The canon
Every work in the PoliReads canon — 134 hand-vetted books, from the classics to contemporary thought. Each links to a full page with a summary, the key passage, and the reading paths it belongs to.
Classic · 47
- A Letter Concerning TolerationJohn LockeLiberalism / religious toleration
- Anarchism and Other EssaysEmma GoldmanAnarcho-communist / feminist anarchism
- Capital, Volume IKarl MarxMarxism / critique of political economy
- City of GodAugustine of HippoChristian political theology
- Civil DisobedienceHenry David ThoreauIndividualism / civil resistance
- Considerations on FranceJoseph de MaistreCounter-Enlightenment conservatism
- Democracy in AmericaAlexis de TocquevilleLiberal conservatism / democratic theory
- Discourse on the Origin of InequalityJean-Jacques RousseauSocial contract / critique of inequality
- Discourses on LivyNiccolò MachiavelliRepublicanism
- Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844Karl MarxMarxism / humanist socialism
- Elements of the Philosophy of RightG. W. F. HegelGerman idealism / political philosophy
- Evolutionary SocialismEduard BernsteinRevisionist socialism / social democracy
- Fear and TremblingSøren KierkegaardChristian existentialism
- God and the StateMikhail BakuninCollectivist anarchism
- LeviathanThomas HobbesRealism / social contract theory
- Mutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionPeter KropotkinAnarcho-communist / evolutionary theory
- NationalityLord ActonLiberal nationalism / classical liberalism
- On LibertyJohn Stuart MillLiberalism
- On the Genealogy of MoralityFriedrich NietzscheCritique of morality / anti-Christian thought
- PenséesBlaise PascalChristian existential reflection
- Perpetual PeaceImmanuel KantLiberal internationalism
- PoliticsAristotleClassical republican / virtue ethics
- Principles of Political EconomyJohn Stuart MillLiberal political economy
- Reflections on the Revolution in FranceEdmund BurkeConservatism
- Reform or RevolutionRosa LuxemburgMarxism / revolutionary socialism
- RepublicPlatoAncient political philosophy
- Rights of ManThomas PaineLiberal radicalism / republicanism
- Second Treatise of GovernmentJohn LockeLiberalism / natural rights
- The Brothers KaramazovFyodor DostoevskyChristian existential literature
- The Communist ManifestoKarl Marx and Friedrich EngelsSocialism / Marxism
- The Conquest of BreadPeter KropotkinAnarcho-communism
- The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis BonaparteKarl MarxMarxism / political analysis
- The Federalist PapersAlexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John JayConstitutionalism / republicanism
- The Kingdom of God Is Within YouLeo TolstoyChristian anarchism / nonviolence
- The LawFrédéric BastiatClassical liberalism / libertarianism
- The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of ModernsBenjamin ConstantFrench liberalism
- The PrinceNiccolò MachiavelliPolitical realism
- The Social ContractJean-Jacques RousseauRepublicanism / democratic theory
- The Spirit of the LawsMontesquieuLiberal constitutionalism
- The Subjection of WomenJohn Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor MillLiberal feminism
- The Theory of Moral SentimentsAdam SmithMoral philosophy / political economy
- The Wealth of NationsAdam SmithClassical political economy
- Treatise on LawThomas AquinasNatural law / Christian philosophy
- What Is a Nation?Ernest RenanNationalism
- What Is Enlightenment?Immanuel KantEnlightenment liberalism
- What Is Property?Pierre-Joseph ProudhonMutualist anarchism
- What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?Frederick DouglassAbolitionism / republican critique
Modern · 48
- A Theory of JusticeJohn RawlsLiberal egalitarianism
- Anarcho-SyndicalismRudolf RockerAnarchism / revolutionary unionism
- Anarchy, State, and UtopiaRobert NozickLibertarianism
- Black Skin, White MasksFrantz FanonAnti-colonialism / psychoanalysis
- Capitalism and FreedomMilton FriedmanClassical liberalism / libertarian economics
- Discourse on ColonialismAimé CésaireAnti-colonial theory / Négritude
- Exit, Voice, and LoyaltyAlbert O. HirschmanPolitical economy
- Gravity and GraceSimone WeilChristian mysticism / moral philosophy
- I and ThouMartin BuberJewish existentialism / dialogical philosophy
- Letter from Birmingham JailMartin Luther King Jr.Civil rights liberalism
- LiberalismLudwig von MisesLibertarianism / classical liberalism
- Mein KampfAdolf HitlerNational Socialism / racial ideology
- Mere ChristianityC. S. LewisChristian apologetics
- Moral Man and Immoral SocietyReinhold NiebuhrChristian realism
- Origins and Doctrine of FascismGiovanni GentilePhilosophical fascism / Italian idealism
- Political PartiesRobert MichelsElite theory / sociology
- Political TheologyCarl SchmittPolitical theology / sovereignty
- Politics Among NationsHans MorgenthauClassical realism / international relations
- Politics as a VocationMax WeberPolitical sociology / realism
- Prison NotebooksAntonio GramsciWestern Marxism
- Rationalism in PoliticsMichael OakeshottBritish conservatism
- Revolt Against the Modern WorldJulius EvolaEsoteric fascism / radical traditionalism
- The Abolition of ManC. S. LewisChristian moral philosophy
- The Affluent SocietyJohn Kenneth GalbraithLiberal economics / social democracy
- The Ballot or the BulletMalcolm XBlack nationalism / civil rights
- The Black JacobinsC.L.R. JamesAnti-colonial Marxism / Black radical tradition
- The Calculus of ConsentJames Buchanan and Gordon TullockPublic choice / libertarian constitutionalism
- The Colonizer and the ColonizedAlbert MemmiAnti-colonial sociology / phenomenology
- The Concept of the PoliticalCarl SchmittPolitical theology / realism
- The Constitution of LibertyFriedrich HayekClassical liberalism
- The Doctrine of FascismBenito MussoliniFascist political theory
- The Great TransformationKarl PolanyiSocial democracy / economic history
- The Human ConditionHannah ArendtPolitical philosophy / republicanism
- The MachiavelliansJames BurnhamElite theory / political realism
- The Managerial RevolutionJames BurnhamElite theory / political sociology
- The Need for RootsSimone WeilChristian humanism / social philosophy
- The Open Society and Its EnemiesKarl PopperLiberal democracy
- The Origins of TotalitarianismHannah ArendtAnti-totalitarian political theory
- The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of CapitalismMax WeberSociology / political economy
- The Revolt of the MassesJosé Ortega y GassetSpanish liberal conservatism / cultural criticism
- The Road to SerfdomFriedrich HayekClassical liberalism
- The Second SexSimone de BeauvoirFeminism / existentialism
- The Souls of Black FolkW. E. B. Du BoisRace and political thought / civil rights
- The Twenty Years' CrisisE. H. CarrInternational relations realism
- The Use of Knowledge in SocietyFriedrich HayekClassical liberalism / economics
- The Varieties of Religious ExperienceWilliam JamesPsychology of religion / pragmatism
- The Wretched of the EarthFrantz FanonAnti-colonialism / revolutionary theory
- Two Concepts of LibertyIsaiah BerlinLiberalism
Contemporary · 39
- 12 Rules for LifeJordan PetersonPsychology, religion, cultural criticism
- A Brief History of EqualityThomas PikettyInequality studies / participatory socialism
- A Secular AgeCharles TaylorPhilosophy of secular modernity
- After VirtueAlasdair MacIntyreVirtue ethics / communitarian critique
- Ain't I a Womanbell hooksBlack feminism
- Basic EconomicsThomas SowellMarket liberal / conservative economics
- Black Feminist ThoughtPatricia Hill CollinsBlack feminist theory
- Black Rednecks and White LiberalsThomas SowellConservative cultural analysis
- Capitalism: The Unknown IdealAyn RandObjectivism / libertarian-adjacent capitalism
- Creating CapabilitiesMartha C. NussbaumCapabilities approach / political philosophy
- Democracy and Its CriticsRobert DahlDemocratic theory / pluralism
- Development as FreedomAmartya SenLiberal egalitarianism / development economics
- Discipline and PunishMichel FoucaultPost-structuralism / power analysis
- DominionTom HollandHistory of Christianity and the West
- Free to ChooseMilton Friedman and Rose FriedmanMarket liberalism
- How to Be a ConservativeRoger ScrutonConservatism
- Imagined CommunitiesBenedict AndersonNationalism studies
- Just and Unjust WarsMichael WalzerJust war theory / political philosophy
- Justice and the Politics of DifferenceIris Marion YoungPolitical theory / social justice
- Liberalism of FearJudith ShklarLiberal political theory
- Liberty before LiberalismQuentin SkinnerRepublicanism / history of ideas
- Nations and NationalismErnest GellnerNationalism studies / modernism
- OrientalismEdward SaidPostcolonial theory
- Silent SpringRachel CarsonEnvironmental politics / political ecology
- Sister OutsiderAudre LordeBlack feminist essays
- The Anatomy of FascismRobert O. PaxtonComparative politics / historical analysis
- The Art of Not Being GovernedJames C. ScottAnarchist anthropology
- The Blank SlateSteven PinkerEvolutionary psychology / liberal humanism
- The Conservative MindRussell KirkAmerican conservatism
- The History of Sexuality, Volume 1Michel FoucaultPost-structuralism / power analysis
- The Idea of JusticeAmartya SenLiberal egalitarianism / capabilities
- The Machinery of FreedomDavid FriedmanLibertarianism / anarcho-capitalism
- The Meaning of ConservatismRoger ScrutonConservatism
- The People vs. DemocracyYascha MounkLiberal democracy / democratic theory
- The Racial ContractCharles W. MillsCritical race liberal critique
- The Righteous MindJonathan HaidtMoral psychology
- The Structural Transformation of the Public SphereJürgen HabermasCritical theory / democratic theory
- The Virtue of NationalismYoram HazonyNational conservatism
- Why Not Socialism?G. A. CohenAnalytical Marxism / egalitarianism