12 Books That Changed The World: How words and wisdom have shaped our lives

Melvyn Bragg

Jun 2006 · Hodder & Stoughton · Narrated by Bill Bingham, Hugh Ross, Patricia Hodge and Robert Powell

About this audiobook

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 . . .

(p) 2006 Hodder & Stoughton

Ratings and reviews

Great book,very informative though the first page of the introduction puts upheaval into perspective by comparing events with the world that changed 65 billion years ago! Will give benefit of doubt and assume the intro was not proof read like the rest of the book. Recommended.

About the author

Melvyn Bragg is a writer and broadcaster whose first novel, For Want of a Nail, was published in 1965. His novels since include The Maid of Buttermere, The Soldier's Return, A Son of War, Credo and Now is the Time, which won the Parliamentary Book Award for fiction in 2016. His books have also been awarded the Time/Life Silver Pen Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the WHSmith Literary Award, and have been longlisted three times for the Booker Prize (including the Lost Man Booker Prize). He has also written several works of non-fiction, including The Adventure of English and The Book of Books about the King James Bible. He lives in London and Cumbria.

Robert Powell is the reader of SELECTIONS FROM ISAIAH (audio). He is a well-known film and TV actor who has appeared on the small screen in comedy alongside Jasper Carrot and on the big screen as none other than Jesus of Nazareth.