The Top 12 Books For Understanding The World

Or,

Why A Critical Reading of History Is Now Critically & Urgently Needed

The details are important, but an understanding of the major patterns of history are even more important. I don’t think that is possible without giving due credence to the quiet revolution which occurred in anthropology in the 1970s. In that light, Rianne Eisler’s, The Chalice and The Blade, and better and more important yet, Murray Bookchin’s, The Ecology of Freedom, are critically essential reading. Until and unless these two books are read, the gross misunderstanding of history, and the delusions of the modern world, both of which are nearly universal, will likely continue to rule, and we will understand nothing.

It is true, Those who do not understand history, are doomed to repeat it. And as Goethe said, “Anyone who cannot learn from 3,000 years of history is living hand to mouth.”

Further, to really understand these two extremely important, and truly world-changing books, you need to read a few more books which are likewise of virtually unparalleled importance, in order for the paradigm shift, or transformation of our consciousness and fundamental world-view, to really sink in. Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joanna Macy’s, World As Lover, World As Self, and Allan Wallace’s, Choosing Reality, should be on the top of every thinking person’s must-read list, along with the two works mentioned above.

Further yet, to understand, not just the philosophical, ontological, or cosmological level – the true pattern of our history, as well as the nature of being and reality – but to also understand the profound political, ecological and sociological implications of being steeped in delusion, versus being liberated from the most common delusions, we will, in turn, likely need to read a few books more. Noam Chomsky’s, Year 501, Class Warfare, and Necessary Illusions, along with Ronald Wright’s, A Short History of Progress, Mathew Stein’s When Technology Fails, Kropotkin’s, Mutual Aid, and Vandana Shiva’s, Oneness vs The 1%, I would also count as indispensable.

These twelve books are so fundamentally important, in terms of correcting pervasive, millennia-old illusions, and freeing us to see our history clearly, and thus, to understand our present and what must be done, and can be done, that I would say it would be best if people read and watched nothing until these twelve books are read. Whether that takes you twelve weeks, twelve months, or twelve years, I would say that is more than worth it. Nothing you can read or watch in that time span, or any time span, is likely to come anywhere near to their importance. Their significance and their power cannot be stated strongly enough.

Or people can read my first two books, Enlightened Democracy, and, The People vs The Elite, which summarize and synthesize all of these major works and many more, with the exception of Vandana Shiva’s Oneness vs The 1%, which they echo, and strongly reinforce. I would still, however, urge people to read these twelve books immediately afterward. Order the first three today from your favourite independent bookstore, I would strongly recommend, and start reading them right away.

Until we can see things clearly, there is no chance of us resolving our great, and mounting social and ecological problems, which are now reaching critical mass. And what is also abundantly clear, is that clarity is profoundly lacking. Our society is dangerously and critically lacking in perspective. These few books can correct that profoundly dangerous situation.

Read. And as Thoreau said, “Read the best books first. Otherwise, you might never read them at all.” Put these twelve books, or fourteen, I would urge, on the top of your list. And dive into them without hesitation, and without delay.

Seeing the trees is common, but insufficient. We must be able to see the forest, as well. More important yet, the veils of illusion must be stripped away – urgently so, and now.

J. Todd Ring,
February 10, 2021