Interesting Books

Conquests and Cultures: An International History by Thomas Sowell Do you ever wonder why some societal groups rise and why others fail or fall behind? And what is the influence of conquests of one society over another? Conquests and Cultures  is an ideology-free look at human history fabulously researched and well written. Sowell provides us with new insights into the complex process of social evolution and offers a comprehensive historical account of why some groups rise and why others fail or fall behind. This book helped me gain a better understanding of the role of cultural differences within nations and between nations, today and over centuries of history, in shaping …

Read more

Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason L. Riley Thomas Sowell, born in 1930, is perhaps the greatest economist and social theorist of our age. He is the author of more than 45 books, covering topics from economic history and social inequality to political philosophy, race, migration, and culture. Jason L. Riley, the author, does a masterful job of describing Sowell’s mindset and integrity. Sowell doesn’t back down from empirical data, facts, and logic. Years ago, I read Sowell’s Culture trilogy: Race and Culture: A World View (1994), Migrations and Cultures: A World View (1996), and Conquests and Cultures: An International History (1998). I was very impressed by the …

Read more

America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It by C. Bradley Thompson This is my favorite book on the history of the founding of America. It gives the context of where the founders were coming from morally and what writings and experiences influenced them.  Some of the influences came from the writings of Francis Bacon, Issac Newton, and John Locke, among others. They were in uncharted waters, starting a country that, for the first time in human history, recognized individual rights, and that your life belongs to you rather than to the government. The founding of America was called an experiment, and …

Read more

1776 by David McCullough After reading this book I realized that we became America only by the skin of our teeth, and by the integrity and perseverance of George Washington. Luck of the weather and bad decisions by the British were important factors too, but it was Washington who was the driver. From Amazon … America’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war against her rebellious colonial subjects and that placed America’s …

Read more