Marc Andreessen

Author, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Executive, Investor

Marc Lowell Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, investor, and software engineer. He is the co-author of Mosaic, the first widely used web browser; co-founder of Netscape; and co-founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Marc Andreessen's 181 Book Recommendations

• More from Less
• The 4-hour Workweek
• An apology for the builder
• Kill Decision
• Golden Gates
• Edison
• The Tycoons
• Triumph of the City
• Recapturing the Spirit of Enterprise
• The Rational Optimist
• Whole Earth Discipline
• Extreme Ownership
• The Power of Productivity
• A Spy Among Friends
• How to Live
• A Very Expensive Poison
• The Myth of the Rational Voter
• Lone Survivor
• Devil's Bargain
• Days of Rage
• Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign
• Civilian Warriors
• The Rise of Superman
• Living with a SEAL
• When the Wolves Bite
• But What If We're Wrong?
• Skin in the Game
• A Higher Loyalty
• Slugfest
• Chasing Hillary
• Hacks
• The Strange Death of Europe
• 12 Rules for Life
• A Guide to the Good Life
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things
• The Spider Network
• The Courage to Be Disliked
• Thinking in Bets
• Expert Political Judgment
• Thinking, Fast and Slow
• The Wizard of Menlo Park
• Schulz and Peanuts
• High Output Management
• Behave
• Poor Charlie's Almanack
• Only the Paranoid Survive
• Born Standing Up
• Build for Tomorrow
• The Worlds I See: “on the publication of her deeply personal memoir THE WORLDS I SEE -- I highly recommend!”
• Bullshit Jobs: “The book Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber was wrong in substance but right in gestalt.”
• The World That Wasn't: “This book is 🔥 BEYOND BELIEF. Highly recommend 10/10. @BennSteil”
• Paper Belt on Fire: “Great book!”
• Blitzed: “This is one of the craziest books I've ever read; highly recommend.”
• Abundance: “My strategy to bury “Abundance” by loudly praising it upon publication seems to have worked.”
• Essays: “You can just read Montaigne.”
• The Fountainhead: “The soul is that which can't be ruled. It must be broken. Drive a wedge in, get your fingers on it--and the man is yours. You won't need a whip--he'll bring it to you and ask to be whipped. Set him in reverse--and his own mechanism will do your work for you.”
• The Machiavellians: “I am going to start Burnham-posting soon. He just keeps becoming more relevant, including in these times. Recommended reading:”
• Sadly, Porn: “Interesting. Also it’s a good book.”
• The Mind Is Flat: “If you want the scientific demolition of introspection, this is the book”
• Twilight of the Elites: “This book was written for France but applies just the same to the US, UK, Germany, et al.”
• Avogadro Corp: “Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears”
• Ressentiment: “Currently reading: Ressentiment by Max Scheler”
• Out of Control: “Superb books! @halvarian @CarlShapiro @kevin2kelly”
• Rise of the Machines: “Superb book on the 80 year history of AI and perpetual doomerism”
• The End of History and the Last Man: “A superb book, with a prescient ending.”
• Homage to Catalonia: “Orwell later bumped two chapters of Homage To Catalonia to appendices. They may be the best chapters in the book”
• Finite and Infinite Games: “James Carse describes finite games and infinite games”
• Atlas Shrugged: “John Galt”
• The WEIRDest People in the World: “Ben's book choice #1 by @JoHenrich, which I also highly recommend”
• Information Rules: “Superb books! @halvarian @CarlShapiro @kevin2kelly”
• Capitalism and Freedom: “NONE (bare link, quoting @sriramk)”
• Personal History: “Currently reading:”
• The Ancient City: “1. The Ancient City by Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges -- the single best book I have found on who we are and how we got here.”
• The Spanish Civil War: “3. Four books on the Spanish Civil War, which was the trial run for the hundred years of Western history that followed.”
• Spain in Our Hearts: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 2.”
• Mine Were of Trouble: “And another very interesting book about a British volunteer on the *other* side of the Spanish Civil War”
• Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl: “One of the more challenging books to read.”
• The Managerial Revolution: “2. The Machiavellians, and The Managerial Revolution, by James Burnham -- together, the best explanation for the current structure of our society and politics.”
• The Ambassador: “4. Six books on the deep history of the American right.”
• The Second Coming of the KKK: “4. Six books on the deep history of the American right.”
• Hitler: A Global Biography: “5. Two comprehensive biographies of Adolf Hitler.”
• Joseph McCarthy: “6. Six books on the deep history of the American left.”
• Lindbergh: “4. Six books on the deep history of the American right.”
• The Guarded Gate: “4. Six books on the deep history of the American right.”
• War for Eternity: “4. Six books on the deep history of the American right.”
• The New Right: “4. Six books on the deep history of the American right.”
• Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939: “5. Two comprehensive biographies of Adolf Hitler.”
• Hitler: Downfall, 1939-1945: “5. Two comprehensive biographies of Adolf Hitler.”
• The God That Failed: “6. Six books on the deep history of the American left.”
• The Intelligent Investor: “You should imagine stock market quotations as coming from a remarkably accommodating fellow named Mr. Market who is your partner in a private business. Without fail, Mr. Market appears daily and names a price at which he will either buy your interest or sell you his.”
• The Romance of American Communism: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 1.”
• Witness: “6. Six books on the deep history of the American left.”
• Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 6.”
• Who We Are and How We Got Here: “14. Two more books on who we are and how we got here, one on culture, the other on genetics”
• Alexandre Kojève: Wisdom at the End of History: “This book so awesome. Kojeve inspired generations of European philosophers and policymakers and helped design the EU. A great plot twist at the end -- Soviet spy!”
• Lenin: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror: “7. A comprehensive biography and a key chronicle of Vladimir Lenin.”
• Lenin on the Train: “7. A comprehensive biography and a key chronicle of Vladimir Lenin.”
• The Vision of the Anointed: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 1.”
• Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy: “16. ... -- a sobering reexamination of how democratic governments actually make decisions.”
• The Righteous Mind: “How about the same three books to all three? \"The Righteous Mind\" by @JonHaidt ... \"A Conflict of Visions\" by @ThomasSowell ... \"The Machiavellians\" by James Burnham”
• Rainbows End: “Marc's science fiction novel #2”
• Dream Park: “Marc's science fiction novel #3”
• The Field of Blood: “Seems like a good night to recommend these two outstanding books about violence in early American politics by @jbf1755 -> ... The Field of Blood”
• We Have Never Been Woke: “Recommended books:" ... "If you read those eight books, I'm quite sure you'll see the entire thing as one big arc across four waves in one century.”
• The Jewish Century: “Ten books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 7.”
• Folk Devils and Moral Panics: “Ten MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 8.”
• The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy: “Ten MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 9.”
• Racial Realignment: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 5.”
• The Culture of Narcissism: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 1.”
• Free Women, Free Men: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 4.”
• Read Write Own: “Book of the year!”
• When Prophecy Fails: “Interesting book! \"Chronicles the experience of a UFO cult that believed the end of the world was at hand...\”
• Fahrenheit 451: “Tonight's book ->”
• A New World Begins: “8. A New World Begins by Jeremy Popkin, on the French Revolution.”
• Fascism: The Career of a Concept: “9. Two books on fascism and anti-fascism, titled Fascism and Anti-Fascism respectively, both by Paul Gottfried.”
• Antifascism: The Course of a Crusade: “9. Two books on fascism and anti-fascism, titled Fascism and Anti-Fascism respectively, both by Paul Gottfried.”
• The True Believer: “10. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer -- a brilliant book on the nature of mass movements and collective psychology.”
• The Captive Mind: “11. The Captive Mind by Czeslaw Milosz -- the definitive work on intellectual life under totalitarianism.”
• A Conflict of Visions: “15. Two of Thomas Sowell's many brilliant books on how our current politics and culture came to be”
• Pattern Breakers: “Self-recommending -- read this book! @m2jr”
• Private Truths, Public Lies: “So this is one of the all time great books. Incredible. About 20, 30-year-old book, but it’s completely modern and current in what it talks about as well as very deeply historically informed. So it’s called Private Truths, Public Lies”
• This Is Not a Game: “I think about this novel all the time”
• All Out War: “Inside story of how Britain decided to exit the EU. Economic self-destruction or national liberation? Repercussions to play out for decades.”
• What You Do Is Who You Are: “My partner @bhorowitz has a new book! You can buy it here”
• The Power of the Powerless: “12. The Power of the Powerless by Vaclav Havel -- the definitive work on practical life under totalitarianism.”
• Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 9.”
• Intellectuals: “19. Two books on the nature of the public intellectuals who lead our society”
• Intellectuals and Society: “Ten books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 4.”
• History Has Begun: “17. History Has Begun: The Birth of a New America by Bruno Macaes -- on the country and culture the United States is evolving into”
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition: “Excellent book on the current thing circa 100 years ago: @okrent”
• The God of the Machine: “A really incredible book.”
• When Reason Goes on Holiday: “Read this book!! @NSesardic”
• Virtue Hoarders: “An even more vigorous modern attack on the Professional-Managerial Class/managerial elite and their hoarding of power and money, from the left, by @bureaucatliu”
• Dream Hoarders: “On how the managerial elite is hoarding the American dream and leaving everyone else behind, while feeling good about themselves in the process, by @RichardvReeves”
• An Anxious Age: “On how the secularized Protestantism became our current civil religion and the rise of the Elect, aka the political energized managerial elite, by @JosephBottum”
• Bobos in Paradise: “The definitive book on class in America circa the onset of the 21st century by @nytdavidbrooks -- the managerial elite as \"bourgeois bohemians\" or bobos”
• Class: A Guide Through the American Status System: “The definitive book on class in pre-WWII America, including \"Category X\" aka the new managerial elite”
• Orality and Literacy: “The first book, on the cultures of orality and literacy, is”
• The Red Decade: “Recommended books:" ... "If you read those eight books, I'm quite sure you'll see the entire thing as one big arc across four waves in one century.”
• The Closing of the American Mind: “Recommended books:" ... "If you read those eight books, I'm quite sure you'll see the entire thing as one big arc across four waves in one century.”
• The Diversity Myth: “Recommended books:" ... "If you read those eight books, I'm quite sure you'll see the entire thing as one big arc across four waves in one century.”
• The Making of an American Thinking Class: “Ten books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 6.”
• The Opium of the Intellectuals: “Ten MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 7.”
• Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World: “Also this book will be excellent”
• The Pattern Seekers: “The book on neuroatypicality and its role in the development of civilization and progress is @sbaroncohen”
• Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It: “Want to learn the deepest secrets of Silicon Valley and venture capital? Pick up my partner @skupor's new tell-all book here!”
• Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue: “Startlingly deep cultural history of conspiracies, examined through the lens of the brutally effective Gawker takedown, with full access to the main players.”
• Affairs of Honor: “Seems like a good night to recommend these two outstanding books about violence in early American politics by @jbf1755 -> Affairs of Honor”
• Nixonland: “Recommended books:" ... "If you read those eight books, I'm quite sure you'll see the entire thing as one big arc across four waves in one century.”
• Radical Son: “Recommended books:" ... "If you read those eight books, I'm quite sure you'll see the entire thing as one big arc across four waves in one century.”
• On Wings of Eagles: “Increasingly relevant book.”
• The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium: “Ten books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 9.”
• The End of Power: “Ten books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 10.”
• Foundations: Their Power and Influence: “Ten MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 3.”
• The Quest for Cosmic Justice: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 2.”
• The Victims' Revolution: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 3.”
• The Age of Entitlement: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 6.”
• The Origins of Woke: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 7.”
• Anti-Americanism: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 2.”
• Kindly Inquisitors: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 6.”
• Modernity Without Restraint: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 8.”
• Troubled: “(PS Read @robkhenderson's book!)”
• Public Opinion: “Ten MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 2.”
• The Triumph of the Therapeutic: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 4.”
• The Tyranny of Guilt: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 3.”
• The Big Test: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 5.”
• The Most Human Right: “Tonight's reading -> The Most Human Right: Why Free Speech Is Everything”
• 1984: “Our enemy is speech control and thought control – the increasing use, in plain sight, of George Orwell's \"1984\" as an instruction manual.”
• The Ultimate Resource 2: “We believe the ultimate payoff from technological abundance can be a massive expansion in what Julian Simon called \"the ultimate resource\" – people.”
• Suicide of the West: “Ten YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 10.”
• On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 10.”
• Race and Culture: A World View: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 3.”
• Mismatch: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 7.”
• The Civil Rights Era: “Ten STILL YET ONE MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 9.”
• Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One: “Posted the "Last Man" passage: "The Last Man / \"And thus spoke Zarathustra to the people.\" -- Friedrich Nietzsche”
• Life the Movie: “Most underrated book of the last 30 years.”
• Uncontrolled Spread: “Looking for the inside story on COVID? This is the book”
• Intellectuals and Race: “Ten STILL YET MORE books for understanding The Bonfire Of The Universities: 7.”
• Eumeswil: “everyone should read Junger's 1997 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel \"Eumeswil\"--how to preserve one's soul under tyranny, a subject Junger knew well. It will stay with you.”
• Slouching Towards Utopia: “While not Utopian, we believe in what Brad DeLong terms \"slouching toward Utopia\" – doing the best fallen humanity can do, making things better as we go.”
• Zero to One: “Zero to One is the first book any working or aspiring entrepreneur must read—period.”