Founders & technologists
Books recommended by Stewart Brand
Creator of the Whole Earth Catalog; co-founder of the Long Now Foundation
Writer and editor behind the Whole Earth Catalog and author of How Buildings Learn. Co-founded the Long Now Foundation, which promotes long-term thinking.
On lists:AuthorsJournalistsScientists
HistoryFiction & literatureComputing & softwareEconomics & progressWar & violence
Photo: cellanr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This is a selection of sourced recommendations, not a complete list of everything Stewart Brand has read or praised. How we choose.
Recommendations
Books Stewart Brand recommends
22 books from 1 source. Each one links to the place where Stewart recommended it.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization
Brand chose these from his own libraries for the Manual for Civilization, a library of books 'you would most want to sustain or rebuild civilization'.
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Meditations
Canon selectionOne of 70-plus titles Brand chose from his own libraries for Long Now's Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+6 other recommenders: Shane Parrish, Ryan Holiday, Darius Foroux, James Clear, Mark Manson, Naval Ravikant
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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization (the six-volume set).
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+2 other recommenders: Neal Stephenson, Tom Holland
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The Iliad
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization in Robert Fagles's translation.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+4 other recommenders: Neal Stephenson, Stephen Fry, David Bowie, Mark Manson
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The Odyssey
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization in Robert Fagles's translation.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+3 other recommenders: Neal Stephenson, Stephen Fry, Mark Manson
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A Pattern Language
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+2 other recommenders: Patrick Collison, Brian Eno
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization; Long Now's post singles it out as a recent addition among older classics.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+3 other recommenders: James Clear, Mark Manson, Thomas Frank
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization; Pinker had spoken at Long Now's seminar series.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+3 other recommenders: Bruce Schneier, Mark Manson, Fareed Zakaria
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A History of the World in 100 Objects
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Listed in the source as “The History of the World in 100 Objects”.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+1 other recommender: Brian Eno
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The Discoverers
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization (the illustrated two-volume set).
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+2 other recommenders: Kevin Kelly, Brian Eno
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Powers of Ten
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+1 other recommender: Kevin Kelly
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Foundation
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization as part of the Foundation trilogy.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+6 other recommenders: Daniel Suarez, Orson Scott Card, Paul Krugman, Adam Gazzaley, Mark Manson, Matt Mullenweg
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Star Maker
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+1 other recommender: Bruce Sterling
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Finite and Infinite Games
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+2 other recommenders: Derek Sivers, Nat Eliason
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Governing the Commons
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
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Collapse
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+1 other recommender: Matthew Yglesias
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A Short History of Nearly Everything
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization (the special illustrated edition).
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+3 other recommenders: Maria Popova, James Clear, Mark Manson
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Turing's Cathedral
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
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The Pattern on the Stone
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
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What Technology Wants
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization; written by fellow Long Now board member Kevin Kelly.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+1 other recommender: Matt Ridley
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Dune
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+4 other recommenders: Christopher Paolini, Arkady Martine, Mark Manson, Brandon Sanderson
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Triumph of the City
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
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The Story of Writing
Canon selectionPicked for the Manual for Civilization.
Stewart Brand's Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization Organization pagelongnow.org
+1 other recommender: Kevin Kelly
Written by Stewart Brand
Books Stewart Brand wrote
Their most-published books, from Open Library. These are books they wrote, not recommendations.
Cross-recommendations
Picks others agree on
18 books Stewart recommends that at least one other person in the directory also recommends, each from their own source.
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7recommendersFoundation 7 recommendersStewart Brand, Daniel Suarez, Orson Scott Card, Paul Krugman, Adam Gazzaley, Mark Manson, Matt Mullenweg
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7recommendersMeditations 7 recommendersStewart Brand, Shane Parrish, Ryan Holiday, Darius Foroux, James Clear, Mark Manson, Naval Ravikant
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5recommendersDune 5 recommendersStewart Brand, Christopher Paolini, Arkady Martine, Mark Manson, Brandon Sanderson
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5recommendersThe Iliad 5 recommendersStewart Brand, Neal Stephenson, Stephen Fry, David Bowie, Mark Manson
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4recommendersA Short History of Nearly Everything 4 recommendersStewart Brand, Maria Popova, James Clear, Mark Manson
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4recommendersThe Better Angels of Our Nature 4 recommendersStewart Brand, Bruce Schneier, Mark Manson, Fareed Zakaria
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4recommendersThe Odyssey 4 recommendersStewart Brand, Neal Stephenson, Stephen Fry, Mark Manson
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4recommendersThinking, Fast and Slow 4 recommendersStewart Brand, James Clear, Mark Manson, Thomas Frank
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3recommendersA Pattern Language 3 recommendersPatrick Collison, Stewart Brand, Brian Eno
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3recommendersFinite and Infinite Games 3 recommendersDerek Sivers, Stewart Brand, Nat Eliason
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3recommendersThe Discoverers 3 recommendersStewart Brand, Kevin Kelly, Brian Eno
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3recommendersThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 3 recommendersStewart Brand, Neal Stephenson, Tom Holland
Plus 6 more below, marked with the other recommenders.
Cross-recommendations
Who agrees with Stewart
People in the directory who recommended at least one of the same books.
Mark Manson8 books in commonMeditations · The Iliad · The Odyssey · Thinking, Fast and Slow · The Better Angels of Our Nature · Foundation · A Short History of Nearly Everything · Dune
James Clear3 books in commonMeditations · Thinking, Fast and Slow · A Short History of Nearly Everything
Neal Stephenson3 books in commonThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · The Iliad · The Odyssey
Brian Eno3 books in commonA Pattern Language · A History of the World in 100 Objects · The Discoverers
Kevin Kelly3 books in commonThe Discoverers · Powers of Ten · The Story of Writing
Stephen Fry2 books in commonThe Iliad · The Odyssey
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