The Rise and Fall of Free Speech in America - audiobook
D. W. GRIFFITH (1875 - 1948)
The Rise and Fall of Free Speech in America was D.W. Griffith's first response to the attacks made on The Birth of a Nation. In it he played on the 'intolerance' of those who would not permit him freedom of speech in his films. This view on intolerance led directly to the creation of the film of the same name. Summary by The University of Exeter.
Genre(s): Political Science
Language: English (FULL Audiobook)
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Category: Politics
Two Treatises of Civil Government audiobook
John LOCKE (1632 - 1704)
The Two Treatises of Civil Government is a work of political philosophy published anonymously in 1689 by John Locke. The First Treatise is an extended attack on Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha, which argued for a divinely-ordained, hereditary, absolute monarchy. The more influential Second Treatise outlines a theory of civil society based on natural rights and contract theory. Locke begins by describing the "state of nature," and Read more [...]
Bushido: The Soul of Japan audiobook
Inaz? NITOBE (1862 - 1933)
Bushido: The Soul of Japan written by Inazo Nitobe was one of the first books on samurai ethics that was originally written in English for a Western audience, and has been subsequently translated into many other languages (also Japanese). Nitobe found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control, and Read more [...]
Brain Twister audiobook
Laurence M. JANIFER (1933 - 2002) and Randall GARRETT (1927 - 1987)
"Mark Phillips" is, or are, two writers: Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. Their joint pen-name, derived from their middle names (Philip and Mark), was coined soon after their original meeting, at a science-fiction convention. Both men were drunk at the time, which explains a good deal, and only one has ever sobered up. A matter for constant contention between the collaborators is which one.
Originally Read more [...]
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice audiobook
Stephen LEACOCK (1869 - 1944)
This lengthy political essay by noted Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock was written while he was professor of political economy at McGill University. He argues for a middle ground between capitalism and pure socialism. Listeners in the early 21st century may find this 90-year old essay oddly topical. (Summary by Sean Michael Hogan)
Genre(s): Political Science
Language: English (FULL Audiobook)
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The Social Contract audiobook
Jean-Jacques ROUSSEAU (1712 - 1778), translated by UNKNOWN ( - )
The Social Contract outlines Rousseau's views on political justice, explaining how a just and legitimate state is to be founded, organized and administered. Rousseau sets forth, in his characteristically brazen and iconoclastic manner, the case for direct democracy, while simultaneously casting every other form of government as illegitimate and tantamount to slavery. Often hailed as a revolutionary document Read more [...]
Common Sense audiobook
Thomas PAINE (1737 - 1809)
Thomas Paine has a claim to the title The Father of the American Revolution because of Common Sense, the pro-independence monograph pamphlet he anonymously published on January 10, 1776; signed "Written by an Englishman", the pamphlet became an immediate success. It quickly spread among the literate, and, in three months, 100,000 copies (estimated 500,000 total including pirated editions sold during the course of the Revolution) sold throughout Read more [...]
The Art of War audiobook
SUN TZU (554 BCE - 496 BCE), translated by Lionel GILES (1875 - 1958)
First compiled in the 6th century BC, The Art of War presents a philosophy of war for managing conflicts and winning battles. It is accepted as a masterpiece on strategy and is frequently cited and referred to by generals and theorists since it was first published, translated, and distributed internationally. The book is not only popular among military theorists, but has also become increasingly popular Read more [...]
Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, Books I and II
by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil is a book written in 1651 by Thomas Hobbes. The book concerns the structure of society (as represented figuratively by the frontispiece, showing the state giant made up of individuals).
In the book, Hobbes argues for a social contract and rule by a sovereign. Influenced by the Read more [...]
The Federalist Papers audiobooks
by Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757-1804), John Jay (1745-1829), and James Madison (1751-1836)
The Federalist Papers (correctly known as The Federalist) are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788 . A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist, was published in Read more [...]
Anarchism and Other Essays audiobook
by Emma Goldman (1869-1940)
Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Russia, Goldman emigrated to the US in 1885 and lived in New York City, where she became a writer and a renowned lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues, Read more [...]
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume 1a
by Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881) is written by Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Davis wrote the book as a straightforward history of the Confederate States of America and as an apologia for the causes that he believed led to and justified the American Civil War.
Davis spared little detail in describing every aspect Read more [...]
Other People's Money audiobook
by Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)
Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It is a collection of essays written by Louis Brandeis published as a book in 1914. The book attacked the use of investment funds to promote the consolidation of various industries under the control of a small number of corporations, which Brandeis alleged were working in concert to prevent competition. Brandeis harshly criticized investment bankers who controlled large amounts of money Read more [...]
Essays on Political Economy
by Fr?d?ric Bastiat
Bastiat asserted that the only purpose of government is to defend the right of an individual to life, liberty, and property. From this definition, Bastiat concluded that the law cannot defend life, liberty and property if it promotes socialist policies inherently opposed to these very things. In this way, he says, the law is perverted and turned against the thing it is supposed to defend. (Introduction by Wikipedia)
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Politics
by Aristotle (384 BCE-322 BCE)
Translated by Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893)
The Politics, by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, is one of the most influential texts in political philosophy. In it, Aristotle explores the role that the political community should play in developing the virtue of its citizens. One of his central ideas is that "Man is a political animal," meaning that people can only become virtuous by active participation in the political community. Aristotle also criticizes Read more [...]
The Theory of Social Revolutions
by Brooks Adams (1848-1927)
Brooks Adams (1848- 1927), was an American historian and a critic of capitalism. He believed that commercial civilizations rise and fall in predictable cycles. First, masses of people draw together in large population centers and engage in commercial activities. As their desire for wealth grows, they discard spiritual and creative values. Their greed leads to distrust and dishonesty, and eventually the society crumbles. In The Law of Read more [...]
God and the State
by Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876)
Translated by Benjamin R. Tucker (1854-1939)
Bakunin's most famous work, published in various lengths, this version is the most complete form of the work published hitherto.
Originally titled "Dieu et l'?tat", Bakunin intended it to be part of the second portion to a larger work named "The Knouto-Germanic Empire and the Social Revolution" (Knouto-Germanic Empire is in reference to a treaty betwixt Russia and Germany at the time), but the work Read more [...]
The Prince
by Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Translated by W. K. Marriott
The Prince (Italian: Il Principe) is a political treatise by the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist Niccol? Machiavelli. From correspondence a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (About Principalities). But the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was done with the permission of the Medici pope Clement Read more [...]