# A good, relatively easy, book by/about Reinholdt Niebuhr? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939 "2018-05-10T20:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/1 "2018-05-10T20:58:57Z")
A few months ago I asked this forum for recommendations on where to begin reading P.G. Wodehouse and was pleased with the thoughtful suggestions and thrilled to discover Wodehouse as a result. Now, I return, library card in hand, and ask how can get an idea of Niebuhr’s philosophies in one or possibly two books. I think I understand how impossible this might seem to those who are familiar with his works and who know how broad his writings are. But I’m intrigued by what I have learned about him and would like to know him better. Any ideas, Dopers? Thanks! xo, C. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/2 "2018-05-10T21:15:15Z")
I think it might be tricky when you say “easy” about a man who wrote mostly about religion and politics. Would you be OK with people making an effort to think of some of the books that might be a bit more clear and straightforward than others? Or is “easy” a real requirement? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/3 "2018-05-10T21:19:30Z")
“Clear and straightforward” sounds like what I mean by easy. Appreciate the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/4 "2018-05-10T21:21:52Z")
Oh… Spelling his name with no “t” will get you much better search results. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/5 "2018-05-10T21:52:28Z")
Duly noted. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/6 "2018-05-11T01:23:30Z")
Moral Man and Immoral Society. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/7 "2018-05-12T19:18:57Z")
I’m posting mostly just to bump the thread, since I’ve been hoping that you might get some responses from someone really knowledgeable, which I am not. But, a bit of searching has turned up a couple of books about Niebuhr that look somewhat promising, but that I have not read and so cannot vouch for: [Reinhold Niebuhr: On Politics, Religion, and Christian Faith](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195379683/?coliid=ILRMV89YAHT6V&colid=NTOHQ3AWZ36X&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it) (by a professor I took a class from in college) [The Niebuhr Brothers for Armchair Theologians](https://www.amazon.com/Niebuhr-Brothers-Armchair-Theologians/dp/0664236987/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&dpID=51dMQLtiEeL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=detail) As for books by Niebuhr, I have tried to read [The Irony of American History](https://www.amazon.com/Irony-American-History-Reinhold-Niebuhr/dp/0226583988/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0226583988&pd_rd_r=2MX96ZF7PPPSFWRB0E7B&pd_rd_w=RoKQH&pd_rd_wg=n6Ts0&psc=1&refRID=2MX96ZF7PPPSFWRB0E7B&dpID=51e5gJ5h4%252BL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail) but have found it rough going. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-good-relatively-easy-book-by-about-reinholdt-niebuhr/813939/8 "2018-05-12T22:19:01Z")
Thanks.