founding fathers the most in terms of preserving individual liberty I'd have to go with:

1) Two Treatises of Government by John Locke

2) Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Both books aren't easy to read but if you take it slow they are amazing. And you can get a great deal of them for free on the net.

If you enjoy those books then I'd say you might also like:

Leviathan by Hobbes
The Prince by Machiavelli
Communist Manifesto by Marx
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (LONG book!)
Republic by Plato
Politics by Aristotle
Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater (easy reading)
The Federalist Papers
Animal Farm
Anything by Ayn Rand

*EDIT ok I know a few of those are anti-liberty (Hobbes, Machiavelli, Plato, Marx) but I think it's important to know your enemy.

I'm sure I can think of more if anyone wants but these are my favorites.


As for gun books, I use Kleck for reference but I can't recommend any for reading. My second amendment primer from the NRA is pretty good.

 

[AJ Dual]

I also highly reccomend "Cryptonomicon", It was hillarious. In short, it's a semi-fictional history of Cryptography, and a present-day offshore e-Gold/encrypted anonomyous digital cash internet bank started by the decendants of some of the WWII characters.

I read it in three days last year during a weeks vacation at the beach, and my wife kept smacking me for laughing out loud.

If you want more fiction that is gun/liberty oriented, I also highly reccomend, "Pallas", "The Probability Broach", and "The American Zone", by L. Neil Smith.

 

[NIGHTWATCH]

THE SAVAGE NATION ~ Saving America from the liberal assault on our borders, language and culture - By Michael Savage

Only a more savage nation can survive.


THE SAVAGE NATION

 

[moxie]

Try "Five Years to Freedom," by James N. (Nick) Rowe. It will highlight the freedom you enjoy. See here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345314603/qid=965858063/104-3191902-8037528

 

[tbotts]

"Lever Action" by L. Neil Smith

"Send in the Waco Killers" by Vin Suprynowicz

"The Law" by Frederic Bastiat

"The Price of liberty: Benjamin Franklin Wept" by Tedd Adamovich

"Lost Rights" by James Bovard

"Green White White, A.K.A. Future History" by John R Marshall

 

[simon]

Anything by Boston T. Party, Claire Wolfe

 

[Ian]

I'll second that - Boston T Party and Claire Wolfe. Especially Boston's Hologram of Liberty.

 

[Steve Smith]

Ya'll take note of that little word under Justin's name. Cheers, Justin!

 

[Kalvan]

I'll second:
Boston T. Party (his Gun Bible in particular). Also, be advised that his new novel, Molon Labe, is coming out "in time for Christmas".
Both of Vin Suprynowicz's books.
Victor Davis Hanson, especially Carnage and Cultures, a fascinating assessment of why western civilization has been so militarily dominant for the past 2500 years.

WRT Machiavelli, he was actually a hardline republican. His book The Discourses is more representative of his own views. (The Prince was written to curry favor with a prince who essentially had him under house arrest because he'd been on the wrong (i.e., republican) side in a coup.) A couple of quotes in a review of The Discourses: "The multitude is wiser and more constant than a prince." "A corrupt and disorderly multitude can be spoken to by some worthy person and can easily be brought around to the right way, but a bad prince cannot be spoken to by anyone, and the only remedy for his case is COLD STEEL."
I found Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago by Ledeen to be a quick read and an interesting insight into the man. As always, YMMV.

 

[Bonker]

Well I don't think Machiavelli was a Republican

But Kalvan, The Prince is widely considered to be the best work. It's certainly the most often quoted. If you want to understand where modern despots and leftists get their philosophy then The Prince is a good start.
But I agree, read ALL of his works if you can (although I admit to skimming a lot of his work )

I also agree that The Prince is not what he thinks is best for the masses. It is a war manual sort of. If you want to win a political struggle then this was the information and tactics that worked best in his day (and still today for the most part). He goes into detail about subjects such as, in politics which is better, to be feared or to be loved?
He was showing his frustration that people would choose fear, authoritarianism, and corruption over freedom and self determination.
He makes evil seem evil but never calls it for what it is. He lets the reader conclude his message which he makes obvious.

It's like Sinclair's "The Jungle" where he promotes socialism by examining the meat packing industry. He never mentions any sort of collectivism but hopes the reader will conclude that capitalism has failed.

 

[Double Maduro]

Steve,

You can download the anarchists cookbook for free from the Internet.

Recent books I have read and would recomend:

Enemy at The Gates
War of the Rats

Both about the struggle for Stalingrad.

War of the Rats is more about Vasilie Zietsev (sp) the Russian sniper and his dual with the German sniper.

Enemy at The Gates is about the whole struggle and is told from both sides, based on interviews with survivors and historical documents.



We Were Soldiers Once and Young

About the first major battle in Viet Nam.

I also read a lot of true crime books and especially like Ann Rule.

 

[Quantrill]

Anything by Elmer Keith. Quantrill

 

[bfason]

_The State vs. The People: The Rise of the American Police State_
by Claire Wolfe and Aaron Zelman
With an Introduction by James Bovard
http://www.jpfo.org/tsvtp.htm

Comprehensive and eloquent, it's the book I would recommend above all others to the average person who asks, "What's the deal with you guys going on about guns and freedom and all that?"