It is not a light or easy read. You must take your time and read carefully, sometimes re-reading sections. It is worth every bit of frustration when you finally start to get it. You might also be interested in a collection of letters exchanged between himself and Keynes. I do not yet have a copy.
Many people who declare themselves keynesians have never read Keynes. That is why I read Von Mises. I had heard things about his work that sounded good, but I hadn't read it. I didn't want to be ignorant of something I claimed to support.
Von Mises covers a lot of ground. There are sections dealing with the origin of money as a trade good, and how the value of things is based on relative emotional investment which drives the market price by the interactions of many individuals. An apple has a price not because of its intrinsic worth, but because of how it is desired - an emotional reaction. There can certainly be rational reasons for something to be desirable. An apple has nutritional value/food energy. The free market converts emotional valuations into a common metric ($), but prices change with shifting emotions. The nutritional content of an apple does not change with the presence or absence of alternatives, but if peaches or plums are available as well that can affect the desirability of the apples. There is a great deal more (some of it tedious) but I encourage you to stay with it.
His writing on the evils of inflation is particularly riveting. The section on the political argument in favor of inflation was EPIC!!
He died years ago, yet when he writes about politics some of what he writes seems quite on target and relevant to today. You may have to remind yourself that he died in 1973 - far too long ago to be taking potshots at politicians today who were still in diapers when he died.
His school of thought survived being out of favor and gained currency by the measurement that matters: He was right. The predictions made by using his methods of analyzing economic data were accurate.
Keynes and Von Mises major point of contention was over who had the special case and who had the general theory. Keynes tended not to take human nature into account, his theories were based on perfectly rational actors without self interest or emotion. Von Mises based his work on human nature and the fact that everyone is looking out for their own interests. For example: Keynes thought cyclical spending and saving on the part of government would soften the ups and downs of the economy; He neglected the fact that politicians would find it hard to stop spending once the good times did arrive. Theory and the reality of it's application are far from identical.
The idea of government spending to compensate for a poor economy also disregards a key fact: It is easier to see where business is having trouble than to guess where the next new thing is going to be. If the sales of buggy whips drop off should the State intervene to support businesses associated with the transport of goods by means of horses and mules within the country? It is easier for businesses to persuade politicians to support their faltering businesses with tax money than to persuade unwilling customers to buy their products/services anyway, or persuade a bank to loan money to a business that seems on the road to bankruptcy. Are you being sent a bill for products/services not wanted, not purchased, and not in hand?
Summary: It is for people who are willing to pay a small price in time and effort to gain understanding of the real world as it affects them. It is not for readers who refuse to pick up anything more difficult than a dime store novel or the tabloids.
I also recommend the books Human Action and Liberalism by Von Mises as well. There is an audio recording of the first chapter or so of Human Action on YouTube if you want a preview.
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Top reviews from other countries
Nigel Barron
Good introduction to an interesting area of study
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2015
Mr. Francois Marcognet
La théorie monétaire de Ludwig von Mises
Reviewed in France on September 19, 2010