Recommendations

M. Stanton Evans by Steven Hayward. M. Stanton Evans was one of the unsung heroes and key figures of the modern conservative movement, offering a model to be remembered and emulated in both thought and deed. A person of extraordinary breadth, he combined the roles of journalist, first-rank thinker, and political and cultural commentator, who was often at the center of crucial events for the conservative movement from the mid-1950s to the 2010s. Stan was also known for his ironic dry wit, as well as his personal modesty and kindliness and fondness for fast food, sports, and classic rock and roll music trivia. He was “the conservative for the common man.”

Inflation by Steve Forbes, Nathan Lewis, and Elizabeth Ames, explains what’s behind the worst inflationary storm in more than forty years—one that is dominating the headlines and shaking Americans by their pocketbooks. The cost-of-living explosion since the COVID pandemic has raised alarms about a possible return of a 1970’s-style “Great Inflation.” Inflation is essential reading for everyone seeking to navigate these tumultuous times.

The United States in Crisis, by Edward Erler,  argues that to preserve our freedom Americans must mount a defense of the nation state against the progressive forces who advocate for global government. The Founders of America were convinced that freedom would flourish only in a nation state. A nation state is a collection of citizens who share a commitment to the same principles. Today, the nation state is under attack by the progressive Left, who allege that it is the source of almost every evil in the world.

The Cloud Revolution: How the Convergence of New Technologies Will Unleash the Next Economic Boom and a Roaring 2020s, by Mark Mills. According to Mills, a convergence of technologies will drive an economic boom over the coming decade, one that historians will characterize as the “Roaring 2020s.” It will come not from any single big invention, but from the confluence of radical advances in three primary technology domains: microprocessors, materials, and machines. The great convergence now underway will ignite the 2020s. And this time, unlike any previous historical epoch, we have the Cloud amplifying everything. The next long boom starts now.

Old House of Fear  (New Edition), by Russell Kirk,. A founding father of the American conservative movement, Russell Kirk (1918–94) was also a renowned and bestselling writer of fiction. Kirk’s focus was the ghost story, or “ghostly tale” – a “decayed art” of which he considered himself a “last remaining master.” Old House of Fear, Kirk’s first novel, revealed this mastery at work. Its 1961 publication was a sensation, outselling all of Kirk’s other books combined, including The Conservative Mind, his iconic study of American conservative though

The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism, by Matthew Continetti. Continetti gives a sweeping account of movement conservatism’s evolution, from the Progressive Era through the present. He tells the story of how conservatism began as networks of intellectuals, developing and institutionalizing a vision that grew over time, until they began to buckle under new pressures, resembling national populist movements. Drawing out the tensions between the desire for mainstream acceptance and the pull of extremism, Continetti argues that the more one studies conservatism’s past, the more one becomes convinced of its future. Deeply researched and brilliantly told, The Right is essential reading for anyone looking to understand American conservatism.

The Economics of the Parables, by Robert Sirico. Rev. Robert Sirico pulls back the veil of modernity to reveal the timeless economic wisdom of the parables. Thirteen central stories—including “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” “The Rich Fool,” “The Five Talents,” and “The Faithful Steward”—serve as his guide, revealing practical lessons in caring for the poor, stewarding wealth, distributing inheritances, navigating income disparities, and resolving family tensions.

The Black Boom, by Jason Riley. Economic inequality continues to be one of the most hotly debated topics in America, but there has been relatively little discussion of the fact that black-white gaps in joblessness, income, poverty, and other measures were shrinking prior to the pandemic. In The Black Boom, Riley digs into the data and concludes that the economic lives of black people improved significantly under policies put into place during the Trump administration. To acknowledge as much is not to endorse the 45th president but rather to champion policies that achieve a clear moral objective shared by most Americans.

The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man’s Fight for Justice and Freedom in China, by Chen Guangcheng. The son of a poor farmer in rural China and blinded by illness when he was an infant, Guangcheng was determined to educate himself and fight for the rights of his country's poor, especially women who had endured forced sterilizations and abortions under the hated "one child" policy. Harassed, beaten, and imprisoned by Chinese authorities, Chen was placed under house arrest. After nearly two years, he evaded his captors and fled to freedom. A riveting memoir and a revealing portrait of modern China, The Barefoot Lawyer tells the story of a man who has never accepted limits and always believed in the power of the human spirit.

The Critical Classroom, edited by Lindsey Burke, Jonathan Butcher, and Jay Greene. Until recently, critical race theory (CRT) was a concept that few Americans heard of, as it was mainly in the domain of university campuses. But as the Left has become more brazen in its attempts to radically control Americans’ thoughts, speech, and interactions with one another in society, CRT has burst wide open into our workplaces, governments, houses of worship, the military, and even our K–12 classrooms, where young minds have little chance to resist it, and parents are told it does not exist.