Social Studies Books

Humans are social animals and as such, they create unique communities that vary greatly depending on the constellations. There are some excellent social studies books that examine the nature of communities. They address topics such as power, democracy, civilization, or war and place them in the context of societal evolution.

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa et al
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Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power
Josef Pieper
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Adrift: How Our World Lost Its Way
Amin Maalouf
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After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory
Alasdair MacIntyre
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Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States
James C Scott
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Apology for Raymond Sebond
Michel de Montaigne
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Arguably
Christopher Hitchens
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Authority and the Individual
Bertrand Russell
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Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Robert D. Putnam
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Capital
Karl Marx
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Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Joseph A. Schumpeter
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Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union
Vladislav M. Zubok
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Consider a Spherical Cow: A Course in Environmental Problem Solving
John Harte
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Critical Path
R. Buckminster Fuller
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De Cive
Thomas Hobbes
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Democracy in America
Alexis de Tocqueville
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Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam
Robert Dreyfuss
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Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism
Robert Pape
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Elements of Pure Economics, or The Theory of Social Wealth
Leon Walras
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Eugenics and Other Evils
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
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Facundo: or Civilization and Barbarism
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
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False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism
John Gray
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Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict
Diego Gambetta & Thomas Hegghammer
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Governing the Commons
Elinor Ostrom
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Guilt and Sin in Traditional China
Wolfram Eberhard
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Holistic Management: A Commonsense Revolution to Restore Our Environment
Allan Savory
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In Defense of Civilization: How Our Past Can Renew Our Present
Michael R. J. Bonner
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Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy
W. Brian Arthur
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Inventing The Enemy: Essays
Umberto Eco
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Is God Happy?
Leszek Kolakowski
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Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii
Victor Klemperer
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Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes
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Manual of Political Economy
Vilfredo Pareto
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Nation and Narration
Homi K. Bhabha
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Never at War: Why Democracies Will Not Fight One Another
Spencer Weart
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New Science
Giambattista Vico
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On Kingship to the King of Cyprus
Thomas Aquinas
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On Obligations: De Officiis
Marcus Tullius Cicero
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On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs: Teaching, Writing, Playing, Believing, Lecturing, Philosophizing, Singing, Dancing
James V. Schall
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Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age
Bear F. Braumoeller
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Politics and the English Language
George Orwell
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Politics As a Vocation
Max Weber
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Primitive Society
Robert Lowie
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Psychopolitics: Conversations with Trevor Cribben Merrill
Jean-Michel Oughourlian
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Quand la Chine s'éveillera... : ... Le monde tremblera
Alain Peyrefitte
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Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory
Bruno Latour
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Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough
Ludwig Wittgenstein
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Seven Types of Ambiguity
William Empson
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Size and Democracy
Robert A. Dahl & Edward R. Tufte
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Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered
Ernst F. Schumacher
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Social Cognition: Making Sense of People
Ziva Kunda
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Sociophysics: A Physicist's Modeling of Psycho-political Phenomena
Serge Galam
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Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity
Charles L. Marohn Jr.
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Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics
Jane Jacobs
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Take Today: The Executive as Dropout
Marshall McLuhan & Barrington Nevitt
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Technics and Civilization
Lewis Mumford
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The "Higher Law" Background of American Constitutional Law
Edward S. Corwin
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The Ancient City
Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges
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The Architecture of Community
Leon Krier
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The Art of Classic Planning: Building Beautiful and Enduring Communities
Nir Haim Buras
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The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
James C. Scott
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The Arthashastra
Kautilya
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The Birth of the Gods and the Origins of Agriculture
Jacques Cauvin
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The Book of Peace
Christine de Pizan
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The Breakdown of Nations
Leopold Kohr
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The City and Man
Leo Strauss
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The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World
G.E.M. de Ste. Croix
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The Constitution of Liberty
F. A. Hayek
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The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs
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The Economy of Cities
Jane Jacobs
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The Essence of Politics
Kamandaki
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The Evolution of Cooperation
Robert Axelrod
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The Generative Principle of Political Constitutions: Studies on Sovereignty, Religion and Enlightenment
Joseph de Maistre
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The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death
John Gray
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The Law
Frédéric Bastiat
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The Managerial Revolution: What is Happening in the World
James Burnham
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The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism
John Gray
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The Outsider
Colin Wilson
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The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude
Étienne de La Boétie
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The Power of the Powerless
Vaclav Havel
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The Principle of Federation
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
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The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation
David Ricardo
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The Problem of China
Bertrand Russell
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The Public Orations of Demosthenes
Demosthenes
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The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom
Robert Nisbet
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The Republic
Plato
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The Revolt of the Masses
José Ortega y Gasset
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The Road to Wigan Pier
George Orwell
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The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century
Phillip Knightley
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The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves
Alexandra Hudson
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The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
Eric Hoffer
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The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor
William Easterly
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The Use and Abuse of Art
Jacques Barzun
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The Use of Knowledge in Society
Friedrich A. Hayek
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The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
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Tocqueville in Arabia: Dilemmas in a Democratic Age
Joshua Mitchell
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Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939
Edward H. Carr
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Two Faces of Liberalism
John Gray
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Utopia
Thomas More
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Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
Luke Burgis
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What is Civilization?
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
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What's Wrong with the World
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
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Social Studies Books

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction

Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power

Adrift: How Our World Lost Its Way

After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory

Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States

Apology for Raymond Sebond

Arguably

Authority and the Individual

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

Capital

Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

Consider a Spherical Cow: A Course in Environmental Problem Solving

Critical Path

De Cive

Democracy in America

Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam

Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism

Elements of Pure Economics, or The Theory of Social Wealth

Eugenics and Other Evils

Facundo: or Civilization and Barbarism

False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism

Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict

Governing the Commons

Guilt and Sin in Traditional China

Holistic Management: A Commonsense Revolution to Restore Our Environment

In Defense of Civilization: How Our Past Can Renew Our Present

Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy

Inventing The Enemy: Essays

Is God Happy?

Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii

Leviathan

Manual of Political Economy

Nation and Narration

Never at War: Why Democracies Will Not Fight One Another

New Science

On Kingship to the King of Cyprus

On Obligations: De Officiis

On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs: Teaching, Writing, Playing, Believing, Lecturing, Philosophizing, Singing, Dancing

Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age

Politics and the English Language

Politics As a Vocation

Primitive Society

Psychopolitics: Conversations with Trevor Cribben Merrill

Quand la Chine s'éveillera... : ... Le monde tremblera

Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory

Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough

Seven Types of Ambiguity

Size and Democracy

Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered

Social Cognition: Making Sense of People

Sociophysics: A Physicist's Modeling of Psycho-political Phenomena

Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity

Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics

Take Today: The Executive as Dropout

Technics and Civilization

The "Higher Law" Background of American Constitutional Law

The Ancient City

The Architecture of Community

The Art of Classic Planning: Building Beautiful and Enduring Communities

The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia

The Arthashastra

The Birth of the Gods and the Origins of Agriculture

The Book of Peace

The Breakdown of Nations

The City and Man

The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World

The Constitution of Liberty

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

The Economy of Cities

The Essence of Politics

The Evolution of Cooperation

The Generative Principle of Political Constitutions: Studies on Sovereignty, Religion and Enlightenment

The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death

The Law

The Managerial Revolution: What is Happening in the World

The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism

The Outsider

The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude