Karl Rove's 6 favorite books

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison (Signet, $8). In a series of 85 letters sent anonymously to New York newspapers in the late 1780s, some of America's greatest Founders explain the theory behind, and genius of, our Constitution.

The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism by Michael Novak (Madison, $21). This 1982 book presents a powerful moral argument. The combination of free societies and free markets, political scientist Michael Novak contends, creates the best possible social system not just because the system is efficient but also because it's the fairest and respects every person's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith (Liberty Fund, $14.50). Nearly two decades before the publication of The Wealth of Nations in 1776, Smith examined how people seek to live lives of virtue by attending to their own moral urges. This book's attempt to develop a science of morals deeply informed Smith's later work on the invisible hand that powers market economies.

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Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence (Wordsworth, $5). "Some of the evil of my tale may have been inherent in our circumstances. For years we lived anyhow with one another in the naked desert, under the indifferent heaven. By day the hot sun fermented us; and we were dizzied by the beating wind. At night we were stained by dew, and shamed into pettiness by the innumerable silences of stars." So begins this grand tale of a young Englishman's involvement in a consequential struggle in World War I's Middle Eastern theater.

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (Penguin, $23). All of the prose works of this brilliant Argentine fabulist are gathered here. They have excited, amused, instructed, and perplexed me, and drawn me back to their pages time and again.

Great Moments in History by Samuel Nisenson and Alfred Parker (out of print). The first book I remember reading — each page showing a crude drawing and an explanation of a great battle, scientific breakthrough, or other important event — kindled my lifelong interest in history.

—Republican strategist Karl Rove writes a weekly Wall Street Journal column and appears on Fox News. His new book, The Triumph of William McKinley, argues that 1896's presidential victor created a model for an inclusive GOP that could win today.