Liberty Books

Anyone who adocates capitalism, liberty, freedom, etc. should read these letters. They inspired the American Revolutionaries. They inspired me. I'm willing to bet that they'll inspire you.

Cato's Letters are a must have for any lover of liberty. They are filled with enough passion, wisdom, and wit to make them shining gems on any bookshelf. The philosophy expounded in these letters is that of radical liberty according to the laws of nature. It is made clear throughout that governments are the servants of people, not there masters. The only just role of government is to protect the life, liberty, and property of the governed, any other role being usurped and explicitly tyrannical. It was this radical philosophy that made Cato's Letters such a huge influence in America throughout the 18th century. Their influence on the Revolutionary generation is rivaled only by John Locke and his Second Treatise of Government. Above all, these letters are classics of reason and resistance. In my opinion, they are the best exposition of libertarian principles ever written.

If you are searching the source documents of the founding period to find what folks were saying about the role of government and this idea of "liberty", then this is a must have. Following the recent passage of the Patriot Act many citizens would be shocked about these wide rangeing essays concerning the value of liberty and the deligence by which the citizen must watch the workings of government(and institutions)to restrict this concept. This is a great edition and a great addition to a founding period library...both then and now.

This book reads more like oral history or narrative, than 'native american studies' as it says on the back cover. Margot Liberty has added just the right academic footnotes to explain and clarify, without getting in the way. There aren't any books by a Native and an anthropologist that I know of that are as enjoyable, entertaining, and informative as this one. It is the perfect accurate, objective, in-depth, real counterpoint to much of the cotton candy fluff one finds about native ways and history in the New Age, and the dead, ponderous, dry, over-intellectual tomes that usually come out an institution as prestigious as the Yale University Press. I have rarely learned so much, and enjoyed doing it. I could hardly put it down.

The Cheyenne was undoubtably one of the most remarkable tribes of the Great Plains. Now you can have a very convenient one volume tribal history of them by John Stands In Timber with the help of anthropologist Margot Liberty. Stands In Timber,an old time Cheyenne, in his whole life collected the memories of his elders about the history of their Nation and he succeeded in editing it to a narrative from the creation to the reservation times. The effort of the author is of a rare kind and the result is also a rare one: you can learn the history of a native nation from the inside.

John Stands in Timber is my daughter's great-grandfather on her father's side. I am purchasing this book to let her know the history she shares as a Northern Cheyenne and to show her how much her great-grandfather cared about his people. I have read the book previously and appreciated the sense of cultural awareness John portrayed through his words. It is a lesson for us all to remember where we came from and appreciate how we got where we are now. I would recommend reading this book, to learn the history of the people and to appreciate that he wasn't just a historian, but a father, a grandfather, and a great-grandfather and also a good person.

The American Constitution did not spring fully formed, Athena-like, from James Madison's fevered brow. It was the product of many men's ideas and experiences. It was also a link in a long chain of efforts by the political communities of North America to put down on parchment the proper relationship between government and citizen. In showing (to change the metaphor) the family tree of the U.S. Constitution, this book is an invaluable documentary resource for anyone attempting to understand the origins and meaning of our system's central document.

From the 'Articles, Laws, and Orders, Divine, Politic, and Martial for the Colony in Virginia' (1610) and the Mayflower Compact (1620), through to the Articles of Confederation (1777), Donald Lutz has assembled an impressive documentary history. But his intention isn't simply to catalogue old contracts. As he notes in his Preface, Lutz's goal is to show how the early Americans thought of themselves, how they began to knit themselves together as a people, and how certain critical concepts -- popular sovereignty, rule of law, a virtuous society -- were adopted as 'symbols' of an emerging American consciousness. In this regard, the 'Introductory Essay' is itself a valuable piece of work.

Both as an analysis and a collection of primary documents, this book deserves to be near at hand to any student of American constitutional history and practice.

Donald S. Lutz, professor of political science at the University of Houston, has long studied the colonial antecedents and development of American constitutionalism. In this fine documentary anthology, he presents the fullest collection of sources yet published to document the Americans' constitutional experiments from the 1630s through the 1770s. Many Americans forget that the time span between the first permanent English settlement in America and the declaration of American independence, (1607-1776, or 169 years), is the same length as the time span between independence and the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1776-1945). That long, contentious, and intellectually fruitful history deserves to be better known, and Lutz is eminently qualified to present and interpret it. This fine book is a worthy companion to his monographs POPULAR CONSENT AND POPULAR CONTROL (Louisiana State University Press, 1980), THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM (Louisiana State University Press, 1988), and A PREFACE TO AMERICAN POLITICAL THEORY (University Press of Kansas, 1991).

The book begins with an excellent and lucid analytical introduction and then presents the full texts, with informative headnotes, of eighty documents of American political foundation -- organized by individual state, with a final grouping devoted to "confederations." A fine brief bibliography of editions of colonial and state documents concludes the book. My only regret is that the volume lacks an index.

Finally, a word about the other review of this book. It is grotesquely antihistorical to claim that the United States is a Christian nation. To be sure, the vast majority of the settlers of the colonies founded in North America were Protestant Christians -- and most of the remainder were Roman Catholics. However, in Rhode Island and in Pennsylvania, the colony's founders and later governors carefully preserved religious liberty (under the label of toleration) for anyone "demeaning themselves peaceably." Furthermore, the generallly libertarian and enlightened members of the Revolutionary generation of Americans went beyond the model of a majority's toleration for a dissenting minority. In such states as Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New York, they embraced religious liberty to protect the church from the corrupting influence of the state, and the state from the corrupting influence of organized religion, and the individual human mind from the dangerous alliance between the two.

-- Richard B. Bernstein, Adjunct Professor of Law, New York Law School

Is America a Christian Nation? This book answers the question. It is not more arguments from each side pontificating about abstract principles. Instead in quick fashion this work presents the documentary history of colonial constitutional documents.

Each colony's basic documents are presented with only slight editorial introduction for historical context.

The reader will find that, yes, overwhelmingly, every colony whether "Catholic" or "Congregational" adhered to the orthodox creeds of the church universal and self consciously attempted however imperfectly to govern themeselves according to God's Holy Word the Bible.

Read it, and you will know one of two things: 1) that you either hate what America was and must confess you seek to rebuild it after your own image or 2) that you loved what America was and see how far it has fallen.

This should be required reading for every College Freshman or High School Senior.

These two authors are absolutly horrible. Their knowledge is clearly not clear. They did not put their time into this book. Although bugart does hit some good points about his experiances. Don't by this deficated material, it clearly is a pile of dung!

While I am not with an opinion I have dealt with Bill on www.seated/org/boards on numerous seated half dollar issues. This is a man who clearly know Liberty Seated Half Dollars inside and out. This book is not in print any longer and costs a lot of money when someone is willing to part with a copy. It is the only reference source you can find on Seated Half Dollars and well worth the investment, that is if you can find one!

This is an outstanding and authoritative numismatic reference. A must have for any serious half dollar specialist. It is certainly the best reference available for the Seated Liberty half dollar series. This book is part of the excellent "The Complete Guide To" series of books published by David Lawrence (DLRC Press). This book is the source of the Wiley-Bugert numbers (WB numbers) that are assigned to each major variety for each date and mint mark of the series. These Wiley-Bugert (WB) numbers are used by some coin grading services and are shown on the coin holders. The book has many, many outstanding photos (black & white). Every date and mint mark has it's own section of a page or two, together with at least one photo and many photos for the more interesting varieties. It is unfortunate that this excellent book is difficult to locate. If you can find a copy, but it.

This brief, pithy introduction to the debate among a-, pre- and postmillennialists does far more than simply rehash the standard arguments. It shows how the biblical teachings on the covenant are importantly related to eschatology (i.e., Christian doctrine concerning the future course of history). To outsiders, and perhaps even for some Christians, debate over eschatology may seem like the equivalent of arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but nothing could be further from the truth. The author says it best in his introduction: "How we view eschatology not only determines our view of history, it also determines our view of everyday life in the present age. What are we living for? What kinds of goals ought we as Christians to pursue? What is the ultimate meaning of our labor in history? To be specific, should we invest our time, money and labor in projects that may take over 100 years to complete, that require sophisticated knowledge and technical ability, and that 'preach the Gospel' in a far less direct manner than passing out tracts? Is the ultimate meaning of our historical labor simply found in the number of people that we win to Christ, or does educational, scientific, artistic, political, and industrial work have ultimate meaning for a Christian also? These and many other questions that touch our daily life find their answers in our eschatological beliefs. It is this connection with everyday life which makes the eschatological debate inescapable -- for without answers to future questions, we cannot know how we ought to serve God in the present . . . " Another point recommending this book is that the author tries to set out his hermeneutic (interpretative) principles clearly and to give a biblical justification for them. Finally, the gentlemanly tone is commendable. The author went through a major transition, from espousing dispensational premillennialism to a postmillennial covenant theology, and he takes pains to avoid any hint of ridicule or disdain for opposing viewpoints -- he's been there himself.

If anyone wants a good introduction to the debate on eschatology, written by a former dispensationalist fundamentalist, then this is the book to get. It is quite short, but still not trivial, by any means. This book will help you see the importance of eschatology in your practical everyday life.

This is for anyone who wants to read something simple but to-the-point on what the Bible has to say about how history ends. It looks at the issue from a profoundly Biblical point of view and shows why we can trust in the victory of the gospel on earth. No matter who you are, this book will benefit you.

Dr. H. Lee Cheek and St. Augustine's Press should be commended for making Calhoun's "Disquisition" available in an inexpensive edition that is ideal for students. The "Disquisition" is one of the most important and original contributions to American political thought. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand American history and government. Though there are other editions of Calhoun's treatise, the introduction by Cheek, who established himself as his generation's leading authority on the "Disquisition" with Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse, sets this one apart.

~A Disquisition on Government~ deserves a renewed hearing among students of political science. Calhoun's Disquisition was a profoundly reflective parcel of American political thought that typifies what historians characterize as the South Atlantic Republicanism. Calhoun's concept of concurrent majorities and his understanding of the American federal system are deeply reflective. This masterful work was part of a reactionary imperative against the consolidating tendencies of the Jacksonian era. Britain had its Burke. America had its Calhoun.

As Lee Cheek notes, "In articulating the inherited understanding of properly constituted popular rule for his political situation, Calhoun may be called the last of the Founders." Undoubtedly, if we are to ever initiate a meaningful renaissance of federalism and implement needed constitutional reforms within the United States, such a move necessitates the revival of the statesmanship of John Calhoun. So, Dr. Cheek's books are a good place to start.

In the years ahead, as political science advances, and the judgment of history takes hold against the American slip into consolidation, Calhoun will likely receive a renewed hearing. H.L. Cheek, Jr. is to be commended for his scholarship on Calhoun's ideas. Invigorating the body politic entails the rediscovery and subsequent application of Calhoun's statesmanship. Apart from Calhoun's own books, Cheek's scholarship is definitive on the subject.

I highly recommend reading this book in tandem with _Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse_ by H.L. Cheek, Jr. as well. It is one of the most erudite and illuminating books on the mind of one John C. Calhoun. You can also find his online article, "Calhoun, Sectional Conflict, and Modern America," through the Journal of Libertarian Studies, which is affiliated with the Mises Institute.

John C. Calhoun's _A Disquisition on Government_ is a virtually unanswerable response to social compact theory. American political philosophy in the Early Republic vacillated between Lockean theories such as the one found in the Declaration of Independence and historical accounts such as in Richard Bland's 1766 "An Inquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies" and Thomas Jefferson's 1774 "A Summary View of the Rights of British America." What Calhoun does in this book is to demonstrate that the Lockean position is ultimately insupportable, because there never was a state of nature, a newborn is not "equal" to his parents at birth but subject to them, etc. For Calhoun, as for Bland and Jefferson (1774), history is the only legitimate guide to the nature of our rights and the proper limitations on the powers of government. Calhoun considers all of these issues in the clear, cogent prose for which he was famous in his day. Not for nothing is he known, along with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, as one of America's few great philosopher-statesmen.

Readers of this edition of Calhoun's classic work will have the benefit of a new introduction by noted Calhoun scholar H. Lee Cheek, Jr. Dr. Cheek's book on Calhoun's two great works of political philosophy and history has set the standard for a new generation, and he does a fine job here of contextualizing the _Disquisition_ and explaining its significance -- both in its own day and in ours. This is the best edition of the _Disquisition_ available.

Having been involved with exporting companies and foreign licenses in the past, I knew just the book to recomend when my daughter asked me for the best source for "how to" information on exporting, including government assistance and financial support. I sent her my copy of Exporting from Start to Finance which several of my associates use for reference and for teaching new staff. She tells me it was just what she was looking for. Richard Gould

The ordinary person would not think that the business and professional man in the State of Idaho has much need for foreign export/import information. That is not the case and the WELLS/DULAT book on EXPORTIONG FROM START TO FINANCE was just the ticket for many of us. The practical approach, examples and forms in the book were invaluable to us. It is great to have a readable book by someone who is in the business and who knows what they are talking about.

There are plenty of books which are overviews of exporting. THis book gives details of export paperwork, contracts, samples of exporter representation agreements between exporters and manufacturers/suppliers and all the nuts and bolts of exporting in detailed form. If you don't get this book for your business you are crazy. All acronyms, strategies, problems are discussed in details. Especially good for home-based exporters who wants to succeed quickly without all the learning disasters.

Amie Crouch uses her expertise in feng-shui and organization to help teenagers through the hardest time in life and she manages to do so without talking down to teens. It's refreshing to see a book for teens that helps them sort through their feelings and gives them tools and advice that they can implement right now--in their very own room. In a world where kids are bombarded with celebrity nonsense, trashy tabloid headlines, and a silly image of what beauty and happiness is, it's nice to see books like this geared toward them. We need more books for teens to help them through this tough time that seems to only get tougher with each generation and teach them how to find peace in their life and be happy with themselves. This book is a great start.

I am a 17 year old teenager getting ready for college. This workbook helped me to organize, prepare, and realize my potential to be able to do anything in High School, I set my mind to do. Every teenager should have a copy to work with their home and school environment so things don't become so stressful.

Amie takes you step by step in a fun and interactive way through the process of keeping your space balanced. She keeps her ideas and projects simple and easy to accomplish in a short amount of time,so you can see fast results!

I'm the author of "Starting Your Journey of Holistic Health" and I highly recommend this book for teens interested in balancing their space for maximum success!

Amie, I can't wait for the "grown-up" version!

I am surprised by the small number of reviews on this book, given that it is one of Rothbard's most famous. At any rate, I have nothing but praise for this wonderful work. It is a consistent application and amalgamation of economics and ethics by one of the Austrian School's most prolific and creative thinkers, Murray Rothbard. In it, the author does not waste much time on matters of interest to economists and economists alone. Rather, this work is addressed to a wider audience (hence it is a manifesto), and in it the author writes on topics such as the gold standard, business cycles (the author presents a simplified rendition of the Austrian business cycle theory), property rights and environmentalism (Coase's is the most famous of economic texts on property rights; Rothbard provides an alternative viewpoint, which, while similar in its conclusions to Coase's, is more robust.) One may also expect a thorough treatment of "public" goods such as education, healthcare, legal services and so on. Rothbard wonderfully illustrates the extent to which government intervention has distorted the workings of the market, and how various "public" goods may be provided by the latter. His inclusion of studies on medieval Ireland's legal system is even better than that of medieval Iceland in Friedman Jr's work. Perhaps what I considered the best part of the book though was Rothbard's analysis of taxation, something about which we receive very little formation at university, even on undergraduate economics courses. Rothbard is a scholarly thinker, and as such makes his case both via the meticulous use of empirical and theoretical sources. For anyone with an interest in political economy, this book is essential reading.

This book articulates what all Austrian economics has clarified, extended to our situations with big government. It is a necessity for all Austro-libertarians.

Detractors might argue that governments are caring and not-for-profit. They are also the same people who do not understand an iota what is "profit". For what is profit, if not the satisfaction of consumers? The greater the profits, the greater the satisfaction of the consumers. There is no hiding from this grand and simple economic truth. Let there be profits for all, and governance for none.

So there is only one way to tell if we are real Libertarians. This is the book. This book is not radical except to those who are kaffeeklatch Libertarians. As we read this book it clarifies what we were already thinking. It is just nice to see it organized and spoken about. Normally we do not mark up good books but in this case if our high liter does not go dry, we missed something.

One of my favorites is:
As we have seen, police service is not "free"; it is paid for by the taxpayer, and the taxpayer is very often the poor person himself. He may vary well be paying more in taxes for police now then he would in fees to privet, and far more efficient, police companies.
Well if we made it through the book, we are the real things.

If not you still have a chance to be radical and confuse everyone with "The Capitalist Manifesto" by Louis O. Kelso. If you can't find it, then "Democracy and Economic Power: Extending the Esop Revolution Through Binary Economics"

The Capitalist Manifesto

This is a monumental work, which I think is a must have for student of jurisprudence and constitutional law. I found it incredibly useful as a law student in studying the debates and understanding developments in the common law tradition and constitutional history since the inception of the Republic. It is well organized, and though their is some duplication of materials, it serves the purpose of making the reference more accessible and user-friendly rather than having a cross-referencing scheme. Perhaps, the other user might be right in pointing out that the CD-ROM might be better suited for some users. I have an affinity for the printed matter and the organization makes things relatively easy to find. Though, it is available online for free.

The Title is The Founder's Constitution. I have Vol. 1, Major Themes. 700 pages, about the size of a telephone book. Good heavy paper, very readable type, excellent organization and presentation. But how to give a sense of it? It starts with A Reader's Advisory: "This collection of thoughts, opinions, and arguments of the Founders...." And that is exactly what it is. I think the latest item is Geo. Washington's farewell speech in 1796. It includes letters, debates, broadsides, underpinnings (e.g., a bit of John Locke), reports from towns that debated, and so on. The compleat usual cast of characters is present, but also everyone else who spoke or wrote on it intelligently - and passionately. This is not about the writing of the Constitution; for that there is Madison's Notes (ISBN 0-393-30405-1). This book is a record of the debate that made it our Constitution. Not "about" it, but the debate itself, the entries mostly from the 1700s, but including some relevant earlier commentary. Idiosyncratic spelling and expression is preserved.

That's what the book is. The experience of the book is something else. It is nothing less than an encounter with the American mind of the 1700s, on matters that they understood better than we were of the greatest moment. By encounter I do not mean mere meeting as if in a modern classroom with texts and a professor, or as when one reads a single document or history book. Rather, one enters the immediacy of the debate and hears their voices as if spoken directly to the reader himself. And, of course, in a sense they were.

It is also an amazing record of the quality of that mind, its sheer intelligence, and its responsible, ethical, and moral engagement with the constitution itself and all the issues that swirled around it.

It has to said: we modern readers do not fare well at all in comparison. But one feels total pride of association with a community, a nation, capable of such quality of thought and discussion.

As a source, the book is literally priceless, a collection of libraries in one volume.

But it also has to be said that the style of 1700s America is not our style: it's a hard read, perhaps best read and savored over years.

This 5-volume set is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the historical context of the U.S. Constitution. The editors have divided the Constitution up clause by clause. For each section they provide primary, explanatory materials such as letters, records of debates, and early case law. These resources reveal what the writers of the Constitution intended with the language they chose and how that langauge was orginally interpreted. The editors also provide interesting materials on early English law, showing the legal backdrop the Founders worked against.

For example, I found interesting the books' treatment of the second amendment's protection of weapons ownership. The volume provides the early English history of gun control, debates from the Constitutional convention on the proper role for militias, and reports from the earliest litigation on the right to carry concealed weapons.

The wisdom of our Founding Fathers -- collected in these five volumes -- helps inform modern debates on the many subjects that have roots in the words of the Constitution. Highly recommended.