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

Featured Books

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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

Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union

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

Eugenics and Other Evils

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

Nation and Narration

Never at War: Why Democracies Will Not Fight One Another

New Science

On Kingship to the King of Cyprus

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 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 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 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

The Power of the Powerless

The Principle of Federation

The Problem of China

The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom

The Republic

The Revolt of the Masses

The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century

The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor

The Use and Abuse of Art