December 28, 2012

Most Influential Books of All Time

Listen to this podcast about Books That Changed the World and the new book series on this topic which covers many of the most influential books of all time:

NPR Series: Books That Changed the World Podcast

This podcast is certain to get you interested in some of the books that have had the most impact in global history. Grove/Atlantic published a series of books by prominent writers focusing on the most significant works of literature that introduced groundbreaking ideas and altered the course of human history. This NPR series features 30-minute interviews that were conducted over time with the authors of all these books on NPR’s Talk of the Nation program hosted by Neal Conan and featuring live callers from across the United States. In this series you’ll hear:

-Francis Wheen talks about her book Marx’s Das Kapital and separates the ideas of Marx from the many applications of Marxism throughout history.

-Karen Armstrong discusses her book The Bible: A Biography and how the Bible has been used historically in the traditions of Judaism and Christianity.

-Christopher Hitchens speaks about his book on Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man and about Paine’s views on rights, religion, and the revolutions of his time.

-Military historian Hew Strachan discusses his book Clausewitz’s On War about Napoleonic military theorist Carl von Clausewitz and how his book On War influenced much of the military strategy going into World War I & II.

-Philosopher Simon Blackburn talks about his book on Plato’s Republic including Plato’s controversial arguments against art and democracy.

-Darwin scholar Janet Browne talks about her book on Darwin’s Origin of Species and the significance of Darwin’s theory of evolution in science history.

-Islamic studies professor Bruce Lawrence talks about his book The Qur’an: A Biography and he tries to explain the Qur’an;s many interpretations throughout history.

-Conservative author and satirist P.J. O’Rourke talks about his book On the Wealth of Nations and about some of the brilliant ideas Adam Smith came up with regarding free markets while living in a largely agrarian society.

Listen to these podcasts on Books That Changed the World!

NPR Series: Books That Changed the World Podcast