[newnewnew]

It's a great read despite its "evil" reputation. You'll be impressed by how meticulous Murray is. His style is 80% evidence and 20% conjecture, and he is always careful to separate the two.

"Coming Apart" is also essential reading to understand modern society.

[ZeroGravitas]

Source of a lot of the evidence:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Fund