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Where to start reading Noam Chomsky’s books

Where to start reading Noam Chomsky’s books

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Douglas Elbinger / Contributor via Getty Images

There are few authors more influential or highly regarded, or consistently referenced than Noam Chomsky. Indeed, according to The Guardian, he ranks among Shakespeare, Karl Marx and the Bible as one of the most quoted sources in the humanities.

A true polymath, the linguist, philosopher, professor and social critic first changed the course of modern linguistics with his theory of transformational grammar, then pivoted to re-shape the role of academics with his 1967 essay “The Responsibility of Intellectuals”, which criticised the decade’s intellectual culture for propping up, rather than critiquing, power structures. Throughout his career, he has spoken out resolutely against injustice and corruption, from his controversial opposition of the Vietnam War during the 1960s to his ongoing criticism of US foreign policy today.

The slow decline of the public intellectual has made Chomsky one of the last of his kind, but his written output continues unabated: adding to an esteemed bibliography of over 150 titles spanning language, grammar, capitalism, power, politics, culture, media, and much more, Chomsky continues to publish new books.

The vastness of his oeuvre can make parsing it a daunting task, so we’ve scoured it for the best, the most prominent, and the most powerful books of Chomsky’s career. Find your perfect entry point to his brilliant body of work below.

Manufacturing Consent (1988)

Today, it’s common knowledge that mass media helps fuel state propaganda – we know that the news is influenced by large, profit-based corporations with financial and political interests – and we have this revolutionary book, co-written with economist and social critic Edward S. Herman, to thank for that. Manufacturing Consent, perhaps Chomsky’s most influential work, wasn’t the first to study corporate propaganda, but it incisively explains how mass communication media upholds corporate interests before editorial ones. If you haven’t read it yet, this is the book to start your Chomsky journey.

How the World Works (2010)

As starting places go, one could do much worse than this topic-spanning omnibus of four core Chomsky books – The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many; Secrets, Lies and Democracy; The Common Good; and What Uncle Sam Really Wants – that demonstrate Chomsky’s intellectual prowess and clarity of argument as he covers a span of topics related to contemporary geopolitics: wealth inequality, racism, peaceful protest, American imperialism, working-class education, and more. For those seeking a varied, all-encompassing tour of Chomsky’s work, the aptly titled How the World Works offers just that.

Who Rules the World? (2014)

After explaining How the World Works in 2010, Chomsky set about examining who governs it in this trenchant, fearless account of where real power lies, how that power is exercised, and why it should be questioned. By pulling together recent histories such as America’s involvement in Cuba and China’s sudden rise as a global power, Who Rules the World? exposes the corruption and threat that these powers pose to the average world citizen – and explores whether democracy still possesses the political might to unseat them. This reprint edition includes a new afterword on the presidency of Donald Trump.

On Anarchism (2005)

In this paradigm-shifting book that sheds light on the foundations of his politics, Noam Chomsky confronts that most feared and misunderstood of political philosophies: anarchism. Hardly the synonym for chaos that fear-mongers would have you believe, anarchy is, in Chomsky’s terms, an optimistic, power-questioning and fluid ideology that seeks to dismantle hierarchy and entrenched power structures to emphasise the importance of collective action and providing for the needs of everyone. Alternately challenging and inspiring – and often both simultaneously – On Anarchism showcases Chomsky at his most thoughtful and politically astute.

On Palestine (2015)

This is not just a great place to begin your journey through Noam Chomsky’s bibliography, but also the perfect book to help you understand how history has led to the current situation in Gaza. On Palestine was described as an “urgent and timely” read upon its release in 2015 and has only grown in importance since. This impassioned book, co-authored by Chomsky and Israeli political scientist Ilan Pappé, agrees on a bottom line – that Palestine must be liberated – and then works from there to find a solution to ending Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Occupy (2012)

In this short but affecting treatise on the power of the proletariat, Chomsky reports on the movement that began as a few activists in tents protesting wealth inequality in New York’s Zuccotti Park in September 2011 – and then spread worldwide. Here, Chomsky takes to the streets of New York to speak with Occupy’s supporters, who are less your average activists and more your average workers, and who demand answers to the same questions Chomsky does: how did we end up with a 1% hoarding nearly half of the world’s wealth, and how do we fix our broken democracy to stop it?

The Essential Chomsky (2008)

For the beginner who wants a more well-rounded experience of Noam Chomsky’s vast bibliography, this 500-page collection of 25 essays written over six decades is a perfect whistle-stop tour of his powerful prose and rhetorical virtuosity. Among its selections are extracts from some of Chomsky’s best books about America: Hegemony or Survival, about America’s world domination post-Second World War, and Failed States, about its assault on democracy. But The Essential Chomsky also touches on corporate media, intellectual freedom, and human rights, mixing all his strongest subjects into a heady cocktail for new readers and Chomsky aficionados alike.

The Myth of American Idealism (2024)

Many political thinkers soften as they age; not Noam Chomsky. Two months before his 96th birthday, he is publishing The Myth of American Idealism, an incisive, unflinching excoriation of America’s foreign policy and the havoc it has wrought over the decades. In Iraq, Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and elsewhere, he argues, saviour narratives have failed to mask self-serving intentions that have driven America ever-closer to catastrophic conflicts with China and Russia. This latest entry in Chomsky’s formidable canon about American imperialism is also one of his most compelling.

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