Book recommendations!!!

[Os Cangaceiros]

Give me some! Please!

Here are some of the ones I've been interested in, to give you an idea:

The Black Jacobins by CLR James
The Wandering Of Humanity by Jaques Camatte
Memoirs Of An Italian Terrorist by Giorgio
The Call by French hipsters
The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years (1868-1936) by Murray Bookchin
Books For Burning by Negri
The Fall Of The House Of Labor by David Montgomery

I'm not so much interested in heavy thereotical works, or works by well known figures within communism. I'd prefer books that deal with more contemporary analysis (such as books that deal with events in the last 50 years or so), or just books that deal with an interesting piece of little known history.

[x359594]

America During the King Years 1954-1968 by Taylor Branch, 3 volumes (1988-2006.) The best comprehensive history of the Civil Rights Movement currently available.

Joe Hill: the IWW & the Making of a Working Class Counterculture by Franklin Rosemont (2003.) Sweeping history of Joe Hill's influence on the world wide labor movement profusely illustrated and written in vigorous prose.

[praxis1966]

America During the King Years 1954-1968 by Taylor Branch, 3 volumes (1988-2006.) The best comprehensive history of the Civil Rights Movement currently available.

No offense, x359594, but this is the kind of thing that really irritates me. Most mainstream historians put the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement at either '54 or '55 depending on whether they're using Brown v Board or the murder of Emmit Till as the demarcation point. The truth is, Harry T. Moore was an important figure (so much so that Langston Hughes wrote a poem memorializing him) in the Movement beginning way back in '34. Further, Medgar Evers almost always gets cited as the first Civil Rights "leader" to be assassinated (in '63), but Moore was killed in '51.

I dunno, maybe it's because Moore was from Florida and so am I, but I've always hated that he gets left out of the history books.

[bricolage]

I'm reading When The Lights Went Out by Andy Beckett at the moment, it's a pretty easy going but interesting history of Britain in the 1970s, provos, miners, blackouts and the lot. I really like it but then I think being from Britain my view of it is probably blurred a bit.

Live Working of Die Fighting by Paul Mason is absolutely fantastic actually, I'd recommend that to anyone.

[Rakhmetov]

Steal This Book

http://www.tenant.net/Community/steal/index.html

http://www.tenant.net/Community/steal/steal.html


People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn


Killing Hope by William Blum

Rogue State by William Blum

Blackshirts & Reds by Michael Parenti

Inevitable Revolutions: The United States In Central America by Walter LaFeber

State & Revolution by V.I. Lenin

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by F. Douglass

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I'm not so much interested in heavy thereotical works, or works by well known figures within communism. I'd prefer books that deal with more contemporary analysis (such as books that deal with events in the last 50 years or so),
"Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis" - Chris Williams
The best book written on global warming, the causes of it, the true solutions to it. This isn't the stuff you'll be hearing from moderates and corporate-backed people like Al Gore, who don't get to the root of the problem. One of the most informative books I've read in a while.

"No One Is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State-Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border" - Justin Akers Chacon and Mike Davis
The best book on immigration. I read this 2-3 years ago, and still refer to it often. It's packed full on the history of immigration, the current rise of right-wing militias, and very useful statistics, truth, and facts that you can use often when debating the "illegal immigration" issue. It disproves many of the myths that bigots use against immigration, and I'm very thankful this book was published.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

CLR James

World Revolution 1917-1936, about the degeneration of the Comintern-

State Capitalism and World Revolution

Critique of the Trotskyist movement and a discussion of how it was beginning to degenerate

History of the Russian Revolution Leon Trotsky, a masterpiece, some regard as the best book ever written
The Betrayal of the Chinese Revolution-Harold Issacs.How Stalin sabotaged the Chinese revolution. The original version is the best, Issacs moved to the right and rewrote the book several times after-should be on the Worker's Liberty site, somewhere. Otherwise the other books are on the MIA.

The Darker Nations Vijay Prashad, About the collapse of the Third World movement

anything by Eric Hobsbawm

The Shock Doctrine Naomi Klein. How neo-liberalism has been imposed on the world though the past 30 years. A must read. A Short History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey is a good companion to read with this.

The Making of the English Working Class EP Thompson

The Limits To Capital, David Harvey. A brilliant Marxist exploration of why capitalism is in its current crisis. Not an easy read, at least for me, but extremely important for understanding what's happening.

The Death of Stalinism and the Rebirth of Marxism Walter Daum, associated with League for the Revolutionary Party, LRP A Marxist explanation of why the USSR collapsed. A very sophisticated analysis and a very good intro to the basics of Marxism. I don't agree with their state capitalist
theory but I did get a lot out of reading it.There's a link to it on RevLeft somewhere.

[x359594]

No offense, x359594, but this is the kind of thing that really irritates me. Most mainstream historians put the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement at either '54 or '55...

It's not the historian's fault, it's mine. Branch titled his history America During the King Years, and I described it as a history of the modern Civil Rights Movement when it only covers the period from 1954 to 1968.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

A few more, for what its worth.

Homage To Catalonia George Orwell. Orwell;s experiences in the Spanish Civil War. A masterpiece

anything by Noam Chomsky. Manafacture of Consent and Hegemony or Survival are great. HOS was recomended by Hugo Chavez, so how could you go wrong?. Chomsky is guranteed to make any caring person very, very angry.

Ten Days That Shook The World John Reed. A masterpiece

A People's History of The United States Howard Zinn. A must read

Chris Harmon A People's History of The World
The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918-23

Stalin and German Communism Ruth Fisher A very interesting history of German communism by a former leader of the KPD. Fisher herself may be a bit self serving, I would love to know what Revlefters who have read this think about it.

of course my favorites

Harry Potter and The Magical Disappearing Hemoroids Jk Rowling

Post-Copernican Theories of Cosmology, Quantum Physics and Marx's Theory of Epistomology: Reality TV as a Praxis Snooki

Method Acting and The Search for Meaning in A Meaningless World Carlos Irwin Estévez

[Veg_Athei_Socialist]

"Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis" - Chris Williams
The best book written on global warming, the causes of it, the true solutions to it. This isn't the stuff you'll be hearing from moderates and corporate-backed people like Al Gore, who don't get to the root of the problem. One of the most informative books I've read in a while.
I also recommend this one. Probly the best book you'll find on the subject.

[Os Cangaceiros]

State & Revolution by V.I. Lenin

You may want to re-read what I said in the first post. :sleep:

But thanks for the recs anyway, and thanks to all the others who contributed.

[Magón]

Anarchism and Its Aspirations by Cindy Milstein

[Tim Finnegan]

If anyone happens to be British (or unhealthily interested in Britain), I'd recommend The Meaning of David Cameron by Richard Seymour. A good, concise analysis of contemporary British politics.


Homage To Catalonia George Orwell. Orwell;s experiences in the Spanish Civil War. A masterpiece

Ten Days That Shook The World John Reed. A masterpiece
Oh, definitely. I never really understood what proletarian revolution meant until I read these books.

[black magick hustla]

the icc history books are p. good. the best one is the one on the italian communist left. so many stories of like unsung heroes and shit.

[StalinFanboy]

I'm reading:

Species Being by Frere Dupont
Nihilist Communism by Monsieur Dupont
Intro to Civil War by French Hipsters
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Frederici
Endnotes 2
In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall

I would reccommend all of those so far, although the Goodall book is a primatology book.

[gorillafuck]

Will You Die With Me? is an interesting book. Regardless of views on the Black Panthers, it's a great read. It's written by Flores Forbes about his experiences from first joining the BPP to being an extremely high ranking member of the BPP, it's written very well.

[Comrade J]

Have you read Open Veins of Latin America?

That is quite an incredible book, charting the 500 years of pillage that Latin America has undergone, as a result of European and North American massive exploitation via a compliant bourgeoise in these states. However, it is far from dry and dull, it is written in a very warm almost poetic style at times. You will finish a paragraph on something like sugar production quotas under Batista and just be like "oh, that was beautiful" :D

It is also the book handed to Barack Obama by Hugo Chavez, which made it rocket up the book charts in North and South America!

http://www.amazon.com/Open-Veins-Latin-America-Centuries/dp/0853459916

Check out some of the reviews on there, it can do it far better justice than I could hope to in my semi-intoxicated state.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I'm reading:

Species Being by Frere Dupont
Nihilist Communism by Monsieur Dupont
Intro to Civil War by French Hipsters
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Frederici
Endnotes 2
In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall

I would reccommend all of those so far, although the Goodall book is a primatology book.

y'know, I could never get into Introduction To Civil War (someone lent it to me at one point). I guess that the key to understand a lot of it is having a knowledge of Giorgio Agamben, which I didn't/don't.

[ʇsıɥɔɹɐuɐ ıɯɐbıɹo]

RED LONDON by Sterwart Home.

Damn.

[bricolage]

I guess that the key to understand a lot of it is having a knowledge of Giorgio Agamben, which I didn't/don't.
You know I actually have a copy of the coming community, I tried to read it once and it was just pure wank. I like hipster philosophy but this just crosses the line.

[Deniz Yildirim]

Sorry for the obvious suggestions but this book is a must read, Resurrection by Tolstoy (: