12 Books that changed the World - Melvyn Bragg

Written by Melvyn Bragg
Read by Patricia Hodge, Hugh Ross, Robert Powell, Bill Bingham
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
Publisher: 2006 Hodder & Stoughton

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 digitized age of instant information it is easy to underestimate the power of the printed word. In his fascinating 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 . . .

Some of the writing included are;
Principia mathematica / Isacc Newton — Married love / Marie Stopes — Magna Carta — The rule book of Association Football — On the origin of species / Chales Darwin — On the aboliton of the slave trade / William Wilberforce — A vindication of the rights of women / Mary Wollstonecraft — Experimental researches in electricity / Michael Faraday — Patent specification for Arkwright’s spinning machine / Richard Arkwright — The King James bible / William Tyndale — An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations / Adam Smith — The first folio / William Shakespeare

“The problem with Melvyn Bragg’s 12 books is that many of them are not books at all. There’s a speech, a patent, a legal agreement and, most surprisingly of all, the rules for a sport. There are a number of reasons why this sleight of hand may have proved necessary. While many books change individuals’ lives, books that change the world are rarer, and Bragg has made things more difficult for himself by restricting his choices to books by British authors.