Top Ten Books

This page explores the top ten books that have made a difference in the U.S. This list was compiled in National Review's 50th anniversary issue. Each one of these books holds a prominent place in American Literature and has influenced intellectual thinking on a profound level.

We will talk about each of these books, the contents, the author and his impact. You can read our analysis by clicking on the book of interest in our table of contents below or in the navbar at the top of each page. You can read through this site in the manner in which it was intended by clicking on the "next page" link at the bottom of each article.

The Closing of the American Mind, by Alan Bloom
Suicide of the West, by James Burnham
Free to Choose, by Milton and Rose Friedman
Crisis of the House Divided, by Harry V. Jaffa
Modern Times, by Paul Johnson
Losing Ground, by Charles Murray
Rationalism in Politics, by Michael Oakeshott
The Gulag Archipelago, by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
A Conflict of Visions, by Thomas Sowell
The Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe