≡ Menu

Top Libertarian Books and intellectual property

A recent post by David Friedman, Libertarian Books: Sales vs Downloads, called to my attention a recent website, Patrick McEwen’sTop LibertarianBooks, which collects the top 100 libertarian books “Based on the current Amazon book sales rank” (current listing pasted below). This calls to mind a previous ranking, The Most Visited Libertarian Websites, in which various sites I am associated with or run are features, such as StephanKinsella.com (#84), Libertarian Papers (#100), The Libertarian Standard (#75), and Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF, #78). In the book list, my Against Intellectual Property was ranked #89, which is “gratifying” (h/t Robert Bork), and the Hoppe Festschrift I co-edited was ranked at #99. The list also featured, as expected, works by Rand, Friedman, and several by  Rothbard, Jeff Tucker, and Hoppe, as well as Boldrin & Levine’s Against Intellectual Monopoly. Good signs!

 

Based on the current Amazon book sales rank

Rank Book Author Amazon Sales Rank
1 Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 291
2 The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents–The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, F. A. Hayek 764
3 Capitalism and Freedom: Fortieth Anniversary Edition Milton Friedman 1315
4 Free to Choose: A Personal Statement Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman 2230
5 Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics Henry Hazlitt 2399
6 The Fountainhead Ayn Rand 2591
7 Anthem Ayn Rand 2877
8 Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse Peter D. Schiff 5032
9 Why Government Is the Problem (Essays in Public Policy) Milton Friedman 6177
10 Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom Ron Paul 8637
11 The Revolution: A Manifesto Ron Paul 10193
12 Anarchy, State, and Utopia Robert Nozick 10879
13 The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History Thomas E. Woods Jr. 15273
14 The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek) F. A. Hayek 17730
15 The Theory of Money and Credit Ludwig von Mises 20344
16 The Constitution of Liberty: The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek) F. A. Hayek 25684
17 We the Living (75th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) Ayn Rand 25972
18 Understanding Objectivism: A Guide to Learning Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Leonard Peikoff 27149
19 A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship Ron Paul 38429
20 Human Action: The Scholar’s Edition Ludwig von Mises 38434
21 Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel – Why Everything You Know is Wrong John Stossel 47286
22 Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand (The Ayn Rand Library, Volume 6) Leonard Peikoff 51805
23 The Case for Gold Ron Paul, Lewis Lehrman 61192
24 Anatomy of the State Murray Rothbard 71713
25 What It Means to Be a Libertarian Charles Murray 78586
26 Who Killed the Constitution?: The Federal Government vs. American Liberty from World War I to Barack Thomas E. Woods Jr., Kevin R. C. Gutzman 94486
27 The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America Daniel Hannan 95874
28 The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law Andrew P. Napolitano 98786
29 The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch 102068
30 Why Progressive Institutions are Unsustainable (Encounter Broadsides) Richard A. Epstein 135440
31 The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (The Politically Incorrect Robert Murphy 141916
32 The Case Against the Fed Murray N. Rothbard 173584
33 Defending the Undefendable Walter Block 193243
34 Alongside Night J. Neil Schulman 193245
35 The Libertarian Reader: Classic and Contemporary Writings from Lao Tzu to Milton Friedman David Boaz 193301
36 Rothbard vs. the Philosophers: Unpublished Writings on Mises, Hayek, Strauss, and Polanyi Murray N. Rothbard 195240
37 Separating School & State: How to Liberate America’s Families Sheldon Richman 197715
38 Pillars of Prosperity: Free Markets, Honest Money, Private Property Ron Paul 206499
39 Why America Must Not Follow Europe (Encounter Broadsides) Daniel Hannan 212805
40 The Ethics of Liberty Murray N. Rothbard 221370
41 Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement Brian Doherty 225024
42 Individualism and Economic Order F. A. Hayek 237613
43 Healthy Competition: What’s Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It, Michael F. Cannon, Michael D. Tanner 244322
44 Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays Walter E. Williams 249117
45 Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice 252664
46 Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Lib John Stossel 282376
47 Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty Randy E. Barnett 288525
48 What Has Government Done to Our Money? Murray N. Rothbard 312091
49 Libertarianism: A Primer David Boaz 312747
50 A Brief History of Liberty (Brief Histories of Philosophy) David Schmidtz, Jason Brennan 313799
51 Education: Free & Compulsory Murray N. Rothbard 352697
52 Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws Andrew P. Napolitano 358565
53 Democracy: The God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order Hans-Hermann Hoppe 364622
54 The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought (Ayn Rand Library) Ayn Rand 372295
55 The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State Bruce L. Benson 406683
56 Against Intellectual Monopoly Michele Boldrin, David K. Levine 410346
57 The Law Frederic Bastiat 425674
58 New Libertarian Manifesto Samuel Edward Konkin III 446751
59 It’s a Jetsons World Jeffrey A. Tucker 456805
60 Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government Thomas J. DiLorenzo 465270
61 The God of the Machine Isabel Paterson, Stephen D. Cox 469425
62 Free-Market Monetary System and The Pretense of Knowledge, A F. A. Hayek 483990
63 The Discovery of Freedom: Man’s Struggle Against Authority Rose Wilder Lane 485539
64 Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays Murray N. Rothbard 485918
65 Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement Justin Raimondo 501126
66 The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law Randy E. Barnett 552968
67 How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution Richard A. Epstein 709609
68 The Politics Of Obedience The Discourse Of Voluntary Servitude Etienne De La Boetie 714257
69 Government Failure: A Primer in Public Choice Gordon Tullock, Arthur Seldon, Gordon L. Brady 756345
70 The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism David Friedman 764847
71 An Agorist Primer Samuel Edward Konkin III 817994
72 Freedom Under Siege Ron Paul 841373
73 Our Enemy, the State Albert Jay Nock 857209
74 Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View Ron Paul 888214
75 A Bubble That Broke The World Garet Garrett 892979
76 Ron Paul for President in 2012: Yes to Ron Paul and Liberty Walter E. Block 924594
77 Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo Jeffrey A. Tucker 954436
78 The Conscience of an Anarchist: Why It’s Time to Say Good-Bye to the State and Build a Free Society Gary Chartier 963228
79 The Troy Standard: And the Men Behind the Desks A.G. Fredericks 991019
80 Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America Radley Balko 997965
81 Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain Richard A. Epstein 999352
82 The Counter Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason F. A. Hayek 1067921
83 Chaos Theory Robert P. Murphy 1209074
84 The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State Bruce L. Benson 1317195
85 For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto Murray N. Rothbard 1361956
86 The Private Production of Defense Hans-Hermann Hoppe 1392783
87 The Memoirs of a Superfluous Man Albert J. Nock 1396700
88 It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand Jerome Tuccille 1414490
89 Against Intellectual Property Stephan N Kinsella 1490732
90 Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax Sheldon Richman 1705421
91 New Libertarian Manifesto and Agorist Class Theory Wally Conger, Samuel Edward Konkin III 1728035
92 A Tiger By the Tail F. A. Hayek 1746594
93 The Tyranny of Gun Control 1769064
94 Is the Welfare State Justified? Daniel Shapiro 1898294
95 Ron Paul Is A Nut (And So Am I) James Leroy Wilson 2004195
96 The Dangers of Socialized Medicine Jacob G. Hornberger, Richard M. Ebeling 2119492
97 Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State Sheldon Richman 2261894
98 Building Blocks for Liberty (Large Print Edition) Walter Block 2364569
99 Property, Freedom and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe 2550778
100 The Case for Free Trade and Open Immigration 2991596
Share
{ 0 comments… add one }

CC0
To the extent possible under law, Stephan Kinsella has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to C4SIF. This work is published from: United States. In the event the CC0 license is unenforceable a  Creative Commons License Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License is hereby granted.