Young America’s Foundation convened a panel on conservative books at the National Conservative Student Conference, held in early August at George Washington University in Washington, DC. National Review’s John J. Miller, Regnery Publishing President Marji Ross, and Discovery Institute’s Dr. Benjamin Wiker provided an extensive reading list for anyone interested in Conservative thought.

The following are each panelists recommendations.

National Review’s John J. Miller suggested, in the following categories:

• History of conservative thought
  • Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 by George Nash
• The Constitution
  • The Heritage Guide to the Constitution
  • The Citizen’s Constitution by Seth Lipsky
• Ronald Reagan
  • Lou Cannon’s President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime
  • The President, The Pope, and The Prime Minister
  • Reagan in His Own Hand – the book Miller most recommends in order to understand Ronald Reagan’s thought

Marji Ross, Regnery Publishing President, noted that students  should read books they don’t agree with as well as those with which they do agree. Furthermore, there are no better sources to to study than Shakespeare and the Bible in order to understand almost any literary allusion.

Ross closed her comments by telling students not to be an intellectual snobs. That is, “don’t disdain pop culture.” Her reading recommendations are in the following categories and includes several novels:

• American History
  • Citizen Washington – fictionalized history of George Washington
  • Jeff Shaara’s Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause
  • To Try Men’s Souls by Newt Gingrich
  • Politically Incorrect Guide to American History
• Conservative Principles
  • Conscience of a Conservative
  • Conservative Mind
  • God and Man at Yale
  • Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distorts the News
  • The Road to Serfdom
• Business & Success
  • The Millionaire Next Door
  • The Seeds of Greatness
  • The Richest Man in Babylon
  • The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dr. Benjamin Wiker –  Discovery Institute fellow and author of 10 Books Every Conservative Must Read and 10 Books That Screwed Up the World, didn’t break down his recommendations by categories.

• Aristotle’s Politics
• Democracy in America
• The Anti-Federalists Papers and Constitutional Convention Debates
• The Road to Serfdom
• Sense and Sensibility – Wiker recommends both the book and the movie. The latter, in his opinion, shows how conservative principles can be portrayed well in film.
• The Lord of the Rings

Watch the entire panel at BookTV.