12 Best Thomas Sowell Books (2022 Updated)

Race relations is the hottest topic in America today. understandably. However, if you are looking for a book that discusses race (discrimination and disparities) from a logical (facts and numerical) perspective, as opposed to the feeling and emotional based narrative touted by the left and mainstream media, this book by Thomas Sowell is a good place to start.

Why Thomas Sowell is not a better-known contributor to race issues in American is hard to comprehend (It’s hard to fathom that this is the first review of this book on this website!). To start, he is a renowned American economist (PhD) and he happens to be black.

Though he now holds degrees from Harvard, Columbia, and University of Chicago, and is the head of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, his childhood encompassed times in both poor rural North Carolina and inner-city Harlem.

He was forced to drop out of school at the age of seventeen due to financial limitations of his home (his father passed before his birth) before later returning to complete his studies. One would think that this combination of education, life experience, and living in America as a black person, would certainly qualify him as someone having an opinion worth noting (whether one agrees with his views completely or not) on the topic of race.

In this works Mr. Sowell dismantles example after example, the various unnuanced examples accepted by the left by which they move to indict that all inequalities between races can only be a result of racism.

If you are one that is looking for a thinking (instead of feeling) assessment of race issues in America, I highly recommend this book.

There may be many of us who feel that some have been given a raw deal, due to the bed they were born in – or suppression by others. After reading this book, you’ll realise that the self-serving demagogues who stir up social unrest are simply being opportunistic and manipulative.

This book is an academic treatise on winning and losing in a complicated social environment. You will come away with a different perspective – and a feeling of guilt for your erstwhile prejudices.

Half way through it and I’ve been fascinated. Great information, well written, all around a wonderful addition to your library if anthropology is your deal. It explains a lot about why and how the left uses “discrimination” statistics to influence how their communist ideas affect both the “poor” and the “rich” in this country.

A very good read, so far.

Sowell is an incredible intellectual who explains how the social policies of the last 50 years or so have damaged the black family and community at large. He discusses the implications of politicians who claim to care about African Americans but design programs and policies that have in fact harmed them instead of the good results that were promised.

The author doesn’t get as much recognition as some other African American thinkers of our day, but Sowell stands above the rest in intellectual stature. Highly recommend.

Any book by Sowell is eye-opening and educational. He should be celebrated as the genius he is. A 91-year old black man who educated himself in his young life, served our country in the military, and gives the truth – regardless of what’s “popular”, but instead, what’s right.

A black youth from an humble background enters the service, goes to college and becomes a learned man, an economist. His insights into the ways of the American Left are the stuff of common sense backed up by fact, well documented in this book.

I was particularly taken by his comments referring to the fact that the left considers any opinion contrary to theirs as morally inferior. Written years ago this is spot-on in today’s political debate.

Walmart had to send this twice in order for me to get it. Maybe the first one got lost in the holiday shipping madness. Who knows? It was smaller than I had imagined. But it’s the right size for my 2 year old to carry around.

The case has a handle, velcro closed, has 4 books- blue train, green train, go train go, a cracked in the track, and stop train, stop. All 4 books have hard pages so great for toddler age. Bright and Early Board Books.

Each book has about 20 pages.

This purchase was for my 3 yr old son who loves Thomas the Train. The board books are durable & not too wordy which keeps him engaged and interested in looking at them and me reading them to him. They are a perfect size for the highchair tray and for travel.

The lunchbox they come in is cute and we saved it but probably not very useful for anything except to store the books in for traveling. I would recommend this product to others who have a child that loves Thomas.

My one-year-old son had a gift card and could choose any book of his choice and chose this box set. Knowing he likes Thomas we went along with him even though he was more of a lift the flap and texture type.

Yet, he LOVES these books. Listens to the stories then flips back through to discuss the illustrations. These books were the first real stories our son would sit for and still a favorite. Plus, he enjoys putting the books in and out of the box.

Thomas Sowell has to be one of the most intellegent and honest human beings to have ever garced this planet. He does not surrender to the outright lies that are being taught at universities and pushed by the former main stream media.

Black Rednecks & White Liberals is incredibly informative and written in such a way as to not demean any race, culture or religeon. I am very happy to recommend this book.

Chapter 3 is an essay about the truth and real history of slavery. Dr Sowell has done the research for us and you must read it

Great point of view from the mind of a nan that is obvious Rey intelligent and is very interesting read .

I bought this for my son, who loves Thomas and friends. The story is simple and short, so don’t get this if you’re interested in a good read for kids. But the mat and trains are *loved*. The trains are small and the mat is made of a coated paper (reminds me of a thick magazine cover).

The mat ripped easily but it was repaired with tape, and now that my son knows he can’t treat it the same as the carpet-like truck mats, it’s held up just fine.

We’ve had this set for years. The mat has held up despite being folded and unfolded repeatedly. I dinged it one star because the trains are what you would expect– small, almost hollow from the bottom, and the production quality reflects the price.

If you have a true Thomas nut in your house, he may notice a few imperfection in the “paint” job. We love taking these to restaurants or to church so the kids can play quietly. Much easier than hauling the full size engines along!.

I bought this busy book with the assumption that it would be different from the Thomas & Friends Busy Book my son already has. The product cover shown is not what I received.

The mark of a true intellect lies in his ability to explain complex subjects to the ordinary reader who does not have the subject matter expertise of the author. Sowell does this in all his writings and Applied Economics is no different.

From the failures of socialism and communism, to the history of slavery throughout the world over the course of human existence. Sowell explains, from an economic perspective, why such ideologies and practices ultimately fail over time when productivity, value, and output must be accounted for in a competitive marketplace.

I highly recommend Applied Economics. I suggest, as Sowell does, that readers start with his book Basic Economics. However, if you must start with this book you won’t be lost for long due to Sowell’s innate ability to the bring the reader along with the principles he discusses.

Sowell’s APPLIED ECONOMICS is an easy to read and enlightening book on economics. Sowell makes the reader consider the many interacting phenomena, such as busines, human nature, politics and bring forward topics which are required understanding for the modern student of economics.

Well written and interesting.

An Excellent, Outstanding book for what is going on with our country’s economy right now. After reading this political vs. economic view. written in understandable, layman terms, one would very much understand all that’s going on with the countries politics.

Scary is the only word for all of the money being spent!!! A must read!!!!.

Clever poems that are relatively quick to read and words are appropriate for new readers. Kids feel a sense of accomplishment when they get the humor and can read many poems in a sitting. Unlike with a chapter book which can sometimes be intimidating or just take too long.

Light in the Attic is an old time favorite of our family,. It is timeless and appropriate for all ages. No library would be complete without it. We moved and my copy disappeared. When, I bought this copy, my husband and I read it for fun.

I put it on my book shelf. My 10 year old step son returned home and we were sitting in my room. His eyes really lit up as he smiled and exclaimed that he knew that book. He was very happy to see it and eager to get it off the shelf.

It is a great poetry book that is meaningful and hilarious. The illustrations are wonderful. The poems are quirky and thought provoking, but short and humorous.

I was upset when I got this. I did not realize it did not have the original cover on it. That was part of the charm. WHile it might have been my oversight by reading carefully (I had no idea what no dust meant) I was not pleased with the condition of this book.

The book is the book. Content is great.

Every person alive should read this, particularly if youre White European or White American and think you know your history! This should be on the mandatory reading list in every secondary school in the world! It will make you question your place in the world and the part you play today, unknowingly, in the racist world we live in! I couldnt put the book down.

Kendi writes in simple English, no fancy, frilly words that leave you searching for a dictionary. He writes in a language that all can all understand. He introduces the reader to historical figures maybe never heard of and makes you see others in a different light.

We think racism no longer exists but this book makes you realise how wrong you are! Cant wait to read his next book. But this! You wont regret it! Ps. I highly recommend Blackwell Books too.

I had heard about this author from a TED seminar on YouTube and resonated with what was being said, so I took it upon myself to purchase and learn the knowledge gathered here. I can say that this book is without a doubt one of my most thoroughly enjoyed readings and the wisdom that will pour from your mouth after reading will impress everyone you know as many topics covered can be applied in day-to-day conversation to help bring awareness of the tension on racial matters that still plague our society today.

Thanks Dr Kendi.

A readable acccount of so many years I cannot count them. Thank you for my new education. Slow going and worth it. This book is a must for our times.

Excellent background research, in Ruth Maddow’s typical narrative style, with facts and figures put into context even for today’s reader. Anybody who watches The Ruth Maddow Show on MSNBC american news channel will know what a consummate journalist she is.

Her books are readable and add to the historical background of what is happening in the USA today.

With wit and erudition, Rachel Maddow addresses the modern role of the USA’s military. Her PhD is put to good use in this insightful analysis. As fresh as her newscasts, this book is written with style and a little paradoxical humor, making it a knowledgeable, and worthwhile read for a wide audience.

This book is brilliantly laid out, compellingly written and engaged me from beginning to end. If this is a subject that interests you, I highly recommend it.

I’ve read all of Mr. Gladwell’s books and if you’re only going to read one, IMO, this is his most important, and at the risk of hyperbole, I’ll call it brilliant. He argues, and supports with substantial evidence, the idea that sheer luck plays an enormous role in how our lives turn out.

He stops short of taking the extreme deterministic position agreed upon by, oh, Einstein, Freud, and BF Skinner, to name a few of the 20th centuries most influential thinkers, but many readers will have their minds opened to consider that possibility more seriously.

The book is also the story of failure. I guess if that had been incorporated into the title it would have been less appealing. And although examples of failure due to bad luck are no doubt far more common than The Beatles or Steve Jobs, thus who experience failure, also because of (bad) luck, don’t stick out to be studies and included.

If there’s a weakness it’s that examples that con’t support his thesis are ignored. On the other hand. if his thesis is correct, and I think it is, there are no contradictory example. Outliers is, IMO, a truly great book.

I can’t thin of a book I’d recommend more highly.

A book that challenges the stereo type thinking of who is an exceptional person or group of people. The author has demonstrated that outliers are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy.

Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky, but all critical to making them who they are.

The book has so many examples of circumstances but the wonderful example of the Jewish emigre family to New York, the Borgenichts’ showed how Louis and Regina may have been tired and poor and overwhelmed.

For Louis being his own boss and making his own decisions, engaging his mind and imagination resulted in a relationship between effort and reward. The three things – autonomy, complexity and connection between effort and reward are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it has to be satisfying.

Meaningfulness is very important in one’s job or task for us to excel in it. Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig.

For me, a crucial lesson to those who want to tackle the upper reaches of a profession is if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desire.

Working hard is what successful people do. Even for subjects like mathematics, it’s not ability as attitude. Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work. As the Chinese say “No one who can rise before dawn three hundred city days a year fails to make his family rich”.

In summary, outliers are those who have been given opportunities and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. As the author summarises, “The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all.

This book enlightens us about the myth of land of opportunities and hard work. These myths survive because a lot of people heard of self made millionaires. Theyre usually the ones that perpetuate the illusion of hard work, good ideas produce $ucce$$.

Without proper opportunities, like being in the right place at the right time and knowing someone who can propel you in the right direction, just by ones own merit doesnt take you very far.

Truly one of the most insightful books I have read. It has changed the way I think about things from prices in the supermarket to the cost of housing. It’s straightforward and simplistic explanations has lifted the fog on things I didn’t understand because I thought that they were too complicated for lay people or because I don’t work in politics or corporate banking.

It clarifies the world of economics and will give you a lens to view and analyse problems in the future. Essential reading for everyone – it should be issued to every 18 year old to study.

While knowing I was weak in my Econ knowledge I wanted to gain more insights and better understand the various terms and just overall Econ speak. This book covered what appears enough to now lead to going deeper into different business and policy sectors.

Its also easy to read with relatable examples. My understanding has been deepened to learn more. Definitely recommend this book especially while quarantined Most of us have more free time so using it to learn is important to me.

This book should be required reading in every high school. Sowell makes a subject that many find difficult to grasp straightforward and easy to understand.

It was a Christmas gift to my young sons who love this book. It is their second book. There last one was a hand me down from a friend that worked for months after we got it. My sons played with it for one day and it no longer made any sounds.

Amazing book. We bought it 2nd time and I know frim experience due to shape after certain time book will go apart 🙁

I bought this book 5 months ago. And yet working very well. Great interactive and excellent book.