Freedom: A Suggested Course Of Study

What does it take to be truly educated in the principles of the U.S. Constitution and Freedom? Or to be educated in the enemies of freedom? Steven Montgomery recommends a suggested course of study.

In 1997, I attended a class taught by Oliver De Mille of George Wythe College. In that class he wanted us to compile a reading list of 50 or so of the best books we had, up to that point read.

I was then: in my mid-forties; a veteran (of sorts) of Utah politics through involvement with the American party in the mid-seventies and early eighties, both as a candidate (state legislature and then U.S. Congress) and county, state and national delegate; a student of Constitutional courses such as that taught by W. Cleon Skousen's Freeman Institute (now the National Center For Constitutional Studies), the Constitutional Broadside Newsletter (now defunct), and several others; an active member of the John Birch Society; an active student of a self-designed study program in an eclectic array of history, political, and economic subjects; and I had managed (in 1989, after first attending the University of Utah way back in 1972), to have finally obtained my Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from Southern Utah University.

When I compiled my list I naturally concentrated on those areas I considered essential towards understanding: freedom; our U.S. Constitution, its principles and ideals; the free-market and our original monetary system; and finally, the various threats against freedom, including those regarding a trans-generational and trans-national conspiracy to overthrow the freedom of all lands and countries and to impose a world government.

The list is below. But I’ve also added several items (not all are books, some are essays or transcripts of speeches, etc.) since1997.

Are there any books listed here that you would like to read? What are the books you consider essential to obtaining a complete and rounded education upon these subjects? What books have I left out? What is your “best books” list? Please include your list or commentary. A simple google search can find many of these valuable works on the web (I would have included links, but had too many to include here). So without further ado, here's the list, in no particular order:

1. The Five Thousand Year Leap, W. Cleon Skousen
2. The American Tradition, Clarence B. Carson
3. The Law, Frederick Bastiat
4. Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen, H. Verlan Andersen
5. The Great And Abominable Church Of The Devil, H. Verlan Andersen
6. The Perfect Law Of Liberty (an essay, since then put on the web), Steven Montgomery
7. The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner, Ezra Taft Benson
8. The Elders Of Israel And The Constitution, Jerome Horowitz
9. Lecture Manual, Causa Institute
10. The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Sheri Dew
11. Seventeen Eighty Nine: An Unfinished Manuscript Which Explains The Early History of the Communist Conspiracy, Anonymous (published by American Opinion)
12. From Russia With Thanks, George Racy Jordan
13. Beating the Unbeatable Foe, Frederick Schwarz
14. Is the Cold War Over? Bouscaren
15. The Greatest Plot in History, Toledano
16. The Great Prologue, Mark E. Peterson
17. The Light and the Glory, Peter Marshall
18. God's Hand in the Founding of America, Michael Chadwick
19. The Mainspring of Human Progress, Henry Grady Weaver
20. Prophets, Principles, and National Survival, Jerrald Newquist
21. Stand Fast by the Constitution, J. Reuben Clark
22. What the U.S. Constitution Really Means, Larry Wilcox
23. The Federalist Papers, Hamilton, Madison, Jay
24. The Sabotage of the Tenth Amendment, Edward Albertson
25. This Nation Shall Endure, Ezra Taft Benson
26. The Making of America, W. Cleon Skousen
27. Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt
28. In Defense of Property, Gottfried Dietze
29. A Plea For the Constitution of the United States: Wounded in the House of its Guardians, George Bancroft
30. Caveat Against Injustice: Or, An Inquiry into the Evils of a fluctuating medium of exchange, Roger Sherman
31. Miracle on Main Street, F. Tupper Saussey
32. An Essay on the Trial by Jury, Lysander Spooner
33. Anglo-American Jury: Keystone of Human Rights, Gordon Press Publishers
34. You Can Trust The Communists: To Be Communists, Fred Schwarz
35. The Naked Communist, W. Cleon Skousen
36. Masters of Deceit, J. Edgar Hoover
37. The Red Carpet, Ezra Taft Benson
38. The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
39. None Dare Call It Conspiracy, Gary Allen
40. The Shadows of Power, James Perloff
41. Why Not Call It Treason?, Phoebe Courtney
42. An Overview of our World, John F. McManus
43. “The Book of Mormon is the Word of God,” Ezra Taft Benson
44. “Handout on Secret Combinations,” Compiled by Steven Montgomery
45. The Naked Capitalist, W. Cleon Skousen
46. It's Very Simple, Alan Stang
47. The Revolution Lobby, Brownfield and others
48. Marx and Satan, Richard Wurmbrand
49. The Fearful Master, G. Edward Griffin
50. An Enemy Hath Done This, Ezra Taft Benson
51. “Various Reports on CPUSA, M.L. King, etc.,” J. Edgar Hoover
52. Proofs of a Conspiracy, John Robison
53. Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, Abbe Augustin Barruel
54. The Socialist Network, Nesta Webster
55. Valley of Decision, Sterling Lacy
56. I Saw Poland Betrayed, Arthur Bliss Lane
57. Tshombe, Anthony Bouscaren
58. Is The Cold War Over?, Anthony Bouscaren
59. Little Cesar, Ralph de Toledano
60. America's Retreat From Victory, Joseph R. McCarthy
61. Background to Betrayal, Hilaire du Berrier
62. Assault On Religious Freedom, Coalition For Religious Freedom
63. Eagles and Dollars, Steven Montgomery
64. Glasnost and Perestroika, Steven Montgomery
65. Basic Communism, Clarence B. Carson
66. Our Globe Under Seige, Robert Morris
67. The Suicide of Europe, Sturdza
68. Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler, Anthony Sutton
69. Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution, Anthony Sutton
70. Wedemeyer Reports, General Albert C. Wedemeyer
71. Communist Party USA, Published by the U.S. Government
72. Leftwing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, Lenin
73. On the Alliance of the Working Class and the Peasantry, Lenin
74. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, Lenin
75. The Right of Nations to Self-Determination, Lenin
76. On the National Question and Proletarian Internationalism, Lenin
77. The Philby Conspiracy, Bruce Page, David Leitch
78. Coming Out Of The Ice: An Unexpected Life, Victor Herman
79. Cuba Betrayed, Batista
80. 46 Angry Men: UNO Violations in Katanga, Western Islands
81. The Politician, Robert Welch
82. KGB Today: The Hidden Hand, John Barron
83. A Study of Communism, J. Edgar Hoover
84. Red Fog Over America, William Guy Carr
85. Men Without Faces, Louis Frances Budenz
86. Red Decade, Lyons
87. 13 Curious Errors About Money, Paul Bakewell
88. “The Internal Threat to the American Way of Life,” Ezra Taft Benson
89. The Three Faces of Revolution, Fred Schwarz
90. Monimbo, Moss and de Borchgrave
91. The Enemies of Christ, David B. Jorgensen
92. The Communist Capitalist Alliance, Harold Pease
93. The Creature from Jekyll Island, Griffin
94. The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, Hans V. Andersen
95. Many are Called but Few are Chosen, Hans V. Andersen
96. Changing Commands, John F. McManus
97. New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies, Sill
98. The Life of John Birch, Robert Welch
99. None Dare Call it Treason, Stormer
100. None Dare Call it Treason: 25 years later, Stormer
101. The White Book of the JBS for 1961, John Birch Society
102. The Coming of World War III, Richard T. Osborne
103. Richard Nixon, Gary Allen
104. The Last Great Nation on Earth, Rose L. Martin
105. The Blue Book, John Birch Society
106. Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy
107. NEA: Propaganda Front of the Radical Left, Sally D. Reed
108. Inspired Prophetic Warnings, Compiled by N. B. Lundwall
109. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, Bernard Bailyn
110. Prophetic Warnings to Modern America, Dwayne S. Crowther
111. “Report of the CPSU Central Committee, XXVth Congress,” Communist Party of the Soviet Union
112. Revolutionary Continuity: The Early Years 1848-1947, Farrell Dobbs
113. Revolutionary Continuity: Birth of the Communist Movement 1918-1922, Farrell Dobbs
114. The Moulding of Communists, Meyer
115. Prophesy and Modern Times, W. Cleon Skousen
116. Toward a New World Order, McAlvaney
117. Report from Iron Mountain, Dial Press
118. The Invisible Government, Dan Smoot
119. Beware Metro and Regional Government, Courtney
120. Background to Betrayal: The Tragedy of Vietnam, Hillaire Du Berrier
121. The Road Ahead to Socialism, Flynn
122. Being Free, [I've since lost this book and forgotten the author's name]
123. The Insiders, John F. McManus
124. American Farmers Movement, Shannon
125. The Rockefeller File, Gary Allen
126. Say No to the NWO, Gary Allen
127. The Kohler Strike, Petro
128. Shanghai Conspiracy: The Sorge Spy Ring, Willoughby
129. While You Slept, Flynn
130. Seeds of Treason, Ralph De Toledano
131. Nine Men Against America, Rosalie M. Gordon
132. The Peoples Pottage, Garet Garrett
133. The Whole of their Lives, Benjamin Gitlow
134. The Actor, Alan Stang
135. The Web of Subversion, Burnham
136. A New Constitution for a New Country, M. Oliver
137. Ill Fares the Land, Van Gordon
138. Roosevelt's Communist Manifesto, Josephson
139. A Basic History of the United States (five volume set), Clarence B. Carson
140. Rebirth of Liberty, Clarence B. Carson
141. Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution, Edwin Viera
142. The Siecus Circle, Chambers
143. The Book of Isaiah, Avraham Gileadi
144. The Last Days, Avraham Gileadi
145. New Lies for Old, Golitsyn
146. The Perestroika Deception, Golitsyn
147. Biographical Dictionary of the Left (multi-volume set), Francis X. Gibbons
148. Socialist Network, Nesta Webster

Steven Montgomery is a happily married, fifty-four year old father of four (2 natural sons, 1 step-son, 1 step-daughter) and is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Steve has taught at a private secondary school, is a published journalist, and now operates (on an occasional basis) the Perfect Law of Liberty website.