The Classical Political Books.

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A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

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N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

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-A-

Age of Reason by Thomas Paine.

The American Crisis (1776-83) by Thomas Paine.

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-B-

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-C-

Civil Disobedience (1848) , by David Thoreau.

Common Sense (1776) by Thomas Paine.

Confessions (1781) by Jean Jacques Rousseau.

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-D-

Democracy in America (1835-39) by de Tocqueville.

§ Considered to be one of the first impartial and systematic studies of American institutions. The soft covered copy I posses contains the Henry Reeve text, edited by Phillips Bradley, with an introduction by Daniel J. Boorstin. (New York: Vintage, 1990) in two volumes consisting of almost 1,000 pages.

Discovery of Freedom (1943) by Rose Wilder Lane (1887-1968) (San Francisco: Fox & Wilkes, 1993).

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-E-

Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler.

§ Erewhon ("nowhere" spelt backwards) is a utopian satire where many of the conventional practices and customs are reversed, for example, crime is treated as an illness and illness a crime.

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-F-

Fatal (The) Conceit, The Errors of Socialism (1988) by Friedrich A. Hayek, Prof. W. W. Bartley of Sanford University, ed. (University of Chicago Press, 1989) 180 pp.

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-G-

Government, A Fragment on (1776) by Jeremy Bentham (Oxford University Press, 1951).

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-H-

Human Understanding, Essay Concerning (1690) by John Locke.

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-I-

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-J-

Justice, An Enquiry Concerning Political ... and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness.

§ This classic was written in 1793 by William Godwin. In it will be found Godwin's views on democracy (Bk V, Ch XIV), on government (Bk V, Ch XXI) and on constitutions (Bk VI, Ch VII). In considering this work, see William Hazlitt's views on it, as expressed in "Project For A New Theory Of Civil And Criminal Legislation."

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-K-

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-L-

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679):

§ A treatise on the origin and ends of government. This work was written in defence of "secular monarchy."

Liberty, On (1859) by John Stuart Mill.

§ This classic work addresses "the critical problem of what should be the relationship under democratic institutions between the people and their government. ... There is a fine moral evaluation of tone which left's his arguments and conclusions far above the level of mere party controversy or the narrow and selfish interests of classes."

Liberty, The Constitution of ... by Friedrich A. Hayek, (University of Chicago Press, Vol. XV in a Series, 1960).

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-M-

Mainspring of Human Progress (1947) by Henry Grady Weaver, a division head with General Motors.

John Stuart Mill, Autobiography of ... (1873).

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-N-

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-O-

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-P-

Penguin Island (1908), by France.

§ Penguin Island (1908), a work available on the 'net', is a humorous critique of customs and laws, rituals and rites, its subject is human nature, but its characters are penguins in the mythical land of Penguinia." (New York: Random House, Modern Lib.).

Principles, First (1957) by Spencer, (London: Williams & Norgate, 1875) pp. 559.

Principles of Political Economy (1848) by John Stuart Mill.

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-Q-

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-R-

On Representative Government by John Stuart Mill (1859).

Rights of Man (1792) by Thomas Paine.

§ Paine's Rights of Man was meant to be a reply to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution (1790) wherein Burke attacked the principles of the French Revolution, and the violence and excesses of its leaders.

Road (The) to Serfdom (1944) by Friedrich A. Hayek:

§ A "most acute and impressive analysis of the modern drift to totalitarianism ..."; (University of Chicago Press, 1976) 248 pp.

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-S-

Seen, That Which Is ... & That Which Is Not ... by Frédéric Bastiat.

On Socialism (1879) by John Stuart Mill.

Social Statics (1851) by Herbert Spencer:

§ First principle., viz., man has the right, the only right, to do anything except interfere with another man's similar right; and the application of this principle to the subsidiary and the rights flowing therefrom: the right to property, to free speech, to ignore the State, etc.) (London: Williams & Norgate, 1868) pp. 523. (I note that an inexpensive reprint of Social Statics is now available from Laissez Faire Books.)

Subjection of Women (1861) by John Stuart Mill (Dent, Everyman's Lib., 1992).

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-T-

Toleration (1690) by John Locke.

Two Treatises on Government (1690) by John Locke:

§ Locke's treatises were written in defense of the "Glorious Revolution": government rests on popular consent and rebellion is permissible when government subverts the ends - the protection of life, liberty, and property - for which it is established. The Second Treatise is the more popular and is available on the WWW net .

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-U-

Usury, Defence of ... by Jeremy Bentham (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus, 1988).

Utilitarianism (1863) by John Stuart Mill.

Utopias (Famous) of the Renaissance by Frederic R. White, (Chicago: Packard, 1946).

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-V-

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-W-

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-X-

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-Y-

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