Books Every Conservative Should Read

This list of books is just a sampling of the best books available to help high school and college students balance their education with conservative ideas. the titles listed represent a wide range of topics and difficulty levels, but they are all worth reading.

Many of the books purchased through the foundation’s website help support our cause. In association with Conservative Book Service and Amazon.com, use the links below to find some of the most influential books in the conservative movement.

You are reading: Best-selling conservative books 2020

* the author is a former student of the foundation

** the author is available through the young america’s foundation campus lecture program

recommended reading for high school

• george orwell’s 1984
• george orwell’s animal farm
• united states constitution
• excuse me lawrence professor w reed and ron robinson **
• fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury
• great american conservative women: a collection of speeches compiled by the clareboote institute of politics luce
• letters to a young woman conservative by dinesh d’souza **
• a day in the life of ivan denisovich by alexander solzhenitsyn
• ronald reagan by libby highes
• the bible
• a conservative’s conscience by barry goldwater
• the declaration of independence
• the federalist papers by hamilton, madison, jay
• the law by frederic bastiat
• the moon has set by john steinbeck
• the myth of the robber barons by burton w. folsom, jr. **
• f.a. hayek

recommended general reading

biographies

• a personal odyssey by thomas sowell
• created equal: clarence thomas in his own words by michael pack
• miles gone by william f. buckley
• nofziger by lyn nofziger
• radical son of david horowitz **
• the last lion by william manchester
• the prince of the darkness by robert novak
• two lucky ones by milton and rose friedman

communism

• crusader: ronald reagan and the fall of communism by dr. paul kengor **
• a day in the life of ivan denisovich by alexander solzhenitsyn
• reagan’s war: the epic story of his forty-year struggle and final triumph over communism by peter schweizer **
• whittaker chambers testimony

See Also: Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Good-Bye Gift Books for Teachers and Colleagues | readingpowergear

conservatism

• excuse me professor by lawrence w reed and ron robinson **
• Parent Funders: The Unsung Heroes of the Conservative Movement by nicole hoplin and ron robinson **
• big conservative american women : a collection of speeches from the clareboote institute of politics luce
• in defense of liberty by frank s. meyer
• signature speeches of the american conservative movement by wynton hall **
• letters to a young conservative by dinesh d’souza **
• liberty and tyranny: a Mark Levin’s Conservative Manifesto
• Mere Christianity by C.S. lewis
• a conservative’s conscience by barry goldwater
• the conservative intellectual movement in america by dr. george nash
• the conservative mind: from burke to eliot by russell kirk
• the portable conservative reader by russell kirk
• the conservative intellectual movement in america by george nash
• the city on a hill by michael reagan **
• why we whisper: restoring our right to say it’s wrong by jim demint

culture

• chinese girl in the ghetto by ying ma * **
• christianity and culture by t.s. eliot
• fighting for life: becoming a force for change in a world hurt by lila rose
• irreversible damage: transgender madness seducing our daughters by abigail shrier
• It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good by Rick Santorum**
• A Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman
• what’s so good about america by dinesh d’souza **
• what is a woman? by matt walsh
• when harry became sally by dr. ryan anderson

economy

• a history of money and banking in the united states by murray rothbard
• america’s great depression by murray rothbard
• basic economics by thomas sowell
• can a catholic be a socialist? by trent horn
• capitalism and liberty by milton friedman
• crapitalism by jason mattera **
• economics in one lesson by henry hazlitt
• how capitalism saved the united states by thomas dilorenzo
• human action by ludwig von mises
• in defense of global capitalism by johan norberg
• freedom against the tyranny of socialism: controversial essays by dr. walter williams **
• man, economy, and state by murray rothbard
• the capitalist comeback by andy puzder
• the case against socialism by senator rand paul
• the end of prosperity by steve moore **
• the power of economic thought by mark skousen
• the road to servitude by f.a. hayek
• the wealth of nations by adam smith
• two lucky ones by milton and rose friedman

education

• Brainwashing: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth by Ben Shapiro
• God and Man at Yale by William F. buckley
• illiberal education: political correctness and the college experience by dinesh d’souza
• intellectuals by paul johnson
• professors by david horowitz
• the shadow university by alan kors and harvey silvergate
• the academy in crisis edited by john somme

environment / global warming

• climate confusion by roy spencer
• fossil future by alex epstein
• green fraud: why the green new deal is even worse than you think by marc morano
• chris horner’s politically incorrect guide to global warming and the environment** (we recommend any book in the politically incorrect guide series)
• iain murray’s really inconvenient truths
• the skeptical environmentalist: measuring the real state of the world by bjorn lomborg
• unstoppable global warming by fred singer and dennis avery

feminism

• feminist fantasies of phyllis schlafly
• great american conservative women: a collection of speeches from the clareboote institute of politics luce
• christina hoff sommers’s war on children * *
• who stole feminism from christina hoff sommers **

foundation speakers

• the authoritarian moment: how the left armed american institutions against dissent by ben shapiro
• the death of the west by patrick buchanan **
• creating equals by ward connerly * *
• grace canceled by dana loesch
• hating whitey by david horowitz **
• hollywood vs america by michael medved **
• how to destroy america in three easy steps by ben shapiro
• illiberal education by dinesh d’souza **
• myths, lies and utter stupidity by john stossel **
• never again by attorney general john ashcroft **
• showdown by larry elder
• speechless: controlling words, controlling minds by michael knowles
• ten things you can’t say in america by larry elder
• the myth of the robber barons by burton w. folsom, jr. **
• the right side of history by ben shapiro
• uncivil wars by david horowitz **
• what’s good about america by dinesh d’souza **

gun rights

• first freedom by david harsanyi
• guns save lives by robert waters
• hands off my gun: defeating the plot to disarm america by dana loesch
• more guns, less crime by john r. lott jr.
• every man be armed by stephen halbrook
• the best defense by robert waters
• the bias against guns by john r. lott jr.

history (us)

• 48 Liberal Lies (You Probably Learned In School) by dr. larry schweikart **
• a history of the american people by paul johnson
• the story of an united states patriot by dr. larry schweikart **
• constitution of the united states
• congress and the american tradition by james burnham
• crisis and leviathan by robert higgs
• declaration of independence
• democracy in america by alexis de tocqueville
• new deal or raw deal by dr. Burt Folsom, Jr. **
• Thomas E. Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. woods, jr.
• the right side of history by ben shapiro
• the roosevelt myth by john t. flynn
• the myth of the robber barons by burton w. folsom, jr. **
• the federalist papers of hamilton, madison, jay

See Also: CRT and book bans in Tennessee schools: A reading list – Chalkbeat Tennessee

history (world)

• greatness: reagan, churchill, and the making of extraordinary leaders by steven hayward *
• heaven on earth: the rise and fall of socialism by joshua muravchik
• liberal fascism by jonah goldberg **
• reflections on the revolution in france by edmund burke
• the last lion by william manchester
• the peloponnesian war by donald kagan
• the triumph of liberty by jim powell
• the president, the pope and the prime minister by john o’sullivan

immigration

• minutemen: the battle to secure America’s borders by jim gilchrist and jerome r. corsi
• in mortal danger by tom tancredo*
• whatever it takes: illegal immigration, border security, and the war on terrorism by j.d. hayworth

liberalism

• do what i say not what i do by peter schweizer **
• do the right thing by william f. buckley, jr.
• hating whitey by david horowitz **
• slouching towards gomorrah by robert bork
• from liberalism by william f. buckley, jr.
• why the left hates america by daniel j. flynn**

media

• bernard goldberg bias
• a drooling love story: the true (and pathetic) story of barack obama’s torrid affair with bernard goldberg’s mainstream media
• south park conservatives by brian anderson

militant Islam

• the kingdom of hate by dore gold
• militant islam comes to america by daniel pipes
• the cube and the cathedral by george weigel
• islam revealed by robert spencer **
• the politically incorrect guide to islam by robert spencer **
• the armies of al qaeda by jonathan schanzer **

national and military security

• breakdown by bill gertz
• doing the body by thomas ricks
• citizen soldiers by stephen ambrose
• cape and gown by robin winks
• on the origins of war and the preservation of peace by donald kagan
• awol by frank schaeffer and kathy roth-douquet
• dereliction of duty by h.r. mcmaster
• american military history: volumes 1 & 2 by richard stewart
• america’s victories: why the united states wins wars and will win the war on terror by larry schweikart **
• red handed by peter schweizer **

novels

• george orwell’s 1984
• george orwell’s animal farm
• ayn rand’s atlas shrugged
• brad thor’s blacklist
• blowback by brad thor
• fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury
• foreign influence by brad thor
• full black by brad thor
• a day in the life of ivan denisovich by alexander solzhenitsyn
• road of the assassin by brad thor
• scratch beginnings by adam shepard
• state of the union by brad thor
• shooting down brad thor
• tom wolfe’s bonfire of the vanities
• khaled hosseini’s kite racer
• the lion’s game by nelson demille
• the taped lyrics of c.s. lewis
• ayn rand’s spring
• the moon has set by john steinbeck
• the lions of lucerne by brad thor
• the brad thor’s first commandment
• brad thor’s last patriot
• brad thor’s apostle
• brad thor’s athena project

race

• ending racism by dinesh d’souza **
• creating equality: my fight against racial preference by ward connerly *
• uncivil wars by david horowitz * *
• race and culture by thomas sowell
• talk like a white boy by joseph phillips **
• racial marxism by dr. james lindsay
• debunking the 1619 project by mary record

ronald reagan

See Also: Cesar Millan – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com

• a different drummer: my thirty years with ronald reagan by michael k. deaver
• god and ronald reagan by dr. paul kengor **
• how ronald reagan changed my life by peter robinson **
• i love you, ronnie by nancy d. reagan
• ronald reagan: how an ordinary man became an extraordinary leader by dinesh d’souza **
• ronald reagan and his ranch, the white house of the west by peter hannaford
• reagan’s war: the epic story of his forty-year struggle and final triumph over communism by peter schweizer **
• date with destiny: ronald reagan and the campaign that saved america
• the reagan era by steven f. hayward *
• dick wirthlin and wynton hall’s best communicator **
• with reagan: the inside story of edwin meese iii **
• when the character was the king by peggy noonan