The books that influenced Friedrich Hayek:

1. (tie) Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics. HTML version here. PDF version here.

1. (tie) Carl Menger’s Investigation into the Method of the Social Sciences. PDF version here.

2. Ernst Mach, The Analysis of Sensations. Google Books version here.

3. Walther Rathenau’s The New Society. Google Books version here.

4. Friedrich von Wieser, Natural Value. Google Books version here.

5. Ludwig von Mises, The Theory of Money and Credit. HTML version here. PDF version here. Epub version here.

6. Knut Wicksell, Interest and Prices. Google Books version here.

7. Ludwig von Mises, Socialism. HTML version here. PDF version here. Epub version here.

8. R. S. Peters, The Concept of Motivation. Google Books version here.

9. Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital. HTML version here. Google Books version here.

10. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Project Gutenberg editions.

11. Alexis de Tocqueville, Complete Works and Democracy in America. Google Books version of D in A here.

12. Lord Acton, The History of Freedom and Lectures on Modern History. Google Books version of H of F here.

13. Ludwig von Mises, Interventionism. HTML version here. PDF version here.

14. Frank Knight, Risk, Uncertainty & Profit. Google Books version here.

15. Karl Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery.

16. Hugo de Vries, Mutation Theory and Species and Varieties. Epub version of MT here. Epub version of S & V here.

17. Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society. HTML version here. Google Books version here.

18. Oskar Lange & F. M. Taylor, On the Economic Theory of Socialism.

19. John Maynard Keynes, Treatise on Money.

20. G. de Ruggiero, The History of European Liberalism.

21. Joseph Schumpeter, The Nature and Essence of Theoretical Economics.

I’ll revise and add more later. Over time, I’ll also post individually on each book, explaining its place in this list of books that influenced F. A. Hayek.

Your own suggestions and criticism would be appreciated — add your own contributions in the comments section.

UPDATE: Peter Boettke suggests adding Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory, Olson’s Logic of Collective Action, and Rawl’s essays which eventually led to A Theory of Justice.

Here are a few more that should be on the list:

— A. V. Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. HTML version here.

— David Hume, Essays and A Treatise on Human Nature.

— Edmund Burke, Works Vol. 1 & 2.

— Johann von Goethe, Faust and The Sorrows of Young Werther.

— Ludwig Feuerbach, Works. HTML editions here.

What else?