Let's compile a list of good, non-fiction, progressive books

[Downtown Hound]

I'm looking to expand my mind. I want to read a whole lot of progressive books, the kind where you put it down and you feel you just learned something very important about the world that you need to share with everybody. I'm talking about the kind of books that compel you to write letters, join campaigns, and protest. The kind where if you spend considerable time reading them, you'll be able to destroy any conservative you meet because the logic, facts, presentation, and passion printed on the pages is foolproof and undeniable. I'll throw a few out that I can think of offhand

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States
Soul of a Citizen
Fast Food Nation

Please feel free to add your own. Im mostly looking for non-fiction but if you have some fiction ones that you think are really great then I guess that's okay too.

[kentauros]

1. I just finished reading Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea" and highly recommend it.

Three Cups of Tea - One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

I don't know how well it would work to "destroy a conservative" but it's the most inspiring book I've read in a very long time. I'll be ordering Stones into Schools next :)

[mix]

2. The Other America, Michael Harrington, 1962

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Other_America

[Zomby Woof]

3. "Sleepwalking Through History: America In The Reagan Years"

...by Haynes Johnson.

Although there are a good handful of anti-Reagan books out there, this is the best-researched and most comprehensive one. It was written in 1991, and is vindicated, because Reagan's wretched legacy remains intact. I never did buy into that "we need to wait 20 years to assess presidencies fairly!" cliche. No, the facts were right in front of our faces, and Johnson put them out there for all to see.

[Duer 157099]

4. The Shock Doctrine, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man n/t

[Brother Buzz]

5. Barbara Ehrenreich's 'Nickel and Dimed' and Thomas Frank's 'What's the Matter with Kansas?'

[Rhythm]

10. You beat me to both of those?

:thumbsup:

[dawg]

12. Kansas left me unsatisfied.

I'm getting really tired of the "liberals lose cause they talk down to the voters" meme. I think it's closer to the truth that the other side sees politics as combat and we see it as a search for truth and the common good, and as a result we are consistenly outplayed.

[PassingFair]

6. "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class" Thom Hartmann

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41huM2W-lzL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg

[OmahaBlueDog]

7. Not progressive as-such, but Craig Unger's "House of Bush, House of Saud"

also, not progressive per-se, but Hunter S Thompson's "Fear and Loathing on the '72 Campaign Trail"

[Alexander]

8. The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Wellstone

[canoeist52]

9. “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense

“Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill)"
-
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston
http://www.freelunchthebook.com/

[nuxvomica]

11. "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power"

by Joel Bakan. This book woke me up about the power and influence of corporations in our politics. The movie is good but the stuff in the book stays with you longer.