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Young America’s Foundation convened a panel on conservative books at the National Conservative Student Conference, held in early August at George Washington University in Washington, DC. National Review’s John J. Miller, Regnery Publishing President Marji Ross, and Discovery Institute’s Dr. Benjamin Wiker provided an extensive reading list for anyone interested in Conservative thought.
The following are each panelists recommendations.
National Review’s John J. Miller suggested, in the following categories:
- History of conservative thought
- Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 by George Nash
- The Constitution
- The Heritage Guide to the Constitution
- The Citizen’s Constitution by Seth Lipsky
- Ronald Reagan
- Lou Cannon’s President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime
- The President, The Pope, and The Prime Minister
- Reagan in His Own Hand – the book Miller most recommends in order to understand Ronald Reagan’s thought
Marji Ross, Regnery Publishing President, noted that students should read books they don’t agree with as well as those with which they do agree. Furthermore, there are no better sources to to study than Shakespeare and the Bible in order to understand almost any literary allusion.
Ross closed her comments by telling students not to be an intellectual snobs. That is, “don’t disdain pop culture.” Her reading recommendations are in the following categories and includes several novels:
- American History
- Citizen Washington – fictionalized history of George Washington
- Jeff Shaara’s Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause
- To Try Men’s Souls by Newt Gingrich
- Politically Incorrect Guide to American History
- Conservative Principles
- Business & Success
Dr. Benjamin Wiker – Discovery Institute fellow and author of 10 Books Every Conservative Must Read and 10 Books That Screwed Up the World, didn’t break down his recommendations by categories.
- Aristotle’s Politics
- Democracy in America
- The Anti-Federalists Papers and Constitutional Convention Debates
- The Road to Serfdom
- Sense and Sensibility – Wiker recommends both the book and the movie. The latter, in his opinion, shows how conservative principles can be portrayed well in film.
- The Lord of the Rings
Watch the entire panel at BookTV.
This is a good list… yet somehow unsatisfying. So you’re a sophomore at P.C. University. What do you read to keep you sane? Assuming you still read books, of course, the list here may not be too bad. My friend John Miller’s recommendations are really good. I was going to suggest Steve Hayward’s two-volume Age of Reagan, but I realize the intended audience here is college students. Perhaps ambitious poli sci nerds should have a go and fill me in later. Although I profited greatly from Hayward’s books, I’m not sure I would have read them as a university student. They’re really big books.
Benjamin Wiker’s recommendations are almost perfect. One could substitute Twain for Austen, but otherwise it’s tough to disagree. Marji Ross suggests several books I’ve never read and probably never would read, but some of them may benefit the people for whom she’s advising. As for me, I cannot recommend “How to Win Friends and Influence People” highly enough. I hope that doesn’t get me arrested someday.
I think any student who wants to understand his or her country properly would do well to read Thomas G. West’s Vindicating the Founders. Related, if you want a decent understanding of Abraham Lincoln’s much-maligned politics, you couldn’t do better than my friend Tom Krannawitter’s Vindicating Lincoln. Both books are aimed at a general audience, and deserve much wider readership than they have now.
I was surprised to hear Marji Ross’s fiction recommendations. A bit less so with Ben Wiker given his 10 Books Every Conservative Must Read.
I’m curious, Ben, what Twain you’d recommend that is in the same vein as Austen’s Sense and Sensibility?
It is interesting how many people seem embarrassed by How To Win Friends. Why is that, I wonder.