Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business is a nonfiction book by Neil Postman, published in 1985. Postman was a professor of education and communication at New York University with a special interest in the role of technology and media in society. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York in Fredonia and a master’s degree and doctorate from the Teachers College of Columbia University. In... Read Amusing Ourselves to Death Summary

Published in 2003, Jim Murphy’s An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 is a historical nonfiction book for young adults that provides a detailed look into Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic of 1793. As Murphy documents how yellow fever emerged and spread throughout the city, he demonstrates how society operated in what was then the nation’s capital and largest city in the late 1700s. He focuses on urban... Read An American Plague Summary

An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back is physician and journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal’s overview and critique of the American healthcare system. It was initially published in April 2017, arriving during a time in which healthcare reform became a prominent cornerstone of both Democratic and Republican political campaigns. The book offers a mixture of testimonials from a myriad of people impacted by the health industry, including medical professionals... Read An American Sickness Summary

Anarchy, State, and Utopia is Robert Nozick’s seminal work of political philosophy. Its publication in 1974 brought him into the public eye as a major philosopher of political libertarianism. Fifty years after its publication, the work remains highly influential, attracting both praise and criticism in philosophical and political circles.Nozick wrote Anarchy, State, and Utopia in response to John Rawls’s Theory of Justice, published in 1971. When writing this book—his first—Nozick was a convinced libertarian, influenced... Read Anarchy, State and Utopia Summary

And The Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic is a work of investigative reporting by Randy Shilts, a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle. Shilts covered the AIDS epidemic from 1982 for the only newspaper willing to give its full attention to the epidemic. Shilts examines the roots of AIDS beginning in 1976 to two events and focuses on the mysterious illness of a Danish physician working in Africa, Dr. Grethe Rask. Before... Read And The Band Played On Summary

Jon Meacham’s biography of Abraham Lincoln, And There Was Light (2002), traces the complicated development of Lincoln’s character from his humble upbringing on a Kentucky homestead to his infamous assassination in the Ford Theater. Meacham describes Lincoln’s moral and political development as he grappled with slavery, democracy, and the duties of his office. In Meacham’s lens, Lincoln was troubled by grief and personal insecurities; he was also dedicated to moral improvement and his faith, commitments... Read And There Was Light Summary

An Economic Theory of Democracy is a 1957 treatise by the economist Anthony Downs. It argues that economic theory can usefully be applied to non-market political decision-making. To this end, Downs develops an analytical model for the study of democratic behavior that follows the paradigms of economic theory and adopts an empirical, data-led approach. An Economic Theory of Democracy is an early proponent of rational choice theory, the theory that a society is composed of... Read An Economic Theory of Democracy Summary

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke is a study of how humans think, learn, and retain knowledge. Scholars often focus first on Locke’s philosophical treatises, but his work on epistemology complements and shapes his political thought. Born in 1632, the English philosopher ushered in the Age of Enlightenment and is considered one of the greatest Western philosophers in history. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, first published in 1690, explores the origin and nature... Read An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Summary

An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus was first published anonymously in 1798. Its core argument, that human population will inevitably outgrow its capacity to produce food, widely influenced the field of early 19th century economics and social science. Immediately after its first printing, Malthus’s essay garnered significant attention from his contemporaries, and he soon felt the need to reveal his identity. Although it was highly controversial, An Essay on the Principle... Read An Essay on the Principle of Population Summary

Angela Davis: An Autobiography, originally published in 1974, is a political autobiography focused on the imprisonment and trial of activist and scholar Angela Davis in the early 1970s. In 1970, after guns belonging to Davis were used in an uprising at the Marin County Courthouse in California, Davis was accused and convicted of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. A jury acquitted Davis of all charges in 1972. She published her autobiography two years later to center... Read Angela Davis Summary

Andrew Marvell is one of the most well-known English metaphysical poets. Poets of the metaphysical movement, such as John Donne and George Herbert, use unique conceits, juxtapositions, and reflective turns to explore philosophical ideas related to their subjects. Marvell was also politically involved throughout most of his life, and served in various positions under both English general Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II.Marvell’s “An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland” reflects his poeticism and... Read An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland Summary

An Hour Before Daylight (2001) is a memoir by Jimmy Carter. The memoir recounts the former US president’s upbringing in rural Georgia during the Great Depression. Carter introduces readers to the community of Plains, Georgia, where he was raised, sharing stories of his family, the farm, and the complex racial and economic landscapes of the South during the 1920s and 1930s. The memoir not only explores Carter’s early experiences with poverty, community, and racial segregation... Read An Hour Before Daylight Summary

Published in 1945, Animal Farm by George Orwell (1903-1950) achieved immediate success and remains one of Orwell’s most popular works. A political satire in the guise of a moving and whimsical animal fable, the novella is about a group of farm animals who overthrow their owner, Mr. Jones, and establish animal rule. Although the animals start with high hopes for Animal Farm as a harmonious and just utopia where “all animals are equal” (19), it... Read Animal Farm Summary

Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals is a book by renowned Australian philosopher Peter Singer. Published in 1975 and re-released most recently in 2009, with an additional preface by the author, the book is widely recognized as a foundational text within the animal liberation movement. Singer tries to persuade the reader of his or her own implicit “speciesism,” a term he popularized, and he argues that the discrimination against other species... Read Animal Liberation Summary

An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 nonfiction book released in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name. This book, by former vice-president Al Gore, presents scientific information about global climate change. He intersperses this information with personal anecdotes that outline the more human and social dimensions of the issue.An Inconvenient Truth begins with an introduction to the basic science of global warming and the greenhouse gases that cause it. The first forty pages... Read An Inconvenient Truth Summary

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States is a nonfiction, award-winning book by historian, author, and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offering an oft untold perspective. It is a chronological narrative of the history of the United States through the eyes of Indigenous peoples. With its unique perspective, this book earned the 2015 American Book Award and has become one of the bases for HBO’s 2021 docuseries Exterminate All the Brutes, which discusses colonialism and genocide... Read An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Summary

Annihilation of Caste (1936) is a famous publication originally meant to spread the text of a speech that was never publically delivered. Composed by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar—otherwise known as B. R. Ambedkar—the work is a forceful and detailed exposition of the ills that Hinduism’s adherence to a caste system has caused; it also details the reasons why the system should be abolished and explains the positive outcome that such a revolution would entail. While Ambedkar... Read Annihilation of Caste Summary

Anthem is a short novella written by Ayn Rand and published in 1938. Rand is known for her polarizing fiction, which includes the well-known novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. She is also known as the founder of a controversial philosophy known as Objectivism. In 1987, Anthem won the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Hall of Fame Award. Since its publication, the novella has been met with mixed reviews due to the controversy around its Objectivist themes... Read Anthem Summary

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin is a memoir that interweaves personal reflections with the history of one of the most turbulent and significant decades in American history. Published in 2024, this work showcases Goodwin’s expertise as a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, known for her detailed and engaging explorations of American history. The book blends memoir and historical nonfiction, focusing on her life with her late husband, Richard... Read An Unfinished Love Story Summary

Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster is a 2009 non-fiction book that examines the behavior of people amid and after disasters as well as the institutional failure that can worsen disasters. Solnit explores five major disasters and detours to discuss several others while providing commentary on contemporary Western culture, anarchism, and the media’s portrayal of disaster victims.Solnit and the many sociologists she cites present an optimistic view... Read A Paradise Built in Hell Summary