Want to know what books Samuel Moyn recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Samuel Moyn's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
The Revolution of the Saints is a study, both historical and sociological, of the radical political response of the Puritans to disorder. It interprets and analyzes Calvinism as the first modern expression of an unremitting determination to transform on the basis of an ideology the existing political and moral order. Michael Walzer examines in detail the circumstances and ideological options of the Puritan intelligentsia and gentry. He sees Puritanism, in sharp contrast to some generally accepted views, as the political theory of intellectuals and gentlemen attempting to create a new... more The Revolution of the Saints is a study, both historical and sociological, of the radical political response of the Puritans to disorder. It interprets and analyzes Calvinism as the first modern expression of an unremitting determination to transform on the basis of an ideology the existing political and moral order. Michael Walzer examines in detail the circumstances and ideological options of the Puritan intelligentsia and gentry. He sees Puritanism, in sharp contrast to some generally accepted views, as the political theory of intellectuals and gentlemen attempting to create a new government and society. less 
Samuel Moyn6/ As Michael Walzer rightly put it in his great book "The Revolution of the Saints," however, "virtually all the modern world" has been read into the Reformation, and especially into Calvinism. Wilken is not on guard against the distortions of this ongoing syndrome. (Source)
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2
What is the Sabbath, anyway? The holy day of rest? The first effort to protect the rights of workers? A smart way to manage stress in a world in which computers never get turned off and work never comes to an end? Or simply an oppressive, outmoded rite? In The Sabbath World, Judith Shulevitz explores the Jewish and Christian day of rest, from its origins in the ancient world to its complicated observance in the modern one. Braiding ideas together with memories, Shulevitz delves into the legends, history, and philosophy that have grown up around a custom that has lessons for all of us,... more What is the Sabbath, anyway? The holy day of rest? The first effort to protect the rights of workers? A smart way to manage stress in a world in which computers never get turned off and work never comes to an end? Or simply an oppressive, outmoded rite? In The Sabbath World, Judith Shulevitz explores the Jewish and Christian day of rest, from its origins in the ancient world to its complicated observance in the modern one. Braiding ideas together with memories, Shulevitz delves into the legends, history, and philosophy that have grown up around a custom that has lessons for all of us, not just the religious. The shared day of nonwork has built communities, sustained cultures, and connected us to the memory of our ancestors and to our better selves, but it has also aroused as much resentment as love. The Sabbath World tells this surprising story together with an account of Shulevitz’s own struggle to keep this difficult, rewarding day. less Samuel Moyn@JudithShulevitz’s amazing book reads even better with the universal need dawning lately for tech sabbatarianism. https://t.co/2iRNGb4LOO (Source)
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3
In this strikingly original work, Paul W. Kahn rethinks the meaning of political theology. In a text innovative in both form and substance, he describes an American political theology as a secular inquiry into ultimate meanings sustaining our faith in the popular sovereign.
Kahn works out his view through an engagement with Carl Schmitt's 1922 classic, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. He forces an engagement with Schmitt's four chapters, offering a new version of each that is responsive to the American political imaginary. The result is a... more In this strikingly original work, Paul W. Kahn rethinks the meaning of political theology. In a text innovative in both form and substance, he describes an American political theology as a secular inquiry into ultimate meanings sustaining our faith in the popular sovereign.
Kahn works out his view through an engagement with Carl Schmitt's 1922 classic, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. He forces an engagement with Schmitt's four chapters, offering a new version of each that is responsive to the American political imaginary. The result is a contemporary political theology. As in Schmitt's work, sovereignty remains central, yet Kahn shows how popular sovereignty creates an ethos of sacrifice in the modern state. Turning to law, Kahn demonstrates how the line between exception and judicial decision is not as sharp as Schmitt led us to believe. He reminds readers that American political life begins with the revolutionary willingness to sacrifice and that both sacrifice and law continue to ground the American political imagination. Kahn offers a political theology that has at its center the practice of freedom realized in political decisions, legal judgments, and finally in philosophical inquiry itself. less Samuel MoynPaul Kahn's brilliant new book on the rival modes of politics he calls "project" and "system" is out, and he adapts the distinction to think about progressives versus conservatives in a new blog post: https://t.co/p9wibUtQ48. (Source)
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4
How beef conquered America and gave rise to the modern industrial food complex
By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a highly centralized industry spanning the country, with cattle bred on ranches in the rural West, slaughtered in Chicago, and consumed in the nation's rapidly growing cities. Red Meat Republic tells the remarkable story of the violent conflict over who would reap the benefits of... more How beef conquered America and gave rise to the modern industrial food complex
By the late nineteenth century, Americans rich and poor had come to expect high-quality fresh beef with almost every meal. Beef production in the United States had gone from small-scale, localized operations to a highly centralized industry spanning the country, with cattle bred on ranches in the rural West, slaughtered in Chicago, and consumed in the nation's rapidly growing cities. Red Meat Republic tells the remarkable story of the violent conflict over who would reap the benefits of this new industry and who would bear its heavy costs.
Joshua Specht puts people at the heart of his story--the big cattle ranchers who helped to drive the nation's westward expansion, the meatpackers who created a radically new kind of industrialized slaughterhouse, and the stockyard workers who were subjected to the shocking and unsanitary conditions described by Upton Sinclair in his novel The Jungle. Specht brings to life a turbulent era marked by Indian wars, Chicago labor unrest, and food riots in the streets of New York. He shows how the enduring success of the cattle-beef complex--centralized, low cost, and meatpacker dominated--was a consequence of the meatpackers' ability to make their interests overlap with that of a hungry public, while the interests of struggling ranchers, desperate workers, and bankrupt butchers took a backseat. America--and the American table--would never be the same again.
A compelling and unfailingly enjoyable read, Red Meat Republic reveals the complex history of exploitation and innovation behind the food we consume today. less Samuel MoynIn my second year as a pescatarian, I spread the word in @newrepublic about @joshspecht's fantastic history of how red meat became so central to American culture and diet. Read Josh's book! Thanks @lmlauramarsh. https://t.co/b70Lcyd8Ec 12/ (Source)
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5
Human rights have a deep and tumultuous history that culminates in the age of rights we live in today, but where does Africa's story fit in with this global history? Here, Bonny Ibhawoh maps this story and offers a comprehensive and interpretative history of human rights in Africa. Rather than a tidy narrative of ruthless violators and benevolent protectors, this book reveals a complex account of indigenous African rights traditions embodied in the wisdom of elders and sages; of humanitarians and abolitionists who marshalled arguments about natural rights and human dignity in the cause of... more Human rights have a deep and tumultuous history that culminates in the age of rights we live in today, but where does Africa's story fit in with this global history? Here, Bonny Ibhawoh maps this story and offers a comprehensive and interpretative history of human rights in Africa. Rather than a tidy narrative of ruthless violators and benevolent protectors, this book reveals a complex account of indigenous African rights traditions embodied in the wisdom of elders and sages; of humanitarians and abolitionists who marshalled arguments about natural rights and human dignity in the cause of anti-slavery; of the conflictual encounters between natives and colonists in the age of Empire and the 'civilizing mission'; of nationalists and anti-colonialists who deployed an emergent lexicon of universal human rights to legitimize longstanding struggles for self-determination, and of dictators and dissidents locked in struggles over power in the era of independence and constitutional rights. less Samuel MoynCongrats to @giazilo on a great book on human rights in African history - here is my brief review https://t.co/prc5oDyfjN (Source)
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6
What if politicians pose a graver threat to liberal democracy than mass migration?
Brexit and Donald Trump's victory were just the beginning--and Marine Le Pen's defeat does not signal a turning of the tide. --From the Introduction
From Europe to the United States, opportunistic politicians have exploited the economic crisis, terrorist attacks, and an unprecedented influx of refugees to bring hateful and reactionary views from the margins of political discourse into the mainstream. They have won the votes of workers, women, gays, and Jews; turned openly xenophobic... more What if politicians pose a graver threat to liberal democracy than mass migration?
Brexit and Donald Trump's victory were just the beginning--and Marine Le Pen's defeat does not signal a turning of the tide. --From the Introduction
From Europe to the United States, opportunistic politicians have exploited the economic crisis, terrorist attacks, and an unprecedented influx of refugees to bring hateful and reactionary views from the margins of political discourse into the mainstream. They have won the votes of workers, women, gays, and Jews; turned openly xenophobic ideas into state policy; and pulled besieged centrist parties to the right. How did we get here?
In this deeply reported account, Sasha Polakow-Suransky provides a front-row seat to the anger, desperation, and dissent that are driving some voters into the arms of the far right and stirring others to resist. He introduces readers to refugees in the Calais "Jungle" and the angry working-class neighbors who want them out; a World War II refugee-turned-rabbi who became a leading defender of Muslim immigrants; the children of Holocaust survivors who have become apologists for the new right; and alt-right activists and the intellectuals who enable them.
Polakow-Suransky chronicles how the backlash against refugees and immigrants has reshaped our political landscape. Ultimately, he argues that the greatest threat comes not from outside, but from within--even established democracies are at risk of betraying their core values and falling apart. less Samuel MoynSasha’s @sasha_p_s great book “Go Back to Where You Came From” is more relevant than ever https://t.co/8KmTdS1qpT #Amazon (Source)
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7
New York Times columnist and author of To Change the Church Ross Douthat delves into our society’s stagnation and delivers some hard-hitting truths about how our actions today could lead to a historic crisis—or revitalization.
Today, the Western world is suffering from a painful, nameless malaise. The optimistic view of the new millennium has receded, giving way to profound frustration and disillusionment. Here, The Decadent Society provides an enlightening and informative diagnosis of our modern condition.
Author and New York Times... more New York Times columnist and author of To Change the Church Ross Douthat delves into our society’s stagnation and delivers some hard-hitting truths about how our actions today could lead to a historic crisis—or revitalization.
Today, the Western world is suffering from a painful, nameless malaise. The optimistic view of the new millennium has receded, giving way to profound frustration and disillusionment. Here, The Decadent Society provides an enlightening and informative diagnosis of our modern condition.
Author and New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat observes that Western societies are currently living through a paradoxical era called decadence, making some eye-opening yet well substantiated comparisons with the decline of the Roman Empire. Although we are seemingly blessed with a high level of material prosperity and technological development, our society is plagued by economic stagnation, institutional decay, and cultural and intellectual exhaustion.
An age of decadence is marked by an absence of growth and innovation. Repetition is more the norm than innovation and complacency has infiltrated public institutions and private enterprises alike. Intellectual life seems to go in circles and new developments in science, new exploratory projects, underdeliver compared to people’s expectations.
In this insightful work of historical, economical, and philosophical synthesis, Douthat identifies the symptoms and origins of our current period of decadence, and projects the most likely paths the future will take—either renaissance or collapse. less 
Murtaza Mohammad HussainReading @DouthatNYT’s book “The Decadent Society.” There is an interesting hypothesis about Israel’s exceptionally high birthrate among developed countries: the product of a politically mobilized society. Similar dynamic in America’s post-WW2 baby boom: https://t.co/ObLtfm3oDQ (Source)
Samuel Moyn“The desire for a different future only goes so far.” -@DouthatNYT, in a brilliant book excerpt
“It seems rather easy for Christian writers to announce the end of the age-since, after all, it was never to their liking.”
-Judith Shklar https://t.co/aQ2iisfTIa (Source)
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