This is a short list of titles which can help put our current challenges in perspective. We would highly recommend the first in the list – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. It’s long but engaging – a page-turner revealing how a corrupt leader and willing accomplices can manipulate an entire population with devastating effects.

You can help support this site by purchasing titles through the Amazon links below. Any income in excess of expenses will be donated. Click on each book link to see a more complete synopsis at Amazon.

Many of these titles are available as audiobooks through Audible/Amazon.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer, 1960: a comprehensive historical account of Nazi Germany. Essential reading for understanding authoritarian politics and where it can lead.

1984 by George Orwell, 1949: a dystopian novel that has become a playbook for modern authoritarians.

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder, 2017: a quick read that offers historical lessons from 20th-century Europe to identify and resist modern authoritarian tendencies.

Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic by David Frum, 2018: an examination of the ways in which the first Trump presidency challenged and potentially corrupted American democratic institutions.

Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L Trump, 2020: an intimate exploration of the family disfunction that incubated narcissism and sociopathic tendencies.

Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman, 2022: a scathing exposé of Donald Trump’s lifelong pattern of deception and self-serving ambition.

Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success by Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig, 2024: the title says it all…

On Heroism by Jeffrey Goldberg, 2024: explores Trump’s cowardice and his dismissal of courage in others.

It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, 1935: eerily prescient, the story of the rise of a populist demagogue and the establishment of a fascist regime in the United States.

Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, 1951: if “On Tyranny” above wasn’t enough, this 700-page book analyzes the roots of totalitarian movements, focusing on Nazism and Stalinism.