Ben Shapiro

Author, Celebrity, Lawyer, Podcaster, Writer

Ben Shapiro is an American conservative commentator and lawyer who co-founded The Daily Wire in 2015 and launched The Ben Shapiro Show podcast the same year. He became a syndicated newspaper columnist at 17 and wrote The Right Side of History (2019).

Ben Shapiro's 82 Book Recommendations

• Founding God’s Nation: “here's a terrific and worthwhile book on the subject from Leon Kass” Source
• Every Man Dies Alone: “What's your favorite book few people have heard of? I'll lead off:” Source
• The Moral Arc: “Definitely pick up a copy of Michael's book, too -- it's a great read!” Source
• Ball Four: “Oh man, this sucks. Bouton's "Ball Four" is one of my favorite books. What a loss.” Source
• Reasons to Vote for Democrats: “This is the most thorough book on Democratic ideas ever penned.” Source
• King Lear: “So why does King Lear haunt us in a way no other Shakespeare play does? Perhaps because it speaks to the tragedy of life in a way largely unprecedented except for in certain books of the Bible – Job and Ecclesiastes in particular – and rare works of Greek tragedy.” Source
• The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932: “So, next on the list, William Manchester's The Last Lion, which is a couple part biography of Winston Churchill.” Source
• Mao: “Great biography of of Chairman Mau.” Source
• Anna Karenina: “The book is of course beautifully written. The plot is compelling.” Source
• The Brothers Karamazov: “Brothers Kasov is justly more famous.” Source
• Moby Dick: “It's an amazing piece of work.” Source
• Life and Fate: “Again, long book, terrific book, totally worthwhile to check it out.” Source
• East of Eden: “Truly a beautiful book.” Source
• John Adams: “It's a terrific book. McCulla is a really lucid writer.” Source
• Truman: “His biography of Harry Truman is also phenomenal.” Source
• Alexander Hamilton: “But he's a terrific writer.” Source
• Washington: “His biography of Washington is similarly good.” Source
• Grant: “His biography of Ulyses Srant is also really really good.” Source
• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York: “The book is just beautifully written and Robert Carroll is a tremendous writer.” Source
• The Path to Power: “He also has a four-part biography of Lynen Baines Johnson that is similarly worth reading.” Source
• American Caesar: “William Manchester's biography of General MacArthur, which is again is a wonderful read.” Source
• Kissinger: 1923–1968: The Idealist: “The first part is truly a magnificent piece of work.” Source
• The Screwtape Letters: “It's Christmas break, so it seems like an appropriate time to discuss one of my favorite books: “The Screwtape Letters,” by C.S. Lewis.” Source
• Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity, and Adoption: “Randall Kennedy's excellent book on the subject is a must-read” Source
• Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet: “For a great debunking and counterpoint, I recommend this excellent book” Source
• Accidental Presidents: “@jaredcohen's excellent book about accidental presidents is out in paperback!” Source
• The Signal and the Noise: “I recommended Silver’s excellent book in statistics two years ago on my show.” Source
• The War on the West: “Pick up a copy of his latest excellent tome” Source
• Suicide of the West: “.@jonahnro’s book is an important exploration of why we’re giving up the philosophy that built the modern West” Source
• The Right Stuff: “The book is FAR better than the movie, which is still good.” Source
• The Secret of Santa Vittoria: “What's your favorite book few people have heard of? I'll lead off:” Source
• Steve Jobs: “Walter Isacson biography of Steve Jobs is a first rate piece of work.” Source
• 1984: “But what gives 1984 its power is the human drama at its center: the drama of an individual human mind, assaulted by the forces of government and culture, driven into embrace of the unthinkable precisely because it is unthinkable.” Source
• Elon Musk: “Also, Walter's biography of Elon Musk is excellent as well, of course.” Source
• Churchill: A Life: “If you want another Churchill biography, Martin Gilbert's Churchill, also a phenomenal book.” Source
• Hitler: A Biography: “Ian Kershaw's two-part biography of Hitler is sort of the gold standard in terms of Hitler biography.” Source
• Stalin: A Biography: “Similarly amazing Robert Services's biography of Stalin.” Source
• The House of Rothschild: “His couple volume series on the history of the Rothschild family, also fantastic, really good financial history” Source
• The Federalist Papers: “The Federalist Paper is a big one in terms of sort of how American politics works.” Source
• Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson: “If you want to read a really good dual biography of Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Gordon Wood has an excellent dual biography of the two of them.” Source
• The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: “I've talked about Carl's books before on the show. I think The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self is maybe the most important book written in the last 10 years or so.” Source
• Hillbilly Elegy: “The revisionist history on the book "Hillbilly Elegy" is fascinating. The book came out in 2016 and was a massive bestseller because it personalized and commented on cultural pathologies that lead to long-term poverty in rural white communities.” Source
• Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America: “Give @NoahCRothman's new book a read. A terrific book with significant information about the state of today's intersectional politics.” Source
• The War of Return: “If you want a must-read about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the reason it won't be settled anytime soon, check out "The War of Return" by @Adi_Schwartz and @einatwilf” Source
• The Long March: How the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s Changed America: “I know I'm a few years late on this, but @rogerkimball's "The Long March" is a terrific book.” Source
• Huey Long: “He wrote a book about Huey Long that is really quite fantastic.” Source
• Johannes Brahms: A Biography: “His biography of Brahms is really phenomenal.” Source
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: “Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often regarded as the Great American Novel – the single greatest expression of the American personality in literature.” Source
• A Tale of Two Cities: “…the reason that A Tale of Two Cities carries as much weight as David Copperfield or Great Expectations is because it captures better than any other novel the rage and risk of revolution.” Source
• Brave New World: “Aldous Huxley's Brave New World represents perhaps the scariest form of utopia: the utopia so many people seem to crave.” Source
• The Once and Future King: “T.H. White wrote only one great book: The Once and Future King. But that book was written over the course of decades, and really encompasses several smaller novels, fitted together with master craftsmanship.” Source
• Shane: “But Shane represents a reminder that the men and women who settled the land on which the vast majority of Americans currently live were, for all of their flaws, doing something heroic, facing the unknown in order to conquer and cultivate the West.” Source
• All the King's Men: “He became the subject of one of my favorite books, All the King's Men” Source
• Economics in One Lesson: “The first econ book that I thought was really great because it was written for teenagers, essentially, is one called Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. It's like 150 pages. I recommend it to everybody sort of 15 and up.” Source
• Crime and Punishment: “I think that Crime and Punishment is more readable. It is an amazing piece of of writing.” Source
• Exodus: “Exodus is the story of why those claims are eminently correct, and why they will always remain so. ... It stands as a testament to a time when America saw itself as a force for good in the world.” Source
• Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth: “I recommend @noatishby's new book, which is written by a member of the Israeli center-left, on Israeli history” Source
• Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Separates Us from Everything Else: “The best book on abortion currently out” Source
• To Brooklyn With Love: “Okay, your top 3 little-known fiction books. Go. 1. Every Man Dies Alone 2. The Secret of Santa Vittoria 3. To Brooklyn With Love” Source
• Childhood's End: “East of Eden Every Man Dies Alone Childhood's End Moby Dick Crime and Punishment” Source
• Darkness at Noon: “1984 Darkness at Noon The Gulag Archipelago” Source
• The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 (Abridged): “1984 Darkness at Noon The Gulag Archipelago” Source
• To Kill a Mockingbird: “1. Moby Dick 2. East of Eden 3. Huck Finn 4. To Kill A Mockingbird 5. The Scarlet Letter” Source
• The Scarlet Letter: “1. Moby Dick 2. East of Eden 3. Huck Finn 4. To Kill A Mockingbird 5. The Scarlet Letter” Source
• Think Again: “Great book.” Source
• Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump: “This is a good book.” Source
• Basic Economics 2nd Ed: “Basic Economics: Sowell's seminal work, and one that every high school and college student should read and re-read.” Source
• The Quest for Cosmic Justice: “The Quest For Cosmic Justice: Sowell explains where leftist desire to rule springs from, and why they can't accept the world of reality.” Source
• Black Rednecks and White Liberals: “Here’s a brief list of some of my favorite Sowell books: ... Black Rednecks and White Liberals: ... skewers sacred racial cows with abandon” Source
• Four Days in July: “#3FaveBooksWhenIWasAKid 1. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) 2. Chip Hilton sports series (Clair Bee) 3. Four Days In July (Cornel Lengyel)” Source
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: “"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig is one of my dad's favorite books. I first read it as a teenager and again this past week. It's a riveting book on philosophy and psychology. I highly recommend it.” Source
• The Bonfire of the Vanities: “The Bonfire of the Vanities is his best work: an audacious reconstruction of decaying New York in the mid-1980s, with all of its energy, Wall Street greed, racial strife, and political ambition. The book is no less relevant today than it was then.” Source
• Atlas Shrugged: “Rand's transformative take on the power of capitalism and the virtue of selfishness has shaped several generations of American thinking on economics.” Source
• Animal Farm: “Animal Farm represents his most crystallized take on the evils of totalitarian collectivism and its corruption... "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" is the single best description of socialism ever written.” Source
• Fiery (But Mostly Peaceful): The 2020 Riots and the Gaslighting of America: “Ace reporter Julio Rosas was on the ground during the riots of 2020, and his new book - published by The Daily Wire - tells the true story of what happened that summer across America. Pre-order your copy of Julio's new book, Fiery (But Mostly Peaceful), today.” Source
• What Is a Woman?: One Man's Journey to Answer the Question of a Generation: “Matt is getting back to the basics by asking the most fundamental question in the gender ideological debacle: "What Is A Woman?" And the answers he got will seriously shock you. His new book is already a #1 bestseller in the Women's Studies category.” Source
• Johnny the Walrus: “Matt Walsh introduces his new children's book, Johnny The Walrus. See why Tucker Carlson says you'll want to buy six copies for you and your friends.” Source
• 12 Seconds in the Dark: A Police Officer's Firsthand Account of the Breonna Taylor Raid: “12 Seconds in the Dark is the true story of what really happened the night of the tragic Breonna Taylor shooting. Mattingly, a twenty-year police veteran, takes readers inside his department's response and debunks the lies that have recklessly been shared with the public.” Source
• When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives: “Hey folks, I've got a timely and important book to share with you today... "When Race Trumps Merit"... Mac Donald provides a clear and sobering analysis on what's happening and what we can expect if we don't act. If you're interested in understanding the threat to Western civilization and fighting back, don't miss this essential book.” Source
• Why I Stand: “Now Jonathan Isaac - power forward for the Orlando Magic - is speaking out. The Daily Wire is proud to announce that we will be publishing Isaac's upcoming new book, Why I Stand. This book will tell the story of how Jonathan Isaac's deeply-held faith led him to reject the divisive politics of the Black Lives Matter movement and embrace his love for America.” Source
• Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds: “Believe it or not, I actually think the book is good. Very good. It's called "Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds," and it's been a huge hit, selling more than 17,000 copies in just the first week.” Source
• Discrimination and Disparities: “I had the pleasure of reading it over the last couple of weeks. I've actually referenced it at least twice on the show since I read it. I think it's quite brilliant.” Source

Books written by Ben Shapiro

• The Right Side of History
• Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans
• Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth
• Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future
• Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House
• Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV
• The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against the Obama Administration
• True Allegiance
• Facts Don't Care About Your Feelings
• How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps
• The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America's Institutions Against Dissent
• Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics)
• Facts & Furious