What better way to celebrate the holidays than with 50% off books?

I’m with Abraham Lincoln: “My best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.”

So when The Imaginative Conservative asks me for Christmas gift recommendations, I immediately think of books. What better gift could there be?

Since you’re reading The Imaginative Conservative, you probably think along the same lines. So here are eight gift suggestions from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). All of these (and hundreds of others) are available for 50% off as part of ISI’s Christmas sale.

  1. A Pope and a President: Paul Kengor’s new book about John Paul II and Ronald Reagan is so popular that we keep reprinting it to meet all the demand. And with good reason: Professor Kengor tells the extraordinary untold story of a singular bond between the pope and the president that drove them to confront the great evil of the twentieth century: Soviet communism.
  2. The False Promise of Big Government: In just 100 pages, law professor Patrick Garry reveals the many ways big government hurts the very people it purports to help. But he also has a bracing message for proponents of limited government: We’ve been relying on the wrong arguments in trying to rein in the state. As National Affairs editor Yuval Levin says, this book “is simply essential reading.”
  3. How the West Won: Pernicious myths about Western civilization have gained currency in popular culture and the academy. But the esteemed Baylor University scholar Rodney Stark debunks these politically correct myths in his page-turning history. Taking you on a thrilling journey from ancient Greece to the present, this book is an invaluable one-volume history of Western civilization.
  4. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child: In this brave and bitingly funny book, the great Anthony Esolen turns his gaze to insidious trends in parenting and education. He shows how almost everything we are now doing to children constricts their imaginations. This is a perennial favorite—the book that led the American Spectator to put Dr. Esolen “in the top rank of authors of cultural criticism.”
  5. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Both World magazine and the Financial Times named this groundbreaking work one of the best books of the year. In this “exhilarating and unputdownable read” (Standpoint), Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera marshals mountains of primary-source evidence to demolish the myth of a tolerant, multicultural Islamic Golden Age.
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: This is “essential reading for all Tolkien enthusiasts,” in Booklist’s words. The Imaginative Conservative’s co-founder Bradley J. Birzer reveals the underlying meaning of Middle-earth—religious, social, and political.
  7. Kindle Liberty: Here you’ll get not one book but fifty. This is a library that fits in your hand: A new Kindle Paperwhite that comes loaded with ISI’s carefully curated selection of fifty great works of the Western tradition—from Aristotle and Cicero, to Adam Smith and Alexis de Tocqueville, to Russell Kirk and Whittaker Chambers. ISI’s Kindle Liberty makes a wonderful gift for the thoughtful reader.
  8. Modern Age: This last recommendation isn’t a book—but it is, as the acclaimed historian Wilfred McClay recently said, “required reading for those who want to engage conservative thought at a high level.” Modern Age, the quarterly journal founded by Russell Kirk, is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary and welcoming its new editor, Daniel McCarthy, the former editor of The American Conservative. In these contentious, confusing times, the reinvigorated Modern Age is emerging as the forum for debating the most important ideas being batted about on the right. And this month only you can subscribe for just $20.

So there you have it: your eight Christmas gift recommendations from ISI.

Of course, this list is just a starting point. You’ll find some 300 books and ebooks in the ISI store—and again, you can get any of them for half price for the holidays. My colleagues and I are happy to offer you this simple and affordable way to find thoughtful gifts…or add to your own library.

Merry Christmas from all of us at ISI. And happy reading!

The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.

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