Top 10 Nonfiction Books for Conservatives

The definitive book on the genesis of the conservative movement from the man who many say started it all. "If there hadn't been a Barry Goldwater, there wouldn't have been a Ronald Reagan," according to the popular conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. Includes a foreward by conservative columnist George F. Will and an afterward by Goldwater's political adversary, Robert F. Kennedy.

The Conservative Mind is the definitive work by Russell Kirk and a book no conservative's collection should be without. Kirk is perhaps the most widely respected writer on conservative politics and this book analyzes the disparity between the social conservatives and the tradtional conservatives who are now considered liberatarians. Besides Edmund Burke, no other intellectual has so accurately captured the mind-set of the conservative movement and defined the movement in such lucid terms.

Bias by 35-year CBS executive Bernard Goldberg exposes the liberal bias in American media, and how television news networks actively undermine conservative and traditional values. Among the many revelations Goldberg notes is how the media consciously fails to omit positive and uplifting stories about African-Americans and how network anchors and reporters will identify conservatives using the term "conservative," but won't identify liberals using the term "liberal." For those conservatives who believe there is a liberal conspiracy in the media, Goldberg's book puts it on display.

Tea Party Revival: The Conscience of a Conservative Reborn by Dr. B. Leland Baker offers a glimpse inside the ideology of the Tea Party phenomenon, which emerged in 2009 and was a political force by 2010. Baker's book provides easy-to-read descriptions of the individual tenets of the movement (small government, Constitutional compliance, deference to states' rights, decreased spending and taxes and the restoration of individual rights, responsibility and integrity), a list of demands on lawmakers and a clear breakdown of the Tea Party agenda. The subtitle of the book, "The Tea Party Revolt Against Unconstrained Spending and Growth of the Federal Government," is an excellent synopsis of what readers will find inside its pages.

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The Burden of Bad Ideas is a collection of essays that explores the darker side of the welfare state and how it operates. From the sometimes humorous to the universally sad, the stories unearthed by Heather MacDonald show how poor judgment permeates American culture and, specifically, its government. For example, at a Brooklyn high school, MacDonald writes that students perfect their graffiti skills for academic credit. Another story is about an Ivy League law professor who urges African Americans to steal from their employers because Washington bureaucrats regard theft by drug addicts as evidence of disability, thereby justifying benefits. While the stories represent the most "out-there" cases, the themes discussed are all-too common.