Reading it as a high school student, I learned that American history wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Also: Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr.
https://archive.org/details/custerdiedforyou0000vine_o1m1

ETA: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
https://archive.org/details/burymyheartatwou00brow/page/n13/mode/1up

Indigenous peoples. Though the book is problematic, it’s a good primer for understanding US mentality.

Big time

Rec

It’s become quite tattered after many readings… His words still bring hope…

I’ll take all the hope I can get. Thank you!

ETA: https://archive.org/details/thestoryofmyexperimentswithtruthmkgandhi_558_t

I actually have that book on my Kindle and had forgotten about it.

as well as "The Once + Future King"...

I haven't read "The Once and Future King". I added it to my wish list. I did read the Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart many years ago and loved it.

Catch-22
Tao Te Ching
In Dubious Battle
War and Peace
I Will Bear Witness
Zen in the Art of Archery

And many, many, more. (I'm 81 and learned to read when I was 4).

Last edited Sun Aug 31, 2025, 01:14 PM - Edit history (1)

My (mostly humorless due to PTSD) Vietnam vet dad gave me a copy to read when I was in about ninth grade. It gave me a new understanding of war—and of my dad. Thank you for reminding me.

working to put it in every sentence.
Truly one of the greatest.

I've never forgotten it, Victor Klemperer's daily diary of incremental loss of dignity and freedom under Nazi rule.

"The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine provides a thought provoking look into the influence of organized religion on society, and "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius draws attention to the concept of universal oneness and the cyclical nature of all things.

Capitalism and Slavery -Eric Williams
Fanon - the Wretched of the Earth
Democracy for the Few Michael Parenti
Howard Zinn A People's History of the United States
Marx, Lenin, Fidel
Ralph Miliband, The State in Capitalist Society

Like you there are many many including some recent ones.

We’ve sometimes give “A People’s History” as a gift to apolitical friends.

especially in this era when empathy is perceived as a flaw.

To literary fiction and the endless assault on empathy.

Before Musk, Glenn Beck declared the word empathy the most dangerous word in the dictionary.

On religions without god, from Naturalist to Buddhisim to Wiccan and more. Made me realize how close to those were my beliefs about getting spiritual energy from nature.

I was raised Southern Baptist. University Philosophy 101 and an extremely patient and rational professor challenged my belief system, rocked my world, and opened my eyes. RIP, Prof. Murphy—rest in power.

Went to Sunday school dressed up with purse, white satin shoes and a hat. Very proper. My mom was all about manners and how things looked. Not overly religious but I got that in high school when friend took me to rightwing church to get saved, that led me down awful path for 10 yrs which thankfully I escaped from!

The longest book I've ever read. It's a history of the Krupp family in Germany.

Also:

From Tibet, With Love by Isabel Losada

An excellent account of activism.

I read Animal Farm at age 8 and it was the first time I remember thinking critically about politics and society as a whole.

It was for sure an early influence for me. And yet, here we are 80 years after it was first published.

Yes

… animals are more equal than others“.

What a great line. It says so much about authoritarian propaganda and hypocrisy.

Adding this to my list of books to reread. Thank you for the reminder, The Prole.

It was one of President Eisenhower's favorite books, and he was known to give copies to friends. He also recommended the book to the general public in his "Biggs letter".

My reading list is getting longer--and I'm grateful for the Berman recommendation especially.

I wouldn’t say it necessarily changed my worldview so much as it solidified it. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee opened my eyes in high school in the 1990s.

Thank you for the recommendation, róisín_dubh. I'll check this out.

Books I read as a teenager or young man that stay with me through all this time (decades):

Norman O Brown, Life against Death: The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History

Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital

Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch

Gary Snyder, The Back Country

Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, Manufacturing Consent

Alan Watts, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

Michael Harrington, The Twilight of Capitalism

Andre Malraux, The Voices of Silence

Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy

Pretty sure we own a few of those books, but the Alan Watts recommendation expecially intrigues me. Thank you!

I’m still fascinated by the way people try to change reality with language

Suppression of The Truth Of Hitler's Final Solution.

It was assigned reading for a European history class. It told how the U.S and the allies pretended that they didn't know about the genocide until it was impossible to deny. Also that the Vatican turned away Italian Jews begging for sanctuary because "they killed Jesus." I guess they conveniently forgot "forgive them father they know not what they do." Not to mention the people asking for protection weren't around when Jesus was crucified.

It really taught me to never to have blind faith in anyone or anything again.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee moved me too.

I'll definitely check it out. And I'm with you on the blind faith thing; I gave that up part and parcel to walking away from the Southern Baptist Church when I was very young.

about the engineer helping people in other countries.

That's who The Ugly American was.

Thanks so much for recommending it, justaprogressive.

I appreciate the recommendations, MorbidButterflyTat. I'll check them out. Feel free to weigh in with additional titles.

I think I first read To Kill a Mockingbird in early junior high and have revisited it many times since. I continue to discover new themes every time I reread it; most recently, I noticed a feminist "red thread" in Lee's descriptions of Scout and the primary women in her life. In addition to the themes of racial injustice and class in the South, the strong woman characters must have been quite something in 1960 when the book was published. (Hell, I was raised in the Upland South and was still being advised by my granny to "sit like a lady" 20-30 years later.)

Started earlier than some, I was nine and that book got me thinking and looking at things that were harder to see, to consider there are possibilities beyond what is obvious.

A few years ago, my daughter bought new copies of some of my favorite childhood books. Ben and Me by Robert Lawson topped that list. Fun to go back to the root of my interest in history and nuances that travel a long way.

I had never heard of that children's book and just now read a synopsis. Very cool introduction to Franklin's life.

I loved his Rabbit Hill, another kid's book my dear daughter got me to enjoy again. Guess that was my intro into the idea that conservation should be good for all living things.

Carl Sagan said it was the most significant American book.

I agree with others' choices here, too.

Recommended.

A few others:

Famous Long Ago Raymond Mungo

On The Road Jack Kerouac

The Great War and Modern Memory Paul Fussell

Scoop Evelyn Waugh

Seven Pillars of Wisdom T E Lawrence

Thank you, H2O Man!

I don't actually think I've ever read a book about Lincoln outside of required reading in high school and university. Adding this to my list.

From about college age:

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States

Judith Butler's Gender Trouble

Susan Faludi's Backlash

Lots of sci fi and fantasy novels about dystopias, race relations, gender bending, fascism, etc.

To be honest though, I'm probably on the edge of the generation where TV and movies were more influential overall. Huge influences were the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Stephen Colbert Show, and Star Trek TNG.

Books aren’t the only means of putting this shitty era in context. My husband—one of the most intelligent, empathetic, and perceptive people I’ve ever known—is a huge fan of comics and sci-fi. So, RESPECT for your recommendations!

I think it's time for a reread of that one.

Thank you for the reminder!

We are irreligious but we have this in our collection.

Auschwitz and
The Jungle

required reading in HS.


As you can see, I don't read many political books.

We also read Johnny Got His Gun, 1984, Brave New World and Animal Farm, but Auschwitz was like OMG! And so was The Jungle.
I was a sophomore when I read Auschwitz. My previous knowledge of Nazis was mostly from Hogan's Heroes.

I read and respect your valuable DU contributions! Political reading isn’t the only way to learn and grow, and you clearly are connected without reading political books!

I grew up in Oklahoma. Ya’ll are the ultimate sophisticates compared to us.

sophisticated than Oklahoma and Texas.

I was a science-based optimist for the first 60 years of my life. Then I read "Overshoot" by William R. Catton Jr. - a slim little book with a cheerful yellow cover. By the time I finished it I was a fatalist. Nothing I've read in the last 15 years has alleviated the darkness of realizing that our proud global industrial civilization has no significant future.

If you want to retain your belief in the power of politics, do not, under any circumstances, read that book.

I now *have* to read it. Thank you for the recommendation, Another Jackalope.

I was 12 or 13.
Still shakes me today.

And it barely scratched the surface.

When my (extremely conservative, I finally and thankfully realized) ex-husband became aware that I was reading that in the mid-80s, he flipped his lid. My love of the Utne Reader was among the things that sealed the glorious uncoupling.

Anything by John Steinbeck.

because I have some sense that it might be more of an indictment of timeless adult behavior than a coming-of-age story. Thank you for the reminder!

just five years ago? I can’t recommend it highly enough and now give it as a gift to friends and family having babies (along with an appropriate baby gift, of course). It’s important and, as my guru Melanie Sanders says, reactions are among those that we just simply do not care much about anymore. #WDNC

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/X0eXtVC6TLk

Upton Sinclair's look at the life of immigrant workers in Chicago's stock yards and meat plants. Vital piece of Labor Day reading.

Anatomy of Revolution - Crane Brinton

To the Finland Station (available as pdf download online)

I’ll check these out—and I appreciate you contributing to my fall/winter reading list!

Fascinating really, thought the Brinton book is a heavy read. He ponders every point, but what would you expect from a Harvard poli sci professor in the 1930s?

Weinstein is obscure but unravels the Progressive Era, its roots, its co-optation by Big Business.

The Finland Station was written by a journalist and was once de rigeur reading for poli sci. Has fallen from favor.

You made a great OP with a fine subject!

But The Great Gatsby is reflection of my life.

My Gram Feathers was of that era - family owned silver mines. She told me to read the book every decade birthday. Promised me my perspective would shift as I grew older. I opened the copy she wrapped in brown paper with instructions to read it on my 50th Birthday. Brought it with me on our trip to NOLA to celebrate. Piece of paper stapled on the front:

"Last page there is a note. Do not read until the end."

Finished it sitting on my balcony at the Omni on Royal. The note?

"You ended up as Tom. Brutally honest. You are certain of your place in America"

She called it. People don't always like what I have to say, I can be incredibly cruel, I will defend my family's place in America. Black, European, Indigenous . . . land holdings, intergenerational wealth, the arrogance of Black Americans who stole the American dream.

That Scots Irish Protestant whose family were founders of West Virginia, abolitionists who fled west, whose father handed out CYANA cigars during his campaign but did everything he could to bring skilled Black Americans out of JC South to Denver? She was raised that Ellis Island destroyed the Black American dream.

When this regime falls -

“She was a careless person, Adrienne aka JAG she watched the others smash up things and creatures and then retreated back into her money or her vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept her people together, and let other people live with the mess they had made.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald words altered from The Great Gatsby

I wash my hands. Have the day you folks voted for. Uncle Otis and Aunt DeOliver, and Dorothy - now all in their 90's. . . will have the best in home care money can buy.

Cruelty is in my blood.

You've never struck me as cruel. I think your backbone, determination and defiance are to be admired. If those qualities in defense of self-preservation or what's *right* feel cruel to some or to many, that's on them.

My mom died June of 2024.

The last few years she was alive she often commented on how much I was made in Gramfeather's image.

My surviving Aunts and Uncle shake their heads and roll their eyes at me as the leader of the "Hateful Eight" acting like Daddy did. We have bought out land from 26 of our cousins to consolidate it.

My dad's parents were the contemporaries of my mom's grandparents.

My Granddaddy and Gramfeathers got along famously. Just rotten to the core when it came to protecting their descendants. She LOVED her fully decorated grandson in law and that my mother had married into this "Grand" family with their Boule and Links affiliation. She was that *type*.

on my ancestors before my parents. But I’m smart, feisty, and determined. I’ll be the undoing of their ignorant legacies if that’s the last thing I do because *someone* has to do the heavy lifting—I’m the oldest granddaughter and you *know* we don’t need any help, right?

"I wash my hands. Have the day you folks voted for." Absolutely. Knock yourselves out. This is what you wanted.

By Carl Sagan.

Childhood’s End - Arthur C. Clark. I read in the late 60s and had one reaction. Read it decades later and had a completely opposite reaction.

Cat’s Cradle- Kurt Vonnegut

Thank you for these reminders!

Has to be those, only books I actually finished.

Thank you!

The Good Earth
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Secret Garden ( my traditional birthday gift to 9 year old girls)
Coming of Age in Samoa
The Cry and the Covenant
The Tao of Pooh
The Color of Magic
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

That's my list for this morning
Tomorrow my list may be completely different

I look forward to your list tomorrow.

Not sure what spurred me to read these, but they sure did change my world view. I was no longer a child and I'd look at my classmates and wonder why they didn't devour the school library.

but I’m embarrassed to admit that this is the first time I’ve heard of Rifles for Watie. Thank you for the recommendations, Swede!

Thank you! Like you, I can’t recommend it enough.

and it’s not yet here. I guess a gentle reminder to our bookseller is in order.

I thought I knew things till I read that book.

It's excellent.

and introduced us to Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media. In college, among many, the book that was a stand out was the textbook in my Black History class, From Slavery to Freedom by John Hope Franklin. Shortly after college I read Hoffer’s The True Believer and Mark Twain’s Letters From Earth and The Bible According to Mark Twain. I could go on and on about so many books that have influenced my thinking. All of the books and essays of Wendell Berry and recently Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste. Enduring for me from children’s literature, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. I appreciate this post! I have many new titles to dive into. Thanks, DU pals!😊

And your username warms my heart, as we have kits who show up in our garden every early summer—beautiful creatures.

By Herbert J. Muller. Read it in High School.

I’ll be checking this out.

The first appears now on Amazon under the title "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass", but I am sure I remember my copy being called "The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass". But that was decades ago and I doubt I still have the book to prove it.

I got it off a school bookmobile, I believe when I was in elementary school. I was a precocious reader. I am white and went to a school where I maybe saw 3 black kids my whole time there. One or two rode my bus. They weren't from my neighborhood and I didn't interact with them much if at all.

Reading about Frederick Douglass profoundly changed the way I viewed the concept of race and how black people were treated in our society.

When I was in high school my parents moved to an area that was much more mixed, and the bus I rode had mostly black kids. Now I and my sibs were in the minority, and there was initially some conflict - not intentionally initiated by any of us, for sure. That worked itself out and I got to be friends with most of the kids. I would say I was more comfortable around a lot of the black kids than some of the really stuck-up white kids. I credit the understanding I had learned from Frederick Douglass that impacted a lot the way I saw this situation.

Another key influence was The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, by Louis Fischer. Combined with an elder sib's involvement in non-violent protest and handing that book down to me, in my early life I was able to handle conflict much better than I may have otherwise.

I'm glad we both read Douglass at a young age (though I don't recall the title of the Frederick Douglass autobiography that I read; it may have been "My Bondage and My Freedom&quot .

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/202

The thing Suzuki liked about Americans when he came with zen to San Francisco was the freshness of their thinking.

Excellent recommendation. Thank you for being here!

Red Planet opened up mind-blowing science fiction to me and the Heinlein opus. Suzuki opened up the mind-blowing power of accepting reality in all its forms.

May I recommend South to America:
A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Amani
Perry?

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/south-to-america-imani-perry?variant=40425604120610

No Name in the Street - James Baldwin; Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin; In the Spirit of Crazy Horse - Peter Mathiassen; I Heard the Owl Call My Name - Margaret Craven; The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William Shirer...
to name just a few.

Totally agree: sooo many! Thank you for being here, LoisB.

you and thank you for being here.