25 Life-Changing Classics
Jeffrey A. TuckerThat said, there is a specific class of 20th- and 21st-century literature that addresses the problem of human liberty directly, and within this class there are also many thousands of worthy volumes. It would be easy to make a list of 25 books that constitute just the large tomes like Human Action by Ludwig von Mises. But that is not what this list is about. Time is scarcer than ever, and so this list is biased toward shorter works. I tried to select books that do not repeat themes (for example, how many books do we need pointing to the obvious fact that the state is evil?) and otherwise economize, so that you don’t end up reading hundreds of pages of material that is not relevant.
I’ve also tried to highlight books that are not incredibly obvious. These are my favorites of course, and I do not list books I’ve not read and been influenced by (another bias). So, yes, this list is personal. But I do think it is important. They are listed in an order in which to read them but this is not essential. Skipping around among them based on my descriptions is also an equally valuable way to tackle them.
I can guarantee that none are taxing. All of them are supremely engaging and pay high returns. With these books under your belt, you will have an excellent and solid grounding to understand the world and navigate it with success.