Tag Archives: Politics-CivicInterest

Crabgrass Frontier

Posted on October 3, 2013 by smellincoffee

Crabgrass Frontier:  The Suburbanization of the United States© 1985 Kenneth Jackson432 pages For thousands of years, people lived in either the country or the city, but with the coming of the industrial revolution that changed, and especially in America.   … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Radicals for Capitalism

Posted on September 1, 2013 by smellincoffee

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement© 2008 Brian Doherty740 pages Libertarianism has been in the news recently: Julian Assange referred to its rising wave in the Republican party as America’s best hope for halting … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Righteous Mind

Posted on August 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion© 2013 Jonathan Haidt528 pages The Righteous Mind begins with a question, seriously posed: why  can’t we all get along? To find the answer, Jonathan Haidt delves into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Basic Economics

Posted on August 14, 2013 by smellincoffee

Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy © 2010 Thomas Sowell 789 pages (4th edition) Basic Economics is a sweeping introduction  to the fundamental principles of market economics and their application to  constituent elements of the local and global economy like … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Conservative Mind

Posted on August 5, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot© 1953 Russell Kirk534 pages (7th Edition) For most of human history, change has been a glacier — slow to move, retreating as much as it advances. Since the scientific and industrial revolutions, however, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Choice

Posted on July 25, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism© 2006 Russ Roberts128 pages  Imagine that George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life had wrestled not with the impulse to throw himself off of a bridge, but with the decision whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It Can’t Happen Here

Posted on July 24, 2013 by smellincoffee

It Can’t Happen Here© 1935 Sinclair Lewis400 pages The Great Depression sent the entire western world reeling, destroying faith in the existing order and creating opportunities for charismatic, forceful leaders with vision to sweep into power and create societies anew … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting There

Posted on July 19, 2013 by smellincoffee

Getting There: the Epic Struggle  between Road and Rail in the American Century© 1996 Stephen Goddard366 pages Regardless of the status of George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, and William Pitt, each man of power traveled at the same speed as the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This week at the library: politics, Star Trek, a Cold War fantasy for kids, and trains

Posted on July 15, 2013 by smellincoffee

Last week’s titles:  The Price of Everything, Russell D. Roberts  | What It Means to be a Libertarian, Charles Murray |  Star Trek Silent Weapons, David Mack |  Day of Reckoning, Pat Buchanan | Getting There, Charles Goddard Dear readers: … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Price of Everything

Posted on July 15, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Price of Everything© 2009 Russell D. Roberts 224 pages The Price of Everything is an economics novel about the virtues of prices and markets, explaining how they work to maximize efficiency and spread goods out among those who need … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment