The most recommended books about oligarchies

Who picked these books? Meet our 6 experts.

6 authors created a book list connected to oligarchies, and here are their favorite oligarchy books.
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Book cover of The Great Re-Think: A 21st Century Renaissance

Linda Newbery Author Of This Book Is Cruelty Free: Animals and Us

From Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Campaigner Animal advocate Vegan Photographer Walker

Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Linda Newbery Why did Linda love this book?

Naturalist Colin Tudge, well known for The Secret Life of Birds and The Secret Life of Trees, is immensely knowledgeable and an engaging thinker. 

The Great Re-Think is an ambitious and heartfelt project in which he examines sustainability, government, ethics, environment (though 'biosphere' is his preferred term, 'environment' having been degraded by over-use and commodification), food and farming, the past and the future of how we see the planet and our place in it.

He outlines that "All human action should be guided by moral/metaphysical principles on the one hand, and by the principles of ecology on the other." We do indeed need a great re-think of how we use and abuse the planet's resources - and urgently. 

By Colin Tudge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Great Re-Think as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

All too plausibly, it seems, popes and scientists are warning us of impending collapse-yet humanity and our fellow creatures could still be looking forward to a long and glorious future: at least a million years of peace and personal fulfilment, with abundant and diverse wildlife.

But to achieve this we need to re-think everything that we do and take for granted, from the day-to-day mundanities of growing and cooking, to the economy and methods of governance, to the most arcane reaches of science and metaphysics.

It all amounts to nothing less than a Renaissance-a re-birth-and the Renaissance to come must…


Book cover of Known Order Girls

Gordon Bonnet Author Of In the Midst of Lions

From my list on making you question how you see the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

How do we decide what is true and untrue, what is real and what isn’t? It’s something I’ve tried to understand since I was a child. In each book I chose, a character has to face a universe completely unlike what they’d believed—in some cases, what they’d spent their entire lives devoted to. How someone would react in such a situation is deeply fascinating to me, and each of these books has not only stayed with me for years but has profoundly influenced my own writing and worldview.

Gordon's book list on making you question how you see the world

Gordon Bonnet Why did Gordon love this book?

I have very seldom read a book with a protagonist I so wanted to win the day as Katherine Webb, the main character in  Andrew Butters’s novel. She’s deeply inspiring—brave, compassionate, steadfast, loyal, and intelligent. She faces the challenges she meets without flinching, rebelling against a system designed to stifle individuality, creativity, and freedom of thought.

I kept putting myself in her place, wondering what I’d do if I lived in the planned, repressive society she inhabits. I can only hope I’d do as well.

By Andrew Butters,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Known Order Girls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Do you ask for permission or forgiveness?

Katherine Webb lives in the Known Order, where sentient AI controls every decision. Unwilling to accept the status quo, she embarks on a journey of defiance and disobedience. She must confront the shadowy elite behind the technology that dominates her existence.

Guided by her fellow rebels, she plots to infiltrate the all-knowing computer, dismantle authority, and bring the oligarchy to its knees.


Book cover of The Politics of Oligarchy: Institutional Choice in Imperial Japan

David Flath Author Of The Japanese Economy

From my list on captivating Japanese history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a retired economics professor from the US who studied Japan for most of my 46-year career and have lived in Kyoto since 2008. I first visited Kyoto in 1981, naively hoping to revel in the splendors of the Heian era, and was disappointed to find that the physical manifestations of medieval Japan as evoked in The Tale of Genji had vanished. But the persisting legacy of that ancient age is still evident to the trained observer. Japan today embodies its past. It's not enough to know that Japan today is a prosperous country. Curious people also want to know how it got that way. The roots lie deep in the past. 

David's book list on captivating Japanese history

David Flath Why did David love this book?

A legal scholar and a political scientist, both Americans who grew up in Japan, explain Meiji and Taisho political history from the standpoint of rational calculation by the leading politicians. This is a convincing narrative of the birth of parliamentary government and the emergence of political parties under the Meiji constitution, 1889 to 1947. The authors explain how the leaders of the various political parties were pursuing their own selfish ends—perpetuation of their own power and status. Without intending to do so, those politicians created a political structure that extremist cliques in Japan’s armed forces were able to subvert.

I especially like this book because it avoids the trap that so many others fall into of imputing benign motives to a nebulous but omnipotent entity spinning out government policies—a “development state,” or whatever you might call it, a cadre of unnamed “policy-makers” who are guided by the abstract arguments of…

By J. Mark Ramseyer, Frances McCall Rosenbluth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Politics of Oligarchy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the latter-half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, Japan underwent two major shifts in political control. In the 1910s, the power of the oligarchy was eclipsed by that of a larger group of professional politicians; in the 1930s, the focus of power shifted again, this time to a set of independent military leaders. In this book, Ramseyer and Rosenbluth examine a key question of modern Japanese politics: why the Meiji oligarchs were unable to design institutions capable of protecting their power. The authors question why the oligarchs chose the political institutions they did,…


Book cover of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America

Donald Cohen Author Of The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

From my list on the battle between democracy and oligarchy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been reading, researching, and writing on the limitations of market capitalism and the unique and important role of government in meeting public needs for almost 30 years. I have come to firmly believe that we can’t – as a nation and planet – solve our most pressing problems without rebuilding trust in government and the capacity and authority of governing institutions. We can’t eliminate poverty, eradicate structural racism, protect our environment and the planet without democratic institutions that have the power to do so. We need markets, but transferring too much power to the market has created many of the problems we face today. 

Donald's book list on the battle between democracy and oligarchy

Donald Cohen Why did Donald love this book?

We are all consumers, much more so since the post-WWII years of prosperity. 

But beyond meeting our family needs and making our lives easier (and certainly more cluttered), mass consumption has taken on deeper political meaning in American culture and society. In many ways, our identities as consumers have replaced our identity as citizens – with increased individualism displacing our commitments to the common good.

This book walks us through the post-war history of consumerism while at the same time places it squarely in the context of cold war politics.

By Lizabeth Cohen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Consumers' Republic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this signal work of history, Bancroft Prize winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Lizabeth Cohen shows how the pursuit of prosperity after World War II fueled our pervasive consumer mentality and transformed American life.

Trumpeted as a means to promote the general welfare, mass consumption quickly outgrew its economic objectives and became synonymous with patriotism, social equality, and the American Dream. Material goods came to embody the promise of America, and the power of consumers to purchase everything from vacuum cleaners to convertibles gave rise to the power of citizens to purchase political influence and effect social change. Yet despite…


Book cover of Miguel Marmol

James Dunkerley Author Of Power in the Isthmus

From my list on Central American history and politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for Central American politics and history derived quite directly from the conflicts in the region from the late 1970s onwards. Previously I had worked in Bolivia, where I had studied as a doctoral student, and although many people still view Latin American countries as pretty homogenous, I quickly discovered that they are very far from being so. I had to unlearn quite a bit and acquire new skills, although luckily, indigenous languages are really only dominant in Guatemala. Now we can be rather less partisan although many injustices remain.

James' book list on Central American history and politics

James Dunkerley Why did James love this book?

Dalton was a wonderful poet and radical activist tragically executed by his Salvadorean comrades in 1975 when they erroneously believed him to be working for the CIA. The Salvadorean left has a poor record in devouring its own in bouts of paranoia that attended the civil war of the 1980s. Marmol, who survived deep into old age, was a ringleader of an uprising in 1932 that briefly promised a peasant overthrow of a state controlled by an oligarchy of a dozen families. The uprising was repressed with such force that the military was able to retain political power for the next four decades. This book is beautifully written and translated wonderfully well by Richard Schaaf and Kathleen Ross.

By Roque Dalton, Richard Schaaf (translator), Kathleen Ross (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Miguel Marmol as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Miguel Mármol is the testimony of a revolutionary, as recorded by Salvadoran writer, Roque Dalton, which documents the historical and political events of El Salvador through the first decades of the 20th century. This Latin American classic describes the growth and development of the workers' movement and the communist party in El Salvador and Guatemala, and contains Mármol's impressions of post-revolutionary Russia in the twenties, describing in vivid detail the brutality and repression of the Martínez dictatorship and the reemergence of the workers' movement after Martínez was ousted. It also gives a broad and clear picture of the lives of…


Book cover of Rural Guatemala, 1760-1940

James Dunkerley Author Of Power in the Isthmus

From my list on Central American history and politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for Central American politics and history derived quite directly from the conflicts in the region from the late 1970s onwards. Previously I had worked in Bolivia, where I had studied as a doctoral student, and although many people still view Latin American countries as pretty homogenous, I quickly discovered that they are very far from being so. I had to unlearn quite a bit and acquire new skills, although luckily, indigenous languages are really only dominant in Guatemala. Now we can be rather less partisan although many injustices remain.

James' book list on Central American history and politics

James Dunkerley Why did James love this book?

When McCreery’s book was published the literature on the region was overwhelmingly dominated by books on politics, with the great majority written from a left-wing perspective. Even long after the fighting has ceased, many in the global North had an unnuanced vision of rural society in which oligarchic landlords exercised feudal control over an undifferentiated ‘peasantry.’ This book shows that for decades an element of that vision was borne out in everyday life, but the volume also shows on the basis of outstanding research that rural Guatemala was dynamic, riven with class competition and negotiation, far from binary in its social structure, and possessed of a rich cultural life.

By David McCreery,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rural Guatemala, 1760-1940 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This comprehensive study of rural development in Guatemala extends from the late colonial period through the transformation of the economy by the introduction of larger-scale coffee production.


Book cover of The Boys' Club

John Carroll Author Of The Saviour Syndrome: Searching for Hope and Meaning in an Age of Unbelief

From John's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Cultural and social interpreter Interpreter

John's 3 favorite reads in 2023

John Carroll Why did John love this book?

This book exposes the breathtaking transformation to by far the most successful sporting organization in Australia, the Australian Football League, over the last twenty years. Warner’s is a cautionary tale relevant to all sports, and especially to the football codes around the world.

The Boys’ Club catalogues unethical behaviour of breath-taking scope and gall, imposed by three men. Warner recounts numerous cases of vindictive threat, intimidation, lying, and bullying. And a misogynistic culture at AFL headquarters.

Ex-Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, lamented they don’t report to anyone. They appoint puppets and yes-men to highly paid positions around them, forming a Praetorian Guard that protects the core oligarchy, which pays itself lavishly.

By Michael Warner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Boys' Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Boys' Club is the must-read inside story behind the power and politics of the AFL, Australia's biggest sport.
Revealing how a fledgling state administrative body evolved into the Australian Football League and its meteoric rise to become one of the richest and most powerful organisations in the land, award-winning investigative journalist Mick Warner delivers a fascinating insight into key figures and their networks.
Tracking the rise of the AFL and its supremos, The Boys' Club lifts the lid on the scandals, secrets and deal-making that have shaped this iconic Australian game.

'Cannot recommend this book highly enough ... The…


Book cover of Dark Money

Stephan Lewandowsky Author Of The Debunking Handbook 2020

From my list on the perils facing democracy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have had a lifelong interest in history and in particular the history of democracy. When I became a cognitive scientist, I initially studied basic memory processes using a mix of computer simulations and experimentation. I became interested in misinformation during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 when the purported “Weapons of Mass Destruction” never materialized but large segments of the American public continued to believe in their existence. Some 20 years later, misinformation has taken center stage in public life and has metastasized into a danger to democracy in many countries around the world. The books on this list should present a warning and inspiration to all of us.

Stephan's book list on the perils facing democracy

Stephan Lewandowsky Why did Stephan love this book?

Real conspiracies do exist. Sometimes. And sometimes they play out in broad daylight or just below the surface. Mayer scratches that surface and reveals the incredible influence that is wielded by just a handful of American oligarchs, who use their wealth to determine the direction of America. This is a page-turner on the one hand, but on the other, it is also a serious scholarly effort that amply documents how money drives politics in the U.S. 

By Jane Mayer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dark Money as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A LITHUB BOOK OF THE DECADE.

The US is one of the largest democracies in the world - or is it?

America is experiencing an age of profound economic inequality. Employee protections have been decimated, and state welfare is virtually non-existent, while hedge fund billionaires are grossly under-taxed and big businesses make astounding profits at the expense of the environment and of their workers.

How did this come about, and who were the driving forces behind it?

In this powerful and meticulously researched work of investigative journalism, New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer exposes the network of billionaires trying to…


Book cover of Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy

Donald Cohen Author Of The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back

From my list on the battle between democracy and oligarchy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been reading, researching, and writing on the limitations of market capitalism and the unique and important role of government in meeting public needs for almost 30 years. I have come to firmly believe that we can’t – as a nation and planet – solve our most pressing problems without rebuilding trust in government and the capacity and authority of governing institutions. We can’t eliminate poverty, eradicate structural racism, protect our environment and the planet without democratic institutions that have the power to do so. We need markets, but transferring too much power to the market has created many of the problems we face today. 

Donald's book list on the battle between democracy and oligarchy

Donald Cohen Why did Donald love this book?

Although published several years ago, this book is a timely investigation about the power of big tech on so many aspects of our lives.

The book focuses to a great extent on the impacts on the music, book, and newspaper industries that have been significantly disrupted by the tech industry. But it also alerts to the larger implications, especially as tech becomes increasingly dominant in our economy, democracy, and lives. 

By Jonathan Taplin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Move Fast and Break Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Financial Times 'Best Thing I Read This Year'

LONGLISTED FOR THE FT & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

Google. Amazon. Facebook. The modern world is defined by vast digital monopolies turning ever-larger profits. Those of us who consume the content that feeds them are farmed for the purposes of being sold ever more products and advertising. Those that create the content - the artists, writers and musicians - are finding they can no longer survive in this unforgiving economic landscape.

But it didn't have to be this way.

In Move Fast and Break Things, Jonathan Taplin offers…


Book cover of The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution: Reconstructing the Economic Foundations of American Democracy

Richard R. Weiner Author Of Sustainable Community Movement Organizations: Solidarity Economies and Rhizomatic Practices

From my list on understanding regimes of law and political economy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Rich Weiner co-edited this featured volume with Francesca Forno. He is a political sociologist with a strong foundation in the history of political and social thought. He has served for twenty-two years as dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. His focus has been on non-statist political organizations and social movements with a perspective of middle-range theorizing enriched by three generations of Frankfurt School critical theory of society.

Richard's book list on understanding regimes of law and political economy

Richard R. Weiner Why did Richard love this book?

Countering a drifting away from an appreciation of the demos, the book encourages us to build a democratic constitutional political economy that renews traditions of egalitarianism and social rights rather than the recent neoliberalism’s imagined market-based orientation of freedom alone.

I like the way the book revives the American constitutional tradition of discourse emphasizing how constraint of the concentration of wealth is necessary to preserve a democratic republic.

By Joseph Fishkin, William E. Forbath,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A bold call to reclaim an American tradition that argues the Constitution imposes a duty on government to fight oligarchy and ensure broadly shared wealth.

Oligarchy is a threat to the American republic. When too much economic and political power is concentrated in too few hands, we risk losing the "republican form of government" the Constitution requires. Today, courts enforce the Constitution as if it had almost nothing to say about this threat. But as Joseph Fishkin and William Forbath show in this revolutionary retelling of constitutional history, a commitment to prevent oligarchy once stood at the center of a…