Politics & Government

As far as topics go, politics may be as divisive as they come. Still, there's no escaping the role that it plays in our lives. The texts in this collection explore the gamut of how politics shapes and reshapes societies throughout history.

The Closing of the American Mind

by Allan Bloom

Publication year 1987

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Education, Good & Evil, Community

Tags Philosophy, Education, Education, American Literature, Social Science, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Arts & Culture, Politics & Government

The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students, by Allan Bloom, is a non-fiction book published in 1987. The work is a critique of American culture and higher education and was considered a landmark in the culture wars of the 1980s. It was a surprise bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year. This guide refers to the page... Read The Closing of the American Mind Summary

The Coddling of the American Mind

by Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Anthropology, Education, Education, Sociology, Parenting, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Arts & Culture, Politics & Government

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure is a psychology book written by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt and published in 2018. The nonfiction work, which expounds upon an essay the authors wrote for The Atlantic in 2015, became a bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award nominee. The book argues that parents and schools, in an overabundance of caution, have taught children... Read The Coddling of the American Mind Summary

The Color of Law

by Richard Rothstein

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Justice

Tags Race & Racism, US History, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (2017) is a historical study of how the US government and legal system implemented and enforced de jure segregation. This guide cites the 2017 Kindle edition, and all pagination refers to location numbers.Rothstein challenges the belief that segregation was de facto, or the result of individual choices. Rather, he shows how all levels of government created the system of residential... Read The Color of Law Summary

The Coming of the Third Reich

by Richard J. Evans

Publication year 2003

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Fear, Hate & Anger, Nostalgia, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Disability, Gender Identity, Race, The Past, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Economics, Globalization, Politics & Government, War, Art, Good & Evil, Justice, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger

Tags World History, Military & War, World War II, European History, Politics & Government

... Read The Coming of the Third Reich Summary

The Coming Wave

by Mustafa Suleyman

Publication year 2023

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Globalization, Science & Technology, Future, Politics & Government, Community

Tags Technology, Science & Nature, Business & Economics, Politics & Government, Technology, Sociology, Philosophy, Philosophy

... Read The Coming Wave Summary

The Communist Manifesto

by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels

Publication year 1848

Genre Reference/Text Book, Nonfiction

Themes Fate

Tags Politics & Government, Industrial Revolution, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

The Communist Manifesto is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. First written in German, the Manifesto was initially published in London in 1848. Marx was the primary author, while Engels edited the text and assisted Marx financially. They wanted to present a working set of guidelines and principles for their European socialist allies and to offer a text that communists all over the world could use to support their... Read The Communist Manifesto Summary

The Competitive Advantage Of Nations

by Michael E. Porter

Publication year 1990

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Colonialism, Community, Teamwork, Social Class, Immigration, Globalization, Science & Technology, Education, Order & Chaos, Nation, Future, War, The Past, Power & Greed, Equality, Politics & Government, Wins & Losses

Tags Business & Economics, Finance, Leadership, Social Science, World History, Politics & Government

The Competitive Advantage of Nations is a 1990 work of economics by American author Michael E. Porter, a Harvard Business School professor and expert in corporate competitive strategy whose influential works are frequently cited in business and economics. In this book, Porter dismantles traditional economic theories about how well a nation fares in global competition (factor costs and macro-economic policy) and proposes a model that focuses on active and malleable factors of business rather than... Read The Competitive Advantage Of Nations Summary

The Condemnation of Blackness

by Khalil Gibran Muhammad

Publication year 2010

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Community, Justice, Equality

Tags Race & Racism, US History, Social Justice, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Sociology, World History, Politics & Government

Khalil Gibran Muhammad’s book The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America is a nonfiction history published in 2010. Muhammad, an American historian specializing on race and public policy, studies the connections between Blackness, crime, and the makings of America’s urban North after the Civil War. The book has garnered significant accolade, winning awards such as the 2011 John Hope Franklin Publication Prize and landing on the Vera Institute of... Read The Condemnation of Blackness Summary

The Condition of the Working Class in England

by Friedrich Engels

Publication year 1845

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Justice

Tags Philosophy, Business & Economics, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government

Considered one of the classics of social and political theory, Friedrich Engels’s The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) is a thought-provoking work based on the author’s personal observations of English society. As the first text of its kind to address the effects of capitalism on workers, it was widely read upon publication, even influencing the theories of Karl Marx, with whom Engels would later write The Communist Manifesto.Employed as a representative of... Read The Condition of the Working Class in England Summary

The Corporation

by Joel Bakan

Publication year 2003

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Crime & Law, Business & Economics, Sociology, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Politics & Government

Published in 2004, The Corporation, by legal scholar Joel Bakan, demonstrates that corporations often misbehave because it is in their nature to do so. The corporate legal mandate, to pursue profit on behalf of shareholders, impels corporations to take any action, including callous, antisocial, and even unlawful behaviors, so long as they generate a profit.  Because corporations are created by governments, they are beholden to the state for their survival, yet they often manage to... Read The Corporation Summary