Product Description

When we think of great events in the history of the world, we tend to think of war, revolution, political upheaval or natural catastrophe. But throughout history there have been moments of vital importance that have taken place not on the battlefield, or in the palaces of power, or even in the violence of nature, but between the pages of a book. In our digitised age of instant information it is easy to underestimate the power of the printed word. In his fascinating new book accompanying the ITV series, Melvyn Bragg presents a vivid reminder of the book as agent of social, political and personal revolution. Twelve Books that Changed the World presents a rich variety of human endeavour and a great diversity of characters. There are also surprises. Here are famous books by Darwin, Newton and Shakespeare – but we also discover the stories behind some less well-known works, such as Marie Stopes’ Married Love, the original radical feminist Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – and even the rules to an obscure ball game that became the most popular sport in the world . . .

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51444 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-08
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Independent
'Bragg writes with passion...and once again, shows his capacity to make science and technology both exciting and accessible.'

Review
'Bragg writes with passion...and once again, shows his capacity to make science and technology both exciting and accessible.' (Independent )

'Bragg has established himself over the past decades as a fearlessly dedicated, popular educator . . . a highly and easily readable book.'

(John Sutherland, The Sunday Times )

'It can charm almost anyone of any age . . . yet again Bragg has displayed his extraordinary and unique gifts as a communicator'

(Christena Appleyard, Daily Mail )

'This is an inspiring, fascinating and stimulating book with marvellous illustrations'

(Niall MacMonagle, Irish Times )

Spectator
'A very user-friendly guide to great ideas...a celebration of what human beings have achieved.'

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Customer Reviews

Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.

If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.

The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?

Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.

Shawn
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. He does, however, stimulate the reader into wanting to investigate further into the subject matter contained in the book. Any book that makes me want to read more is a great book.

Highly readable
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. So it was that I came to this book with a certain amount of trepidation. I'd seen one episode of the TV series (about the football rules) and was sufficiently surprised that I enjoyed it to be prepared to give the book a go - and I'm glad I did.
It's a personal list of a dozen books that Bragg feels changed the world. He says in the introduction that he's tried to avoid just covering the obvious choices like religion (so we only get the King James Bible, and not the Ko'ran as well, for instance) and instead tried to find a dozen books which cover many different aspects of contemporary society - from football to economics to sexual equality and so on - and then to illustrate how they helped create that society. It's a good list, and is sufficiently broad a topic that it can lead to ' I wouldn't put that book in, I'd've had this book instead' debates, which is always fun.
Bragg shows himself an incisive reviewer of books, offering both an illuminating precis of the content of each, how they came to be written and his judgement on the effects they had. I still don't like his TV persona, but Twelve Books that Changed the World, for it's length, is highly informative and accessible, and may well have inspired me to read more of the list it offers.