Top Five Reads of 2021
I read a book (or more) a week this year. I've logged them here so you know what to add to your New Year's resolution reading list!
I was nearly three-quarters of the way through the year when I first picked up a book about Founding Father, Treasury Secretary, and oh-for-one duelist Alexander Hamilton. My grandmother-in-law lent me a copy of Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton (the worst part of the book was its real-world punishment of giving Lin-Manuel Miranda a promising career on Broadway and anti-white racism) in which I found the following striking quote:
“Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have is this. When I have a subject in mind. I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it… the effort which I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought.” -Alexander Hamilton
Even though I did not encounter this quote until September, it sums up what became a year of learning and personal growth for me. In January, I began purchasing and reading books on topics that interested me. No fiction, no knitting handbooks, no Macbeth, just Teddy Roosevelt, Arctic exploration, and more biographies than I can count. (Okay, that’s not true, it was fifteen.)
So without further ado, let’s jump into my five best books of the year, which is followed by a list of every book I read this year. Feel free to give me a shout on Twitter @NickSSolheim with your best books of the year!
Honorable Mention: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
5 stars, 818 pages
I know, I know. Boo. Try as I might to find another book to take this one’s place to spare a public mocking, I could not. This is a well-written book, though it does take some liberties with the conclusions it draws that attract popular liberals to love it (such as citing Hamilton as extremely pro-immigration, a view that he only held early on in his political life.)
I read Alexander Hamilton over the week before my wedding, a feat that would not have been possible if Chernow had not written it in such an accessible, story-like way. The book is generally fast-paced, though not sacrificing speed for detail, and enthralling from cover to cover.
As an admitted new-comer to the history of the American Founding, I found myself on the edge of my seat and wanting to learn much more about this enigmatic and accomplished founder. If you are looking for a primer on the founder that most-shaped the structure of our nation that will not bore you to death, I would recommend you start with this book.
5. The Once and Future Worker by Oren Cass
5 stars, 272 pages, finished March 8th, 2021
Oren Cass’ magnum opus takes the “fiscally conservative” portion of the “fiscally conservative, socially liberal” coalition to task. Relying on his extensive experience as a policy analyst for then-presidential candidate and now-Senator Mitt Romney, as well as his time at the Manhattan Institute, Cass masterfully makes the case for an economic middle ground (at the very least) that preserves the free market system without bending a knee to the rich oligarchs that own the Republican Party.
The Once and Future Worker’s core focus is how American policymakers could support the average American worker, with solutions ranging from supporting an increase in trade schools to conservative solutions using labor unions. Cass’ book is ground-breaking and imaginative in a way economic policy has not been since… Hamilton, probably.
4. Cook & Peary: The Polar Controversy Resolved by Robert M. Bryce
5 stars, 1113 pages
Robert M. Bryce’s Cook & Peary claims right in the title to resolve the polar controversy, but I am going to spoil it for you right now by saying the only resolution you will receive is disappointment. However, that does not mean this book is a waste of time!
The author begins with an overview of the lives of Frederick A. Cook and Robert E. Peary, two famed Arctic explorers who both claimed to be the first to reach the North Pole. The ensuing drama of who reached the Pole first ultimately ruined the lives of both men, pulling their families, legacies, and friends along with them. Cook v. Peary was THE polarizing issue of the early 20th century.
In the second part of the book, Bryce carefully examines the claims of Cook, then Peary, as well as their determined efforts to salvage their claim to reaching the North Pole. The ultimate conclusion of part two is that there is scant evidence for the claims of either man.
Part three focuses on the fallout from the nuclear war between the two men, and the historical reputation of both of the men. The author does not tell you what to believe, but it is easy to read between the lines and realize that both men were liars, fakers, and vengeful dilettantes.
What makes this book so special is that it pulls you into the story unlike any other. A reader may find himself rooting for a specific individual, wanting one of the explorer’s claims to be true, or feeling the intense melancholy of a reputation and a life ruined due to hubris.
If you are looking for a primer on 20th century polar exploration and a fascinating insight into the scientific community, this book is the place to start.
3. The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family by C.R. Wiley
5 stars, 144 pages
C.R. Wiley's The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family is the penultimate biblical book heads of households must have on their bookshelf. In this book Wiley reclaims Christian piety from the jaws of secularists and points readers toward the headship of Christ as a model for leading the household.
What is unique about this book versus other fascinating books on this topic is that Wiley goes out of his way to include classical thinking when it corresponds with Scripture. He painstakingly notes that this is not to supplant, or replace Scripture, but rather, point out when classical thinking imitates the Word of God itself. Chiefly included in this is Oeconomicus, by Xenophon, which is a Socratic dialogue on household management. Corresponding with this work, Wiley recounts not only what man's responsibility is in imitating the headship of Christ, but also woman's responsibility to dutifully imitate Christ's bride -- the church -- in learning from him, serving him, but ultimately, taking an active role in leadership in the marriage's endeavor.
Yes, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at Wiley's defense of the patriarchy, but to refute this or refuse to accept it is to refute or refuse to accept Scripture itself. The Household and the War for the Cosmos brings home the weighty responsibility of marriage, fatherhood, and family leadership in a way many "self help-style" books could never.
2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom by Conrad Black
5 stars, 1328 pages
Conrad Black is one of the greatest biographers and historians alive today. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom is the second work I have completed by Black, after reading Rise to Greatness about the history of Canada earlier in the year.
In this book, Black presents the most comprehensive biography of one of America’s most public, yet private, presidents in our history. He follows FDR through his youth as a doted-upon young boy in New York, through being struck with polio at his Campobello retreat, into his multiple emotional (if allegedly unconsummated) affairs with various women in his life, as well as the toll bringing the nation out of the Great Depression and into World War II took on his health, ultimately leading to his death.
Striking in Black’s delicately-drawn portrait of FDR is the machinations of his inner mind — often saying one thing, and doing another — and playing members of his administration, and the American people, against one another to eventually get his way. At times, this looked like political expedience and backstabbing (dumping VP Henry Wallace for Harry Truman during the contentious Chicago convention in 1944) but in the majority of cases, FDR brought public opinion happily along with him and played his cabinet officials against each other to achieve the very best of solutions.
FDR was a complicated (and brilliant) man that changed the course of the nation. Conrad Black provides the most compelling portrait of the statesman who most-altered America in the last century.
1. The Hungarian Way of Strategy by Balázs Orbán
5 stars, 216 pages
The Hungarian Way of Strategy is a riveting, tangible, and applicable read. Unlike many other books on statecraft and political theory, this author provides a practical history and framework for its application in the modern nation-state.
As a proof on how persuasive this book and its author really is, as someone who sometimes flirts with economic liberalism, I found myself being sold on systems of flat taxation, balancing the national budget, and general fiscal conservatism based on the actual results of the Hungarian economic strategy. Understanding, obviously, that the Hungarian and American economies are extremely different on scale.
This book (and its author) provide a serious and coherent response to the continued bed-wetting of the left-wing administrative class in the EU and the West, more broadly. It's extremely obvious from reading this book that Balázs Orbán is a competent, wise, and worthy administrator within the Hungarian government. I came away from reading this book pining for someone like him in our American system!
One warning while reading this from an American perspective: Put aside your own nationality, and put yourself in Hungary's shoes while reading this book. You'll find some shocking statements, for example: "China will become the world's most economically powerful country in the next decade. In addition to ensuring balanced political relations, the exploitation of dynamically growing business opportunities with China is in Hungary's national interest." Now, this is shocking to an American reader like myself, but from Hungary's perspective of doing business in the national interest, it is an understandable (even if you find yourself jealous for Hungary's economic attention) position to take to benefit Hungary's people.
If I had one gripe about this book, (and it's relatively minor, as I rated the book 5 stars) it would be that the footnotes can be a bit obtrusive. I love footnotes as a concept, and the information they contained in this book were delightful -- But I would've vastly preferred they be inserted as actual text/additional chapters and the book have been twice as long.
Was your Twitter censored? I had screenshotted two of your tweets from 2 years ago with graphics about where the voters are and where the GOP is. I just used them in my piece below as I did not know where you had gotten the graphics in them and could only find one in the Wayback engine - see:
Inside a GOP Brainstorming Session on How to Sabotage Their Chances of Winning an Election (Tales From the Great Reset)
- Snatching defeat from the jaws of an election victory needs a Great Reset. I secretly sat in on a GOP brainstorming session to come up with new ideas to sabotage their chances of winning the midterms!
https://covidsteria.substack.com/p/how-gop-sabotages-chances-of-winning-elections