After about eight years of focused reading, mostly the Harvard Classics but a lot more than that too, I am a little tired of reading all the time. This year’s list is short. I got started on the Story of Civilization, by Will and Ariel Durant, which definitely deserves its reputation as a classic. These are big books, but they intend to describe periods of civilization from different aspects, not just a political history of battles and kings. The Life of Greece, for example, contains explications of arts and literature, architecture, science and philosophy, economic activity, daily life, customs, social organization, and religion, in addition to the dramas of wars, changing governments, and high-profile characters like Pericles or Alcibiades. That is a lot, so writing just a little about each topic turns into a big book. It was very well written and worthwhile, and the first stop for anyone interested in these wonderful periods of history. It helped me understand also why the Greeks and Romans have always been considered (at least since the Renaissance) the source of Western Civilization. I feel that connection now, back to those days — in part because I recognize that many of our institutions, democratic government among the most obvious, but also the 26-letter alphabet, arise from those roots. Most of the other books were economics texts that I had been planning to get to. For 2024, I expect to continue in much the same fashion, with Thucydides, SOC#3, and Gibbon. That should be enough “big books” for one year. The Landmark series is really great, and highly recommended if you plan to read Herodotus or Thucydides, or one of the other classic texts in that series.
The Story of Civilization #1: Our Oriental Heritage, by Will Durant
Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
House of Gentlefolk, by Ivan Turgenev
The Story of Civilization #2: The Age of Greece, by Will Durant
Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Fourth Turning Is Here, by Neil Howe
Better Money: Gold, Fiat or Bitcoin? by Lawrence White
Classical Economic Theory and the Modern Economy, by Steven Kates
Gold, the Real Bills Doctrine, and the Fed, by Thomas M. Humphrey and Richard H. Timberlake
Life After Capitalism, by George Gilder
The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories, by Herodotus (ed. Robert B. Strassler)
Life After Google, by George Gilder
