The Road to Serfdom 
F. A. Hayek 
A powerful indictment of governmental interference in the affairs of private citizens. Hayek explains why "democratic socialism" must be an oxymoron and why economic regulation can not coexist with the rule of law. Dedicated "to the Socialists of all parties", Hayek's groundbreaking work is a lucid demonstration that the road to Hell is paved with Marx's good intentions. The Cold War is over, but Hayek's insights still apply to everything from the failure of urban planning to the lawless Supreme Court to Yale's strike-happy dining hall workers. 
 

The Closing of the American Mind 
Allan Bloom 
An impassioned critique of higher education. Bloom offers an intellectual history of the West, in which the Left assimilates its old enemy, Friedrich Nietzsche. He also gives a furious personal history of Cornell in the sixties, "Cornell Revolution," when the Left backed up its slogans with real guns. Bloom defends the view that education is driven by love, that it is a seeking of another rather than an expression of oneself. He attacks the forces that have invaded the contemporary university, from feminism to relativism. 
 

The Abolition of Marriage 
Maggie Gallagher 
Americans have created a new definition of marriage, in which love reigns supreme  -- but children born out of wedlock live with their fathers for an average of just six months. Gallagher (Yale College '80) describes the effect on our wallets, safety and happiness, countering everything you thought you knew about men and women.