100 Books That Changed the World

A tour of global history by way of historys most important scrolls manuscripts and printed books from Plato and Homer to the twenty-first century100 must reads. Beautifully illustrated in full color this book informs and entertains as it demonstrates how the power of the written word has shaped changed and even revolutionized the world. Prize-winning author Scott Christianson brings together an exceptional collection of groundbreaking works that have changed the tide of history. Included are scriptures that founded religions manifestos that sparked revolutions scientific treatises that challenged ingrained beliefs and novels that kick-started new literary movements. This sweeping chronological survey highlights the most important books from around the globe from the earliest illuminated manuscripts all the way to the digital age. Included are such well-known classics as the Odyssey the Torah Shakespeares First Folio Moby-Dick and Darwins On the Origins of Species but an array of other works some well-known and others less so are featured as well including those by Sun Tzu Nicolaus Copernicus Mary Wollstonecraft Adam Smith Henry David Thoreau Karl Marx Sigmund Freud Marcel Proust Franz Kafka as well as more recent works by J. K. Rowling Art Spiegelman and Naomi Klein. This provocative collection is the perfect book for both literature lovers and history buffs.