I typically go through between twenty to thirty books a year, and heavily supplement them with internet discussions and reading. Below are the books I read or listened to in full in 2023, and why you may find them interesting. Click on the covers to go their respective purchase or pdf pages. Some are not available for purchase as ebooks, or are absurdly overpriced. They can be found for free on
“it’s been a never-ending source of amusement how a guy who I first came across on Salo Forum in 2011 is now a well-known political writer” lol I was only a kid during the golden age of Salo but what a place it must have been; you, BAP, Nic, T777, etc...the day it went down was a sad one indeed.
I was underwhelmed, as I'd had it referenced by many brilliant recent articles. Many of his errors seem to be from being a True Believer (Eric Hoffer-style) who still believed in most of the tenets of Marxism, other than the belief that it could ever exist in the real world. For example, he predicts total state control of economies by the early '60s. He also still believes that the only relevant aspect of power is controlling the means of production.
My biggest issue is that he claims MR is totally different from Capitalism, that it is replacing it. Yet it only seems like a minor variation of Capitalism, with most essential elements still existing. Crony Capitalism could be seen as a replacement of Capitalism, as it destroys some definitional elements of it, as an example of replacement.
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"Empires of the Silk Road" by Beckwith
Destroys many of the common misconceptions of steppe societies. They had agriculture in the areas where it could be practiced, for example. Including large cities in some areas. They were mostly traders, only raiding when climate change or nearby sedentary mega-civs like China tried to restrict trade of its peripheries. Which restricted their ability to trade for food (reminded me of how the relationships between the Apache and Navajo changed from trade to raid when the Spanish extracted all surplus from the Navajo.)
Related, they weren't much of a threat to neighboring agricultural nations, unlike the belief that they ran around sacking cities and destroying civilizations willy-nilly. They were pretty much unbeatable when large swathes of territory could only be productive with pastoralism, but if climate or technology allowed for farming of large contiguous areas they were easily pushed out. This process continues to this day in the most arid regions of Central Asia.
Thanks for the reading list and hope you have a good Christmas! Really interested in the Abbasid Caliphate which should go quite nicely with Tim Mackintosh Smith’s Arabs which I picked up over the holidays.
IMO you should read the Kaldellis (any work of his), Halsall's Worlds of Arthur (I think you've probably read his "Barbarian migrations and the Roman West") and the various Oxford Histories of Wales:
The Outlaws by Ernst von Salomon- memoir of a German Freikorps partisan who was 16 at the end of WWI and fought in Berlin, Estonia, and Silesia before being implicated in a plot to assassinate the Weimar foreign minister and imprisoned in 1923. Interesting account of the times, semi-Jungerian depiction of battle. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is a look into the psychology of imprisonment.
The Iliad- never read all the way through in school unfortunately, finally got around to it. No explanation needed.
Millenium by Marty Philips- recent work of dissident fiction by a favorite of mine, a collection of short stories, some fantastical, some realistic encapsulating the white male millennial experience. All very well written.
National Socialism: its Philosophy and Principles by Carlos Videla- relatively short but extremely concise and well sourced book breaking down the philosophical worldview of the National Socialists. Must read for pretty much anyone who deigns to talk about them. It does well at cutting through the mire of misinformation and mischaracterization of Nazi philosophy that both supporters and detractors are wont to engage in. Outlines the biological, Nietzschian, and anti-metaphysics/anti-materialist aspects of the worldview especially well.
After Tamerlane: the rise and fall of global empires 1500-2000 by John Darwin- ambitious but readable work that draws on many sources to illustrate the evolution of global connectedness and economic exchange since the fall or Tamerlane’s great Eurasian empire.
Capitalism: a short history by Jürgen Kocka- exactly what it sounds like, goes over the history of capital and capitalism in an academic but not too dry manner, also outlines various historical theories of capitalism and how they bear out, from Weber, Marx, Schumpeter, etc.
T.R. The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands- long biography of Theodore Roosevelt, cements my regard for him as my favorite American president. A man of flaws but also of deep conviction and incredible drive. I doubt we will ever see another figure like him in America again.
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima- first in Mishima’s Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Very elegant style, Mishima has a gift for ambience and describing the inner life of characters, writing the way people overthink in a very readable way.
Great book list, I suspect I'll be pulling a few volumes from here to populate my own to-read pile.
As far as books in this mold I've read this year, I've got:
A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830, T.C. Smout - published in 1969, still one of the best social histories I've ever read. Makes a pretty clear case that Scotland's uniquely Calvinist religious culture set the nation up for her effervescent flowering in the 18th and 19th centuries. The author's socialist leanings come through on occasion, but he's professional enough to never let it taint his presentation of the evidence. Full of fun anecdotes. 9/10
The West Highland Galley, Dennis Rixson - a book all about the birlinn, a local variation on the longship. Consists of a historical narrative and a review of the primary source evidence. Argues that the Hebrides and Western Highlands were doomed to irrelevance after the Norwegians were driven from the region. Great resource, although not the most riveting writing. 7/10
Christendom, Peter Heather - overview of the evolution of western Christianity from 300 to 1300. Combines a strongly revisionist position with poor arguments and often baffling citations. Might spark interest in other aspects of a criminally overlooked period of time for the curious. I wouldn't even recommend it to an enemy of the faith. 3/10
The Normans, Judith A. Green - focusing in mainly on the 11th century, when the Normans were at their most impactful. The author spends most of the book trying to explain how one of the most spectacularly successful peoples of the medieval period were actually not all that special and failing. Professionally written; dense usage of documentary evidence in particular might deter the casual reader. 6/10
This one is fiction but maybe my favourite book of 2023; Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. Marlantes was a junior officer who did a couple tours in Vietnam and spent around 30 years writing this based on his experiences.
Non-fiction: The Persian Expedition by Xenophon, Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts, End Times by Peter Turchin, Enough Already by Scott Horton, The Doomsday Machine by Daniel Ellsberg, A Savage War of Peace by Alistair Horne.
“it’s been a never-ending source of amusement how a guy who I first came across on Salo Forum in 2011 is now a well-known political writer” lol I was only a kid during the golden age of Salo but what a place it must have been; you, BAP, Nic, T777, etc...the day it went down was a sad one indeed.
This is like the nerdiest (in best way) year end reading lists. Few books I’ve heard of, but almost all I now want to read. Thank you so much.
What a weighty gift! Thank you for this reading list.
"The Managerial Revolution" by James Burnham.
I was underwhelmed, as I'd had it referenced by many brilliant recent articles. Many of his errors seem to be from being a True Believer (Eric Hoffer-style) who still believed in most of the tenets of Marxism, other than the belief that it could ever exist in the real world. For example, he predicts total state control of economies by the early '60s. He also still believes that the only relevant aspect of power is controlling the means of production.
My biggest issue is that he claims MR is totally different from Capitalism, that it is replacing it. Yet it only seems like a minor variation of Capitalism, with most essential elements still existing. Crony Capitalism could be seen as a replacement of Capitalism, as it destroys some definitional elements of it, as an example of replacement.
=
"Empires of the Silk Road" by Beckwith
Destroys many of the common misconceptions of steppe societies. They had agriculture in the areas where it could be practiced, for example. Including large cities in some areas. They were mostly traders, only raiding when climate change or nearby sedentary mega-civs like China tried to restrict trade of its peripheries. Which restricted their ability to trade for food (reminded me of how the relationships between the Apache and Navajo changed from trade to raid when the Spanish extracted all surplus from the Navajo.)
Related, they weren't much of a threat to neighboring agricultural nations, unlike the belief that they ran around sacking cities and destroying civilizations willy-nilly. They were pretty much unbeatable when large swathes of territory could only be productive with pastoralism, but if climate or technology allowed for farming of large contiguous areas they were easily pushed out. This process continues to this day in the most arid regions of Central Asia.
I want to hear more about the Salo Forum. Many have referenced it but no one has described it in any detail.
this is wonderful, have you compiled other reading lists here or elsewhere?
Great list. Life is very short compared to the pile of books, actual or potential, which confronts us!
Thanks for the reading list and hope you have a good Christmas! Really interested in the Abbasid Caliphate which should go quite nicely with Tim Mackintosh Smith’s Arabs which I picked up over the holidays.
IMO you should read the Kaldellis (any work of his), Halsall's Worlds of Arthur (I think you've probably read his "Barbarian migrations and the Roman West") and the various Oxford Histories of Wales:
https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/h/history-of-wales-hw/?cc=us&lang=en&
as well as Peter Heather's "Christendom".
The Outlaws by Ernst von Salomon- memoir of a German Freikorps partisan who was 16 at the end of WWI and fought in Berlin, Estonia, and Silesia before being implicated in a plot to assassinate the Weimar foreign minister and imprisoned in 1923. Interesting account of the times, semi-Jungerian depiction of battle. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is a look into the psychology of imprisonment.
The Iliad- never read all the way through in school unfortunately, finally got around to it. No explanation needed.
Millenium by Marty Philips- recent work of dissident fiction by a favorite of mine, a collection of short stories, some fantastical, some realistic encapsulating the white male millennial experience. All very well written.
National Socialism: its Philosophy and Principles by Carlos Videla- relatively short but extremely concise and well sourced book breaking down the philosophical worldview of the National Socialists. Must read for pretty much anyone who deigns to talk about them. It does well at cutting through the mire of misinformation and mischaracterization of Nazi philosophy that both supporters and detractors are wont to engage in. Outlines the biological, Nietzschian, and anti-metaphysics/anti-materialist aspects of the worldview especially well.
After Tamerlane: the rise and fall of global empires 1500-2000 by John Darwin- ambitious but readable work that draws on many sources to illustrate the evolution of global connectedness and economic exchange since the fall or Tamerlane’s great Eurasian empire.
Capitalism: a short history by Jürgen Kocka- exactly what it sounds like, goes over the history of capital and capitalism in an academic but not too dry manner, also outlines various historical theories of capitalism and how they bear out, from Weber, Marx, Schumpeter, etc.
T.R. The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands- long biography of Theodore Roosevelt, cements my regard for him as my favorite American president. A man of flaws but also of deep conviction and incredible drive. I doubt we will ever see another figure like him in America again.
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima- first in Mishima’s Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Very elegant style, Mishima has a gift for ambience and describing the inner life of characters, writing the way people overthink in a very readable way.
Great book list, I suspect I'll be pulling a few volumes from here to populate my own to-read pile.
As far as books in this mold I've read this year, I've got:
A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830, T.C. Smout - published in 1969, still one of the best social histories I've ever read. Makes a pretty clear case that Scotland's uniquely Calvinist religious culture set the nation up for her effervescent flowering in the 18th and 19th centuries. The author's socialist leanings come through on occasion, but he's professional enough to never let it taint his presentation of the evidence. Full of fun anecdotes. 9/10
The West Highland Galley, Dennis Rixson - a book all about the birlinn, a local variation on the longship. Consists of a historical narrative and a review of the primary source evidence. Argues that the Hebrides and Western Highlands were doomed to irrelevance after the Norwegians were driven from the region. Great resource, although not the most riveting writing. 7/10
Christendom, Peter Heather - overview of the evolution of western Christianity from 300 to 1300. Combines a strongly revisionist position with poor arguments and often baffling citations. Might spark interest in other aspects of a criminally overlooked period of time for the curious. I wouldn't even recommend it to an enemy of the faith. 3/10
The Normans, Judith A. Green - focusing in mainly on the 11th century, when the Normans were at their most impactful. The author spends most of the book trying to explain how one of the most spectacularly successful peoples of the medieval period were actually not all that special and failing. Professionally written; dense usage of documentary evidence in particular might deter the casual reader. 6/10
This one is fiction but maybe my favourite book of 2023; Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. Marlantes was a junior officer who did a couple tours in Vietnam and spent around 30 years writing this based on his experiences.
Non-fiction: The Persian Expedition by Xenophon, Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts, End Times by Peter Turchin, Enough Already by Scott Horton, The Doomsday Machine by Daniel Ellsberg, A Savage War of Peace by Alistair Horne.
PS, I also read Torch (thank you for that!)