I think that of all the economic books I have encountered, Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers provides an incredibly readable history of economics (at least upto 1950s or so) with an elucidation of the ideas of economics.
Reading it made me realize that supply siders and libertarians have forgotten or not truly considered economics since Keynes (except to attack him) and that they forget that economics was originally called "Moral Philosphy" indicating a much broader view that how it is used today.
In the book, Heilbroner elucidates the issues about capitalism and economics and about dozen of its major thinkers. Of those, Adam Smith, Malthus/Ricardo, Marx, and J. M. Keynes stand out as still very relevant to today. Hayek is briefly mentioned under the Chapter for Keynes, which is interesting in a variety of ways.
It's also true that only since Keynes has the role of gov't in economic life and in markets so changed the view of economics in many minds.
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