While browsing I came on what his agent describes as Clay Shirky’s ‘Must Read’ list.

Rise of the Stupid Network, David Isenberg — Why the Internet works

End-to-End Arguments In System Design, J.H. Saltzer, D.P. Reed, and D.D. Clark — How to Design for the Internet

Worse is Better, Richard Gabriel — Why weak but flexible systems beat strong but inflexible ones

Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson — Group coordination costs as a key aspect of organization design.