• Profit Pathology and Other Indecencies, April 2015.
  From from welfare to wealth care, from pedophiles to popes, from plutocrats to environmental plunderers these are just some of the indecencies of contemporary socio-economic life that Profit Pathology takes on. Here, Michael Parenti investigates how class power is a central force in our political life yet subject to little critical discernment. He notes how big-moneyed interests shift the rules of the game in their favor while undoing the gains of social democracy, from the New Deal to the present. Parenti also traces the ruthless economic forces that have operated through much of American history, including the mass displacement and extermination of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. Parenti is a master at demonstrating the impact of monomaniacal profit accumulation on social services, including health care and utilities. In this book he shows how unrestrained capitalism becomes a "self-devouring beast" that endangers itself and all of us. Finally, Parenti calls for a solution based on democratic diversity and not-for-profit public ownership "because it works.”

• Waiting for Yesterday: Pages from a Street Kid's Life, 2013.
  Michael Parenti’s insightful political and historical writings give a revealing picture of his early years as a youth in New York's East Harlem, along with some of the influences that helped shape his lifelong commitment to activism and social justice. Written with style and dash, Waiting for Yesterday is devilishly enjoyable and sometimes very touching. It provides delightful vignettes about growing up in a three-generation, working-class, Italian family, along with the amusing predicaments of a street kid's life.

• The Face of Imperialism, 2011.
  Parenti adds shocking new evidence to the litany of injustices visited upon victims of U.S. imperialism: expropriation of their communal wealth and natural resources, complete privatization and deregulation of their economies, loss of local markets, deterioration of their living standards, a growing debt burden, and the bloodstained suppression of their democratic movements.

• God and His Demons, 2010.
  Michael Parenti brings his critical acumen and gifted writing skills to bear on the dark side of religion, the many evils committed in the name of godly virtue throughout history. This is not a blanket condemnation of all believers. The focus is on the threat posed by fundamentalists and theocratic reactionaries.  Historically anchored and biblically informed, this eloquent indictment of organized religion’s delusions and abuses will be welcomed by secular laypersons and progressive religionists alike.

• Democracy for the Few, (9th Edition) 2011.
  Read widely over the years in college courses and by lay readers; hailed as a vital study of the U.S. political system.

• Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti Reader, 2007.
  Parenti goes where few political observers dare to tread. Time and again he takes the extra step beyond the parameters of safe permissible opinion, and time and again he succeeds in carrying the reader with him. Writing with cool passion and pleasing style, he is always accessible even when dealing with complex themes. The struggle against plutocracy and for peace and democracy is forever reborn thanks to scholar-activists like Michael Parenti.

• The Culture Struggle, 2006.
  How to think about cultural imperialism, cultural relativism, racism and gender oppression; this book treats culture as a component of social power and political struggle in the United States and elsewhere.

• Superpatriotism, 2004.
  How hype, fear, and mindless flag-waving are supplanting informed debate, commitment to democracy, and real patriotism.

• The Assassination of Julius Caesar, A People's History of Ancient Rome, 2003.
  A compelling read. The story of popular resistance to wealth and power in Ancient Rome.

• The Terrorism Trap: September 11 and Beyond, 2002.
  A richly informed and powerfully argued analysis, this book investigates the religious fanaticism and hidden political agendas behind the attacks of September 11 and the ensuing war.

• To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia, 2001.
  Reveals a decade-long disinformation campaign waged by Western leaders and NATO officials in their pursuit of free-market "reforms." The political and economic destabilization of Yugoslavia continues today, Parenti shows, as does the forced privatization and Third Worldization of the entire region.

• History as Mystery, 1999.
  How history is manufactured and distorted by the victors, from early Christianity to today. Revelatory criticisms of history and historians.

• America Besieged, 1998.
  Short tasty essays on the power of money, media, technology, and politics.

• Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism, 1997.
  Some neglected questions about fascism, communism, capitalism, and the continuing relevance of class analysis. A challenging analysis of recent political history.

• Dirty Truths, 1996.
  Selected readings on politics, ideology, media, conspiracy, ethnic life, and class power.

• Against Empire, 1995.
  Lucid and revealing critiques of U.S. imperialism and its costs at home and abroad.

• Land of Idols: Political Mythology in America, 1994.
  Challenges many of the deceptions put forth by conservative elites.

• Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media, 1986, 1993.
  Now in its second edition, the first comprehensive critique of the news media.

• Make-Believe Media: The Politics of Entertainment, 1992.
  The hidden politics of the entertainment media. How our perceptions about social and political life are shaped by movies and television.

• The Sword and the Dollar: Imperialism, Revolution, and the Arms Race, 1989.
  An exposé of U.S. cold war history and interventionism in the Third World.

Parenti also published the following titles, which are out of print:

• Power and the Powerless, 1978

• Ethnic and Political Attitudes, 1975

• Trends and Tragedies in American Foreign Policy, 1971

• The Anti-Communist Impulse, 1969