The Best Anarchist, Communist, & Socialist Books

2. The Conquest of Bread By Peter Kropotkin | Used Price: 80% Off The Conquest of Bread is Peter Kropotkin's most detailed description of the ideal society, embodying anarchist communism, and of the social revolution that was to achieve it. Marshall Shatz's introduction to this edition traces Kropotkin's evolution as an anarchist, from his origins in the Russian aristocracy to his ... More »

3. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution By Peter Kropotkin | Used Price: 50% Off In this cornerstone of modern liberal social theory, Peter Kropotkin states that the most effective human and animal communities are essentially cooperative, rather than competitive. Kropotkin based this classic on his observations of natural phenomena and history, forming a work of stunning and well-reasoned scholarship. Essential to the ... More »

4. How to Change the World: Reflections on Marx and Marxism By Eric Hobsbawm | Used Price: 50% Off In the 144 years since Karl Marx's Das Kapital was published, the doctrine that bears his name has been embraced by millions in the name of equality, and just as dramatically has fallen from grace with the retreat of communism from the western world. But as the free ... More »

5. Roads to Freedom By Bertrand Russell "Roads to Freedom" is a fascinating glimpse of progressive intellectual politics at the turn of the twentieth century. Written at the end of the first world war in the midst of great and rapid world change, the book is an historical analysis and criticism of Socialism, Anarchism and ... More »

6. Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity, and Meaningful Work and Play By James Scott James Scott taught us what's wrong with seeing like a state. Now, in his most accessible and personal book to date, the acclaimed social scientist makes the case for seeing like an anarchist. Inspired by the core anarchist faith in the possibilities of voluntary ... More »

7. Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism By Richard D. Wolff | Used Price: 50% Off "Richard Wolff is the leading socialist economist in the country. This book is required reading for anyone concerned about a fundamental transformation of the ailing capitalist economy."Â—Cornel WestÂ“Richard Wolffâ€™s constructive and innovative ideas suggest new and promising foundations for a much more authentic democracy and sustainable and equitable ... More »

8. Government in the Future By Noam Chomsky In this classic talk delivered at the Poetry Center, New York, on February 16, 1970, Noam Chomsky articulates a clear, uncompromising vision of social change. Chomsky contrasts the classical liberal, libertarian socialist, state socialist, and state capitalist world views and then defends a libertarian socialist vision as "the ... More »

9. Capital By Karl Marx | Used Price: 70% Off A landmark work in the understanding of capitalism, bourgeois society and the economics of class conflict, Karl Marx's Capital is translated by Ben Fowkes with an introduction by Ernest Mandel in Penguin Classics. One of the most notorious works of modern times, as well as one ... More »

10. Statism and Anarchy By Michael Bakunin Statism and Anarchy is a complete English translation of the last work by the great Russian anarchist Michael Bakunin. It was written in 1873, in the aftermath of the rise of the German Empire and the clash between Bakunin and Karl Marx in the first International. ... More »

11. The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe's Twentieth Century By Sheri Berman | Used Price: 60% Off Political history in the industrial world has indeed ended, argues this pioneering study, but the winner has been social democracy - an ideology and political movement that has been as influential as it has been misunderstood. Berman looks at the history of social democracy from its origins in ... More »

12. The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger By Richard G. Wilkinson; Kate Pickett | 60% Off It is a well-established fact that in rich societies the poor have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. The Spirit Level, based on thirty years of research, takes this truth a step further. One common factor links the healthiest and happiest societies: the degree ... More »

13. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time By Karl Polanyi | Used Price: 50% Off In Polanyi's classic work of economic history and sociology, he examines societal changes since the Industrial Revolution and expertly explains the inadequacies of the free market. Published in 1944, it is as relevant as today as ever, with Harvard Professor Stephen Walt recommending it in his Top 10 ... More »

14. One-Dimensional Man By Herbert Marcuse | Used Price: 70% Off Originally published in 1964, One-Dimensional Man quickly became one of the most important texts in the ensuing decade of radical political change. This second edition, newly introduced by Marcuse scholar Douglas Kellner, presents Marcuse's best-selling work to another generation of readers in the context of contemporary events. More »

15. The Motorcycle Diaries By Ernesto Che Guevara | Used Price: 70% Off Â The book of the popular movie STARRING GAEL GARCIA BERNAL NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Â The young Che Guevaraâ€™s lively and highly entertaining travel diary, ... More »

16. Why Not Socialism? By G. A. Cohen | Used Price: 60% Off Is socialism desirable? Is it even possible? In this concise book, one of the world's leading political philosophers presents with clarity and wit a compelling moral case for socialism and argues that the obstacles in its way are exaggerated. There ... More »

17. Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized Society By Paul Goodman | Used Price: 70% Off Paul Goodmanâ€™s Growing Up Absurd was a runaway best seller when it was first published in 1960, and it became one of the defining texts of the New Left. Goodman was a writer and thinker who broke every mold and did it brilliantlyâ€”he was a novelist, poet, and ... More »

18. The Society of the Spectacle By Guy Debord | Used Price: 50% Off The Das Kapital of the 20th century. An essential text, and the main theoretical work of the situationists. Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960's up to the present, the volatile theses of ... More »

19. Homage to Catalonia By George Orwell | Used Price: 70% Off 'Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it'. Thus wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he ... More »

20. Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism By David Harvey "What I am seeking here is a better understanding of the contradictions of capital, not of capitalism. I want to know how the economic engine of capitalism works the way it does, and why it might stutter and stall and sometimes appear to be on the verge of ... More »

21. What Then Must We Do? By Gar Alperovitz | Used Price: 50% Off Never before have so many Americans been more frustrated with our economic system, more fearful that it is failing, or more open to fresh ideas about a new one. The seeds of a new movement demanding change are forming. But just what is this thing called a new ... More »

22. Selections from the Prison Notebooks By Antonio Gramsci | Used Price: 60% Off The Prison Notebooks (Quaderni del carcere) were a series of notebooks written by the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci was imprisoned by the Italian Fascist regime in 1926. The notebooks were written between 1929 and 1935, when Gramsci ... More »

23. The Revolution of Everyday Life By Raoul Vaneigem One of the most important exponents of Situationist ideas, this treatise presents an impassioned critique of modern capitalism and serves as a cornerstone of modern radical thought. Originally published in early 1968, the book both kindled and colored the May 1968 upheavals in ... More »

24. The Wretched of the Earth By Frantz Fanon; Jean-Paul Sartre | 50% Off A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and racial difference in history. Fanonâ€™s masterwork is a classic alongside Edward Saidâ€™s Orientalism or The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and it ... More »

25. The Making of the English Working Class By E. P. Thompson | Used Price: 60% Off This book transformed our understanding of English social history. Thompson revealed how working class people were not merely victims of history, moved by powerful forces outside of themselves, but were also active in creating their own culture and future, during the degradation of the industrial revolution. More »

26. The Economics of Feasible Socialism By Alec Nove | Used Price: 90% Off This is a path-breaking book. Characteristically readable, controversial and full of insights, Nove identifies a workable socialist programme, achievable in the lifetime of a child born today, that avoids far-fetched or utopian assumptions. This text has been immensely influential in the West, and is available in translation ... More »

29. The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy By Murray Bookchin "The very notion of the domination of nature by man stems from the very real domination of human by human." With this succinct formulation, Murray Bookchin launches his most ambitious work, The Ecology of Freedom. An engaging and extremely readable book of breathtaking scope, its inspired synthesis of ... More »

30. Main Currents of Marxism: The Founders - The Golden Age - The Breakdown By Leszek Kolakowski | Used Price: 60% Off Leszek Kolakowskiâ€™s masterpiece, one of the twentieth centuryâ€™s most important booksâ€”for the first time in a one-volume paperback. Renowned philosopher Leszek Kolakowski was one of the first scholars to reveal both the shortcomings and the dangers posed by communist regimes. He now presents, for the first time in ... More »

31. The Nordic Model of Social Democracy By Nik Brandal; Oivind Bratberg; Dag Einar Thorsen Since the late 1920s, social democracy has been preeminent in the politics of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, through dominant parties and ideological hegemony of the center-left. The Nordic Model of Social Democracy relates the concept of the Nordic model to the guiding role of social democratic ideology in ... More »

32. The Soul at Work: From Alienation to Autonomy By Franco 'bifo' Berardi We can reach every point in the world but, more importantly, we can be reached from any point in the world. Privacy and its possibilities are abolished. ... More »

33. The Anarchists By James Joll James Joll's comprehensive book introduces the reader to the personalities, theories and practical politics of the anarchist movement throughout its history. In the first part the author discusses the early precursors of anarchism and in Part Two he presents the full spectrum of anarchist activity in many countries ... More »

34. The State and Revolution By Vladimir Lenin | Used Price: 70% Off In July 1917, when the Provisional Government issued a warrant for his arrest, Lenin fled from Petrograd; later that year, The October Revolution swept him to supreme power. In the short intervening period he spent in Finland, he wrote his impassioned, never-completed master work on The State and ... More »

35. Anarcho-Syndicalism By Rudolf Rocker | Used Price: 50% Off In 1937, at the behest of Emma Goldman, Rocker penned this political and philosophical masterpiece as an introduction to the ideals fueling the Spanish social revolution and resistance to capitalism the world over. Within, Rocker offers an introduction to anarchist ideas, a history of the international workersâ€™ movement, ... More »

36. Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation By Silvia Federici Literary Nonfiction. CALIBAN AND THE WITCH is a history of the body in the transition to capitalism. Moving from the peasant revolts of the late Middle Ages to the witch-hunts and the rise of mechanical philosophy, Federici investigates the capitalist rationalization of social reproduction. She shows how the ... More »

37. Considerations on Western Marxism By Perry Anderson | Used Price: 70% Off "A splendid essay on intellectual history ... an elegant and accute, brilliantly laconic and deeply felt survey." -- Eric Hobsbawm More »

38. Anarchy in Action By Colin Ward | Used Price: 50% Off With chapters on the family, topless federations, schools, housing, crime, employment, welfare, deviancy, planning, and more, this is probably the best practical example of anarchist ideas in action. As he writes in his introduction "This book is not intended for people who had spent a lifetime pondering the ... More »

39. Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology By David Graeber | Used Price: 60% Off Everywhere anarchism is on the upswing as a political philosophyâ€”everywhere, that is, except the academy. Anarchists repeatedly appeal to anthropologists for ideas about how society might be reorganized on a more egalitarian, less alienating basis. Anthropologists, terrified of being accused of romanticism, respond with silence . . . ... More »

40. The Power Elite By C. Wright Mills | Used Price: 70% Off First published in 1956, The Power Elite stands as a contemporary classic of social science and social criticism. C. Wright Mills examines and critiques the organization of power in the United States, calling attention to three firmly interlocked prongs of power: the military, corporate, and political elite. The ... More »

42. Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century By Harry Braverman This widely acclaimed book, first published in 1974, was a classic from its first day in print. Written in a direct, inviting way by Harry Braverman, whose years as an industrial worker gave him rich personal insight into work, Labor and Monopoly Capital overturned the reigning ideologies of ... More »

43. To the Finland Station By Edmund Wilson | Used Price: 80% Off One of the great works of modern historical writing, the classic account of the ideas, people, and politics that led to the Bolshevik RevolutionEdmund Wilsonâ€™s To the Finland Station is intellectual history on a grand scale, full of romance, idealism, intrigue, and conspiracy, that traces the revolutionary ideas ... More »

45. Workers' Councils By Anton Pannekoek | Used Price: 50% Off Contemporaries across the spectrum of Left thought, from Antonio Negri to Noam Chomsky, are falling over each other to claim the mantle of Left Communism. Left Communism is the theory and practice of worker control and self-organization whose adherents provided the main opposition to the Bolsheviks. Rarely printed, ... More »

46. The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution By Christopher Hill | Used Price: 70% Off Within the English revolution of the mid-seventeenth century which resulted in the triumph of the protestant ethic - the ideology of the propertied class - there threatened another, quite different, revolution. Its success 'might have established communal property, a far wider democracy in political and legal institutions, might ... More »

47. Anarchism: From Theory to Practice By Daniel Guerin; Noam Chomsky | 80% Off Anarchism: From Theory to Practice is a book by Daniel GuÃ©rin, termed a "definitional tract in the 'ABCs' of anarchism". First published in 1970, it is GuÃ©rin's most well-known work, and was ... More »

48. Parecon: Life After Capitalism By Michael Albert | Under $1.00 â€˜What do you want?â€™ is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation and degradation. In this highly praised new work, destined to attract worldwide attention and support, Michael Albert provides an answer: Participatory Economics, â€˜Pareconâ€™ for short, a new economy, an alternative ... More »

49. The Origins of Totalitarianism By Hannah Arendt | Used Price: 60% Off Hannah Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism and an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history Â The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to ... More »

50. Reading Capital By Louis Althusser; Etienne Balibar; Roger Establet Establishing a rigorous program of â€œsymptomatic readingâ€Â that cuts through the silences and lacunae of Capital to reveal its philosophical core, Louis Althusser interprets Marxâ€™s structural analysis of production as a revolutionary breakâ€”the basis of a completely new science. Building on a series of Althussersâ€™s conceptual innovations that ... More »

51. Reform or Revolution and Other Writings By Rosa Luxemburg A polemic writing by the famous "Red Rosa" Luxemburg, Reform or Revolution (1899) explains why capitalism can never overcome its internal contradictions. An effective refutation of revisionist interpretations of Marxist doctrine, it defines the position of scientific socialism on the issues of social reforms, the state, democracy, and ... More »

52. Li Ta-Chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism By Maurice Meisner | Used Price: 60% Off Maurice Jerome Meisner was an historian of 20th century China and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His study of the Chinese revolution and the People's Republic was in conjunction with his strong interest in socialist ideology, Marxism, and Maoism in particular. He authored a number of books ... More »

53. Discourse on Inequality By Jean-Jacques Rousseau One of the most respected translations of this key work of 18th-century philosophy, this text includes a brief introduction to the two works as well as abundant notes that range from simple explanations to speculative interpretations. More »

54. Confronting the Third World By Gabriel Kolko | Used Price: 80% Off Kolko, author of eight books on modern American history, here examines the United States's involvement with Third World countries. His major thrust is that the United States was maintaining in Central America, and creating in the Middle East, an empire based on economic advantage and ideologically supported by ... More »

55. Monopoly Capital By Paul A. Baran; Paul Sweezy | 70% Off This landmark text by Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy is a classic of twentieth-century radical thought, a hugely influential book that continues to shape our understanding of modern capitalism. â€œThis bookâ€¦ deals with a vital area of economics, has a unique approach, is stimulating and well written. It ... More »

56. The Tradition Of Workers' Control By Geoffrey Ostergaard Workers' control of industry, a phrase coined by the Guild Socialists, recalls the libertarian aspirations of the first rebels against the slavery inherent in the capitalist mode of production. A history and analysis of the workers in Britain who own and control their workplaces.... More »

57. Empire As A Way of Life By William Appleman Williams | 50% Off â€œAn unblinkered look at our imperial past . . . a perceptive work by one of our most perceptive historians.â€Ââ€”Studs TerkelA work of remarkable prescience, Empire As A Way of Life is influential historian William Appleman Williamsâ€™s groundbreaking work highlighting imperialismâ€”â€œempire as a way of lifeâ€Ââ€”as the dominant ... More »

58. A People's History of the United States By Howard Zinn | Used Price: 70% Off A People's History of the United States is an attempt by Howard Zinn to present an alternative history of America from below. It's a view of US history from the perspective of ordinary and oppressed people. It's extremely popular and - in addition to being on many high ... More »

59. Marxism and Literature By Raymond Williams | Used Price: 60% Off This book extends the theme of Raymond Williams's earlier work in literary and cultural analysis. He analyzes previous contributions to a Marxist theory of literature from Marx himself to Lukacs, Althusser, and Goldmann, and develops his own approach by outlining a theory of `cultural materialism' which integrates Marxist ... More »

60. Escape from Freedom By Erich Fromm | Used Price: 70% Off If humanity cannot live with the dangers and responsibilities inherent in freedom, it will probably turn to authoritarianism. This is the central idea of Escape from Freedom, a landmark work by one of the most distinguished thinkers of our time, and a book that is as timely now ... More »

61. The Anarchist Collectives: Workers' Self-Management in the Spanish Revolution By Sam Dolgoff An analyses on the radical collectives organized in Spain. "The eyewitness reports and commentary presented in this highly important study reveal a different understanding of the nature of socialism and the means for achieving it."--Noam Chomsky More »

62. The French Revolution: From its Origins to 1793 By Georges Lefebvre George Lefebvre is widely considered to be the greatest authority on the French Revolution and this is his magnum opus on the subject. This text is a classic and is still relevent to the field over 40 years after it was first published. More »

63. Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village By William Hinton More than forty years after its initial publication, William Hintonâ€™s Fanshen continues to be the essential volume for those fascinated with Chinaâ€™s revolutionary process of rural reform and social change. A pioneering work, Fanshan is a marvelous and revealing look into life in the Chinese countryside, where tradition ... More »

64. Late Capitalism By Ernest Mandel Late CapitalismÂ is the first major synthesis to have been produced by the contemporary revival of Marxist economics. It represents, in fact, the only systematic attempt so far ever made to combine the general theory of the â€œlaws of motionâ€Â of the capitalist mode of production developed by Marx, ... More »

65. Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis By Chris Williams | Used Price: 60% Off Around the world, consciousness of the threat to our environment is growing. The majority of solutions on offer, from using efficient light bulbs to biking to work, focus on individual lifestyle changes, yet the scale of the crisis requires far deeper adjustments. Ecology and Socialism argues that time ... More »

66. The Industrial Worker, 1840-1860 By Norman Ware | Used Price: 60% Off Besides the slavery issue, one of the major notes of American life in the years preceding the Civil War was created by the Industrial Revolution. It produced remarkable social and industrial upheavals which were repugnant to an astonishingly large numbers of Americans. Despite national prosperity, industrial workers suffered ... More »

67. The Eastern Mediterranean and the Making of Global Radicalism, 1860-1914 By Ilham Khuri-Makdisi In this groundbreaking book, Ilham Khuri-Makdisi establishes the existence of a special radical trajectory spanning four continents and linking Beirut, Cairo, and Alexandria between 1860 and 1914. She shows that socialist and anarchist ideas were regularly discussed, disseminated, and reworked among intellectuals, workers, dramatists, Egyptians, Ottoman Syrians, ethnic ... More »

68. Soviet Politics: 1917-1991 By Mary McAuley | Used Price: 80% Off Now available in paperback, this timely work offers an authoritative and lively history of the entire spectrum of Soviet politics, from the rise of Lenin and the October Revolution of 1917 to the emergence of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It discusses in fascinating detail how Lenin's Communist ... More »

69. History and Class Consciousness By Georg Lukacs | Used Price: 60% Off This is the first time one of the most important of LukÃ¡cs' early theoretical writings, published in Germany in 1923, has been made available in ... More »

70. The Second Sex By Simone de Beauvoir | Used Price: 50% Off Newly translated and unabridged in English for the first time, Simone de Beauvoirâ€™s masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of â€œwoman,â€Â and a groundbreaking exploration of inequality and otherness. Â This long-awaited new edition reinstates significant portions of the original French text that were cut in ... More »

71. From Marxism to Post-Marxism? By Goran Therborn | Used Price: 60% Off In this pithy and panoramic workâ€”both stimulating for the specialist and accessible to the general readerâ€”one of the worldâ€™s leading social theorists, GÃ¶ran Therborn, traces the trajectory of Marxism in the twentieth century and anticipates its legacy for radical thought in the twenty-first. More »

72. State, Power, Socialism By Nikos Poulantzas In State, Power, Socialism, the leading theorist of the state andÂ European communism advances a vigorous critique of contemporaryÂ Marxist theories of the state. Arguing against a general theory of theÂ state, Poulantzas identifies forms of class power crucial to socialist strategy that go beyond the state apparatus. More »

73. Pedagogy of the Oppressed By Paulo Freire | Used Price: 60% Off This text argues that the ignorance and lethargy of the poor are the direct result of the whole economic, social and political domination. The book suggests that in some countries the oppressors use the system to maintain a 'culture of silence'. Through the right kind of education, the ... More »

74. Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century By Eric R. Wolf | Used Price: 80% Off "Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century provides a good short course in the major popular revolutions of our century--in Russia, Mexico, China, Algeria, Cuba, and Viet Nam--not from the perspective of governments or parties or leaders, but from the perspective of the peasant peoples whose lives and ways ... More »

75. The Russian Anarchists By Paul Avrich | Used Price: 70% Off In the turmoil of the Russian insurrection of 1905 and civil war of 1917, the anarchists attempted to carry out their program of â€œdirect actionâ€Ââ€”workersâ€™ control of production, the creation of free rural and urban communes, and partisan warfare against the enemies of a free society.Avrich consulted published ... More »

76. Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty By Alex Carey In this lucid and compelling account, Alex Carey documents the 20th century history of corporate propaganda as practiced by U.S. businesses, and its export to and adoption by other western democracies, chiefly the United Kingdom and Australia. The collection examines how and why the business elite has successfully ... More »

77. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy By Barrington Moore | Used Price: 70% Off A landmark in comparative history and a challenge to scholars of all lands who are trying to learn how we arrived at where we are now.Â -New York Times Book Review More »

78. World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction By Immanuel Wallerstein | 60% Off In World-Systems Analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein provides a concise and accessible introduction to the comprehensive approach that he pioneered thirty years ago to understanding the history and development of the modern world. Since Wallerstein first developed world-systems analysis, it has become a widely utilized methodology within the historical social ... More »

79. The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain By Pierre Broue; Emile Temime The tragic defeat of the Spanish Civil War has long fascinated those who continue to struggle for social justice. Pierre BrouÃ© and Ã‰mile TÃ©mineâ€™s long-out-of-print history details the internal political dynamics that led the popular front to hold back radical measures that would have galvanized the working class ... More »

81. The Battle For Homestead, 1880-1892: Politics, Culture, and Steel By Paul Krause | Used Price: 90% Off The Homestead Strike, or Homestead Massacre, was one of the most serious strikes in US labour history, finishing in a battle between workers and private security agents. Paul Krause has written a brilliant and insightful history of the strike. More »

82. Reclaiming Work: Beyond the Wage-based Society By Andre Gorz Over the last twenty-five years, Western societies have beenreversing into the future. They are able neither to reproduce themselves in accordance with past norms, nor to exploit theunprecedented freedom offered by the savings in working time whichnew technology has generated. In this major new book, Andre Gorz argues ... More »

83. Socialism: Past and Future By Michael Harrington | Used Price: 90% Off On learning his cancer was inoperable, renowned intellectual Michael Harrington simply asked the doctors to keep him alive long enough Â“to complete a summary statement of the themes I had thought of throughout an activist life.â€Â And they did. Socialism: Past and Future is prominent thinker Michael Harringtonâ€™s ... More »

84. Land and Freedom: The MST, the Zapatistas and Peasant Alternatives to Neoliberalism By Leandro Vergara-Camus The Zapatistas of Chiapas and the Landless Workers Movement (MST) of Brazil are often celebrated as shining examples in the global struggle against Neoliberalism. But what have these movements achieved in more than two decades of resistance and can any of these achievements realistically contribute to an alternative ... More »

85. Radical Thought in Italy: A Potential Politics By Paolo Virno; Michael Hardt Over the past several decades, Italian revolutionary politics has offered a model for new forms of political thinking. Radical Thought in Italy continues that tradition by providing an original view of the potential for a radical democratic politics today that speaks not only to the Italian situation but ... More »

86. A History of the Cuban Revolution By Aviva Chomsky | Used Price: 60% Off A History of the Cuban Revolution presents a concise socio-historical account of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, an event that continues to spark debate 50 years later. Balances a comprehensive overview of the political and economic events of the revolution with a look at the revolution's social ... More »

87. Queering Anarchism By Deric Shannon; J. Rogue; C.B. Daring "Definitely a book worth reading, regardless of the labels of normalcy you've pasted up to yourself or grown accustomed to letting others do the nasty gluing for you."?Bookslut"The divide is growing between the pro-military, pro-police, marriage-seeking gay and lesbian rights politics we see in the headlines every day ... More »

88. Anarchism in Korea By Dongyoun Hwang A regional and transnational history of anarchism in Korea.This book provides a history of anarchism in Korea and challenges conventional views of Korean anarchism as merely part of nationalist ideology, situating the study within a wider East Asian regional context. Dongyoun Hwang demonstrates that although the anarchist movement ... More »

89. Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000 By Geoff Eley | Used Price: 60% Off Democracy in Europe has been a recent phenomenon. Only in the wake of World War II were democratic frameworks secured, and, even then, it was decades before democracy truly blanketed the continent. Neither given nor granted, democracy requires conflict, often violent confrontations, and challenges to the established political ... More »

90. The State in Capitalist Society By Ralph Milliband Presenting a sustained and concrete challenge to the current political consensus, this reference identifies the radical alternative of adopting socialism as the key issue facing civilization and the crucial condition of making substantial progress. Demonstrating that capitalist control of the state was so comprehensive that partial reforms were ... More »

91. History of the Russian Revolution By Leon Trotsky | Used Price: 60% Off This is the classic account of the first socialist revolution in 1917 as told by one of its leaders. All three volumes are included, unabridged: The Overthrow of Tzarism, The Attempted Counter-Revolution and The Triumph of the Soviets. More »

93. The People's Spring: The Future of the Arab Revolution By Samir Amin The 2011 outburst of uprisings by the Arab peoples caught the worldâ€™s attention, and this incisive analysis shows that the current Arab uprisings are primarily anti-imperialistâ€”rather than anticapitalistâ€”movements. Arguing that, to take control of their future, Arab peoples need to unify in a ... More »

94. The Method of Freedom: An Errico Malatesta Reader By Errico Malatesta | Used Price: 50% Off For sixty years, Errico Malatesta's involvement with international anarchism helped fuel the movement's radical approach to class and labor, and directly impacted the workers' movement in Italy. A talented newspaper journalist, Malatesta's biting critiques were frequently short and to the pointâ€”and written directly to and for the workers. ... More »

95. Zapata and the Mexican Revolution By John Womack | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01 This narrative history follows the exploits of Emiliano Zapata, a leader in the Mexican Revolution and inspiration to the Zapatistas. The book explores events preceding the Revolution and examines the political and agrarian reforms that took place. More »

96. Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976 By Piero Gleijeses This is a compelling and dramatic account of Cuban policy in Africa from 1959 to 1976 and of its escalating clash with U.S. policy toward the continent. Piero Gleijeses's fast-paced narrative takes the reader from Cuba's first steps to assist Algerian rebels fighting France in 1961, to the ... More »

97. The Rise of the Green Left: Inside the Worldwide Ecosocialist Movement By Derek Wall | Used Price: 70% Off Climate change and other ecological ills are driving the creation of a grassroots global movement for change. From Latin America to Europe, Australia and China a militant movement merging red and green is taking shape.Ecosocialists argue that capitalism threatens the future of humanity and the rest of nature. ... More »

98. Development of Socialist Economic Thought By Maurice Dobb Maurice Dobb (1900-1976) was a highly influential Marxist political economist and economic historian. He was famous for his writings on economic development - including the development of capitalism in the west, and the dilemmas of the Soviet Union in their efforts to industrialise what had been primarily an ... More »

100. Colonial Empires and Armies 1815-1960 By Victor Kiernan | Used Price: 70% Off In this work, V.G. Kiernan explores the European imperial period looking at how wars impacted conquered societies and also the societies that instigated them. More »

The Best Anarchist, Communist, and Socialist Books reading list covers nearly all the essential writers of left-wing philosophy and their essential texts. Being limited to 100 books the list is not complete and doesn't represent all the books worth your time. For example, Eric Hobsbawm's text on Marxism is included, and even though his 'Age of' series is essential reading it's not included here. The other lists on this site help to fill these gaps and all good socialists should be studying history, sociology, economics, etc. There are also many history books below on revolutions and on the countries considered socialist or communist, China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union.