The Peoples Pottage, by Garet Garrett

The Peoples Pottage, by Garet Garrett — This book (the recently re-published edition, put out by Caxton Press, is titled Ex America) includes three essays, two of which were written during the New Deal era, that gives the Old Right’s history of that time, from the rise of Roosevelt to what Garrett calls, in the title of the last essay, the “Rise of Empire,” meaning the American Empire. Lyrical, embittered, imaginative, and ultimately forgotten, Garrett was the emblematic figure of the Old Right in America. His book on American history, The American Story, is a forgotten gem. When I first started writing about Garrett, in my Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement, my goal was to see as many of his books back in print as possible (back then, they were all out of print). Today, I am glad to say, he is becoming known again, and not only Ex America but also two collections of his essays — Salvos Against the New Deal and Defend America First: The Antiwar Editorials of the Saturday Evening Post, 1939-1942 — are in print and informing a new generation of conservatives and libertarians.

An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, by Murray N. Rothbard — This is the great Unfinished Symphony of economics, which Rothbard — my dear friend and mentor — died before he could complete. It is about … everything: or, at least, much more than just economics. But then economics cannot exist without reference to other fields, including religion, ethics, politics, foreign policy, customs, mores, and the entire woof and warp of life itself (which is one of the main themes of this two-volume work). In addition, I have been profoundly influenced by all his written works: go here for a complete list. And be sure to check out The Irrepressible Rothbard, a collection of his essays that captures the spirit of the man.