Hugh does a top thirty from two great men: We're not great, but we give it a wing

Yesterday, Hugh Hewitt conducted an interview with David Allen White, from the US Naval Academy, and John Mark Reynolds, of Biola University about their list of thirty books that people should have read, and if they haven't yet there's still time. In the interest of being fair, we'll allow them their list (please read the transcript to see those that they chose) but after a careful analysis of the list, we'd like to impart our own. We're not taking anything away from either man. They're solid intellectuals, and we respect them, but there are a few on this list that they didn't put on theirs. Also, I should note that these are in no real, particular order, other than the first five:

1. The Bible
2. Plato's Republic
3. The Art of War
4. The Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, The Federalist and Anti-Federalist (You must have all four to understand the "great experiment" known as America)
5. The Second Treatise on Government (John Locke)
6. America, the Last Best Hope (Bill Bennett)
7. The Divine Comedy
8. Dante's Inferno
9. The Complete Works of Shakespeare
10. The Prince (Machiavelli)
11. The Discourses (Machiavelli ... If you read the Prince, you must read the Discourses)
12. The Gulag Archipelago
13. The Odyssey
14. The Origins of Species
15. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
16. The Rage and the Pride (Fallaci)
17. The Fountainhead (Rand)
18. An Army of Davids (Reynolds)
19. Great Expectations
20. The History of the English Speaking People Since 1900
21. The Lord of the Rings series (All three books; call us cheaters, if you will)
22. The Chronicles of Narnia (Again, a series, and again, call us cheaters)
23. Harrison Bergeron (Vonnegut; not because he died, but because this has always been a fav)
24. Immortal Poems of the English Language (This was one we were very happy to hear on the list)
25. Pride and Prejudice
26. Debates on the Constitution (Bailyn)
27. Commentaries of the United States Constitution (Story)
28. Commentaries on the Laws of England (Blackstone)
29. Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass (Both essential; both connected)
30. Summa Theologica (St. Thomas Aquinas)

As I stated above, only the first five are in order. The rest are simply there. Disagree if you wish, but these are the thirty books we agree on (and that's surprising to me, given a few on the list, and my wife's predilection for reading; no offense to her, but I wasn't expecting her to agree on the last one on the list).

Publius II