Conservative Recommended Reading

Students read conservative books

This list of books is only a sampling of the best books available to help you balance your education with conservative ideas. The titles listed represent a wide range of topics and difficulty levels, but all are worth reading.

Many of the books purchased through the Foundation's website help support our cause. In association with the Conservative Book Service and Amazon.com, please use the links below to find some of the Conservative Movement's most influential books.

* Author is Foundation Alumni

** Author is available through Young America's Foundation's Campus Lecture Program

High School Recommended Reading

• The Bible
• The Declaration of Independence
• Constitution of the United States
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
• Great American Conservative Women: A Collection of Speeches compiled by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute
• The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
• The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek
• The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, Jr.
• The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Madison, Jay
• The Law by Frederic Bastiat
• Letters to a Young Conservative by Dinesh D'Souza
• Ronald Reagan by Libby Highes
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• 1984 by George Orwell
• The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck

General Recommended Reading

Biographies

• A Personal Odyssey  by Thomas Sowell
• Creating Equal: My Fight Against Racial Preferences by Ward Connerly
• Miles Gone By by William F. Buckley
• Two Lucky People by Milton and Rose Friedman
• Nofziger by Lyn Nofziger
• The Prince of Darkness by Robert Novak

Communism

• Suicide of the West by James Burnham
• Witness by Whittaker Chambers
• Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism by Peter Schweizer
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
• The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Conservatism

• Funding Fathers: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement by Nicole Hoplin and Ron Robinson
• Great American Conservative Women: A Collection of Speeches by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute
• Letters to a Young Conservative by Dinesh D'Souza
• The American Conservative Movement: The Philosophical Founders by Senator John P. East
• The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
• The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot by Russell Kirk
• The Portable Conservative Reader by Russell Kirk
• See, I Told You So by Rush Limbaugh
• The Way Things Ought To Be by Rush Limbaugh
• In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer
• The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America by George Nash
• The City on a Hill by Michael Reagan
• Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement by Wynton Hall

Culture

• Death of the West by Patrick Buchanan
• The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in An Age of Techno-Affluence by Dinesh D'Souza 
• What's So Great About America by Dinesh D'Souza
• Christianity and Culture by T.S. Eliot
• America's Real War by Rabbi Daniel Lapin
• Hollywood vs America by Michael Medved
• Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats by Star Parker

Economics

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• The Seven Fat Years by Robert Bartley
• New Ideas from Dead CEOS by Todd Buchholz
• Economics for Real People: An Introduction to the Austrian School by Gene Callahan
• Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
• The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek
• Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
• Economics In One Lesson  by Henry Hazlitt
• Human Action  by Ludwig von Mises
• In Defense of Global Capitalism  by Johan Norberg
• A History of Money and Banking in the United States by Murray Rothbard
• America's Great Depression by Murray Rothbard
• Man, Economy, and State by Murray Rothbard
• The Power of Economic Thinking  by Mark Skousen
• The Wealth of Nations  by Adam Smith

Education

• God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley
• Illiberal Education: Political Correctness and the College Experience by Dinesh D'Souza
• Intellectuals by Paul Johnson
• Professors by David Horowitz
• The Shadow University by Alan Kors and Harvey Silvergate
• The Diversity Myth by David Sacks and Peter Thiel
• The Academy in Crisis edited by John Somme

Feminism

•  Great American Conservative Women: A Collection of Speeches by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute
• Feminist Fantasies by Phyllis Schlafly
• The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers
• Who Stole Feminism by Christina Hoff Sommers

Foundation Alumni

• Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right  by Ann Coulter
• How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)  by Ann Coulter
• Why the Left Hates America by Daniel J. Flynn
• Intellectual Morons by Daniel J. Flynn
• A Conservative History of the American Left  by Dan Flynn
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
• Buck Wild by Stephen Slivinski
• New Ideas from Dead CEOs by Todd Buchholz
• Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism by Peter Schweizer
• Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy  by Peter Schweizer
• Makers and Takers  by Peter Schweizer
• Victory: The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy that Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union by Peter Schweizer

Foundation Speakers

• Death of the West by Patrick Buchanan
• Creating Equal  by Ward Connerly
• Godless by Ann Coulter
• Slander by Ann Coulter
• Never Again by Attorney General John Ashcroft
• Fighting Back by Deena Burnett
• Saddam's Secrets by Iraqi General Georges Sada
• Illiberal Education by Dinesh D'Souza
• What's So Great About America by Dinesh D'Souza
• Showdown  by Larry Elder
• Ten Things You Can't Say in America  by Larry Elder
• The Myth of the Robber Barons  by Burton W. Folsom, Jr.
• Hating Whitey by David Horowitz
• Uncivil Wars by David Horowitz
• Hollywood vs America by Michael Medved
• White Ghetto by Star Parker
• Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity by John Stossel

Gun Rights

• That Every Man Be Armed by Stephen Halbrook
• The Bias Against Guns  by John R. Lott Jr.
• More Guns, Less Crime  by John R. Lott Jr.
• God, Guns, and Rock ‘N' Roll by Ted Nugent
• The Best Defense by Robert Waters
• Guns Save Lives by Robert Water

History (USA)

• Declaration of Independence
• Constitution of the United States
• Congress and the American Tradition by James Burnham
• The Roosevelt Myth  by John T. Flynn
• The Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton W. Folsom, Jr.
• The Federalist Papers by Hamilton, Madison, Jay
• Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs
• A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
• A Patriot's History of the United States by Schweikart and Allen
• Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville
• How Capitalism Saved America by Thomas DiLorenzo

History (World)

• Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
• Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism by Joshua Muravchik
• The Last Lion by William Manchester
• The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
• The Triumph of Liberty by Jim Powell

Immigration

• Invasion  by Michelle Malkin**
• Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America’s Borders  by Jim Gilchrist and Jerome R. Corsi
• In Mortal Danger  by Rep. Tom Tancredo*
• Whatever it Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security and the War on Terror  by J.D. Hayworth
  

Liberalism

• Getting it Right  by William F. Buckley, Jr.
• Up from Liberalism  by William F. Buckley, Jr.
• Slouching Towards Gomorrah  by Robert Bork
• Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on America  by Ann Coulter**
• Treason  by Ann Coulter**
• Godless  by Ann Coulter**
• Why the Left Hates America  by Daniel J. Flynn**
• Hating Whitey  by David Horowitz**

Media

• Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right  by Ann Coulter**
• Bias  by Bernard Goldberg
• A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media  by Bernard Goldberg
• South Park Conservatives  by Brian Anderson

Militant Islam

• Hatred's Kingdom  by Dore Gold
• Militant Islam Reaches America  by Daniel Pipes
• The Cube and the Cathedral  by George Weigel
• Islam Unveiled  by Robert Spencer**
• The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam  by Robert Spencer**
• Al Qaeda’s Armies  by Jonathan Schanzer**

National Security and Military

• Breakdown  by Bill Gertz
• Making the Corps  by Thomas Ricks
• Citizen Soldiers  by Stephen Ambrose
• Cloak and Gown  by Robin Winks
• On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace  by Donald Kagan
• AWOL  by Frank Schaeffer and Kathy Roth-Douquet
• Dereliction of Duty  by H.R. McMaster
• American Military History: Volumes 1 & 2  by Richard Stewart
• America’s Victories: Why the U.S. Wins Wars and Will Win the War on Terror  by Larry Schweikart

Novels

• Fahrenheit 451  by Ray Bradbury
• The Lion's Game  by Nelson DeMille
• The Screwtape Letters  by C.S. Lewis
• Animal Farm  by George Orwell
• 1984  by George Orwell
• Atlas Shrugged  by Ayn Rand
• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich  by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
• The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
• The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
• Path of the Assassin by Brad Thor
• State of the Union by Brad Thor
• Blowback by Brad Thor
• Takedown by Brad Thor
• The First Commandment by Brad Thor
• The Last Patriot by Brad Thor
• The Apostle by Brad Thor
• Foreign Influence by Brad Thor
• The Athena Project by Brad Thor
• Full Black by Brad Thor
• Black List by Brad Thor

Racism

• The End of Racism  by Dinesh D'Souza**
• Creating Equal: My Fight Against Racial Preferences  by Ward Connerly*
• Uncivil Wars  by David Horowitz**
• Race and Culture  by Thomas Sowell
  

Ronald Reagan Legacy

• Ronald Reagan: How An Ordinary Man Became An Extraordinary Leader  by Dinesh D'Souza**
• A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan  by Michael K. Deaver
• Ronald Reagan and His Ranch, The Western White House  by Peter Hannaford
• The Age of Reagan  by Steven F. Hayward*
• With Reagan: The Inside Story  by Edwin Meese III**
• When Character Was King  by Peggy Noonan
• How Ronald Reagan Changed my Life  by Peter Robinson**
• I Love You, Ronnie  by Nancy D. Reagan
• Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism  by Peter Schweizer**
• The Greatest Communicator  by Dick Wirthlin and Wynton Hall**
• Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Saved America