Affiliate disclosure

The short version

Each of the 660 entries on this site carries two buttons. Buy this book goes to Amazon and may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you. Borrow this book goes to WorldCat, which locates the title in a library near you and earns us nothing.

Amazon Associates

This site participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The price you pay is the same whether or not you use our link.

What a commission does not buy

• Inclusion. No author, publisher or retailer paid for a place in this collection, and none was offered one. The 660 titles were selected before any link was attached to them.
• Position. The tiers, the starred recommendations and the Top 25 are editorial judgments. They are not adjusted for commission.
• Tone. Every entry states the limitations of the book it describes, including the ones we link to. Several titles are included because they are influential rather than because they are correct, and the entries say so.

Why Borrow is given equal weight

The collection is not designed to be purchased. The printed volume says so directly: libraries hold most of the trade titles and can obtain the academic ones through interlibrary loan, and a reader who reads five books carefully finishes better informed than one who buys thirty. Burying the library link would contradict the book this site is selling, so the two buttons sit side by side on every entry.

The volume itself

We sell the book this site describes. That is our principal commercial interest and it is disclosed on every page.

Data

This site does not collect personal information. There is no newsletter signup, no account, and no advertising. Following an Amazon or WorldCat link takes you to that company, which applies its own terms and may set its own cookies.