The Sovereign Individual
Authors: James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg.

The Sovereign Individual was published in 1997 as the third in a series of similarly bearish economically themed books, following Blood in the Streets (1987) and The Great Reckoning (1991). At the time of its release, the book didn't get much mainstream attention, but it was noticed in libertarian leaning circles. The cypherpunk mailing list gave it a warm reception almost immediately. One poster's take: "The book is sort of Toffleresque, but written better and full of historical parallels that help the reader understand social upheavals of the past." Others did criticize the hyperbolic tone. Jim Choate was particularly critical, telling members of the group not to waste their money buying it. He referred to the authors as "snake oil salesmen."

From a book collector's standpoint, what we find most noteworthy is that the first U.S. Simon & Schuster hardcover edition had the subtitile:

How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State

This subtitle is the most obvious way to identify a true first edition. The U.K Macmillan first edition contained the subtitle:

The Coming Economic Revolution: How to Survive and Prosper in It

The third and most common subtitle appears on the later (1999) Touchstone paperback edition:

Mastering the Transition to the Information Age

There are no stated reason for any of these various subtitles, but it would not be hard to make assumptions.

After The Whitepaper

The book's popularity soared among bitcoiners after it was recommended by Naval Ravikant and Brian Armstrong. Saifedean Ammous then gave it a favorable mention in The Bitcoin Standard, and Peter Thiel wrote a new forward in 2020.

Availability at satwise

We currently have a true first edition in very good condition which we are preparing for sale. Check the web site in the next few days for pricing (in sats, of course!) We hope to have more soon. Note that the first hardcover U.K. edition is particularly tough to find, so we are in the market as buyers if any stackers have one to sell.

Notes:

• US 1st: LCCN 96-048244; LC class HC59.15.D385 1997; Dewey 338.9
• UK 1st: Publisher/imprint attribution conflicts across sources (see below); page count conflicts between library catalog (416) and commercial databases AbeBooks/Goodreads (672); UK classification 658.406, not 338.9 as in the US
• UK 2nd: Publisher listed as Sidgwick & Jackson by one source, Pan Books by another — both were imprints under the Macmillan Group at this date, so this may reflect genuine shared imprint history rather than a database error
• US 2nd: Cover art by Calvin Chu; also distributed into the UK market at this point rather than a separate UK paperback
• Current reissue: New foreword by Peter Thiel