The New York Times called Noam Chomsky "arguably the most important intellectual alive", the Boston Globe says of him: "A 20th Century Rousseau.", Chomsky is Insitute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophgy at Massachutes Insitue of Technology, and yet due to the number of policital Chomsky books, he is one of the most prolific political commentary writers today. Noam Chomsky is the author of vast amounts of books, essays, articles, and pamphlets, including: Media Control, 911, A New Generation Draws the Line, Maufacturing Consent, and Understanding Power.
In this section you can use the Amazon.com links to buy Noam Chomsky Books.
The definitive collection of Chomsky's writing in his various books, both new and older. Edited by James Peck, a lengthy interview Noam Chomsky conducted with the editor is included also. Starting with excerpts from "The Responsibilty of intellectuals", and covering the cold war, Indochina war, Central America and the Middle East.
In this small book Chomsky outlines the framework behind which the government is able to stir up the populace to back otherwise un popular policy descisions, like war abroad. Drawing on the lessons learned from the creel commision in WWI and analyzing todays situation, Chomsky details the "manufacture of consent".
"Herman of Wharton and Chomsky of MIT lucidly document their argument that America's government and its corporate giants exercise control over what we read, see and hear. The authors identify the forces that they contend make the national media propagandistic -- the major three being the motivation for profit through ad revenue, the media's close links to and often ownership by corporations, and their acceptance of information from biased sources. In five case studies, the writers show how TV, newspapers and radio distort world events.... Extensive evidence is calmly presented, and in the end an indictment against the guardians of our freedoms is substantiated. A disturbing picture emerges of a news system that panders to the interests of America's privileged and neglects its duties when the concerns of minority groups and the underclass are at stake." - Publisher's Weekly
Understanding Power is a wide-ranging collection of transcribed and previously unpublished discussions and seminars (from 1989 to 1999) with sociopolitical analyst Chomsky. The chapters, each covering discrete sessions with Chomksy, arrive in a question-and-answer format that at times becomes delightfully contentious. He holds forth on such disparate topics as American third-party politics, the stifling of true dissent, the illusion of a muscular media, heavy-handed American imperialism (from Southeast Asia to Mexico), a dysfunctional and self-destructing United States political left, the gilding of the Kennedy and Carter administrations, and the impotent state of labor unions.
This book is based on a series of interviews conducted with Chomsky, by several authors, following the 9/11 attacks. Especially interesting in this book is the logical analysis of the US's use of the word "terrorism" and its definition.
The conflicts in Kosovo and East Timor, looked at side-by-side by Chomsky in this book, starkly illuminate the strategies of the Western powers in the new century. Chomsky convincingly argues that humanitarianism was not the moving force behind NATO's intervention in Yugoslavia, and that there, as in East Timor, strategic concerns were dominant while the fate of the civilian population was incidental.
Amazon is a great place to buy Chomsky books, and these are my recomendations of which of Noam's Books you should buy.