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36 Books That Changed the World cover art

36 Books That Changed the World

By: The Great Courses, Brad S. Gregory, Charles Kimball, Daniel N. Robinson, Jerry Z. Muller, John E. Finn, Andrew R. Wilson
Narrated by: Andrew R. Wilson, Brad S. Gregory, Charles Kimball, Daniel N. Robinson, Jerry Z. Muller, John E. Finn
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Summary

Certain works of literature, history, science, philosophy, political theory and religion offer powerful examples of how books can spark revolutions, birth great religions, spur scientific advancements, shape world economies, teach us new ways of thinking, and much more. And with this fascinating collection crafted from our extensive library of courses, you can now get a single course that represents 36 of our best lectures on literary works that changed the world.

In the company of an unparalleled roster of award-winning professors from a range of disciplines, you'll get fresh perspectives on books you only thought you knew - and intriguing introductions to some works you may not have known played key roles in getting us to where we are today. These include The Analects, the Liber Abaci, A Dictionary of the English Language, The Jungle, The Feminine Mystique, and more.

If you've taken another course with these professors before, get a reminder of just why you enjoyed them. And if you've never heard some of them before, who knows? You may just discover your next favorite Great Courses professor. More than that, you'll rediscover just how powerful the printed word can be. You'll also learn how the mark of a truly great book isn't that it just changes the lives of individual readers-but the lives of entire civilizations.

©2014 The Great Courses (P)2014 The Teaching Company, LLC

What listeners say about 36 Books That Changed the World

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Mixed bag keep listeners informed and entertained

As with any compendium, there are good bits and bad bits to this rag bag assortment of book lectures from the Great Courses stable. Most people would anticipate this as, lets face it, it is exactly the same with, say, a collection of pop hits from the 1980, for every Depeche Mode there will be a Pepsi and Shirely and there is no one who has ever lived who can honestly claim to like every one of the confectionery items in a packet of Revels; yes everyone likes the Maltesers but it takes a special person to find any enjoyment in those little toffee ones that get stuck in your teeth or those sickeningly sweet orange jobbies.
This audio book is no different. 36 books that changed the world. Ask most people to come up with a list of what they think will be in and nearly everyone will select the Bible, Holy Koran, Shakespeare, an encyclopedia, and a dictionary. They are all in here. It then starts becoming a bit more subjective and I suspect that the compilers of this compendium were, to an extent, restricted by what was actually in the Great Courses back catalogue that they could use. It is US biased. How many people outside of America would select Thomas Jefferon's autobiography as one of the 36 books to put in here? And it is very male dominated. All the readers are men and 35 of the 36 book are written by men. And it is a little dated too. At one point one of the lecturers states "you might be able to find a copy of the film to this book on VHS tape". How quaint.
I'm not complaining to much though. I found the best way to enjoy this was to listen to one book a day which is about half an hour listening time. Right, now where is that pack of Revels, I want to see if I can find the chocolate button.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful but overwhelmingly American

This book could improve by adding African, Japanese, Australian, etc contributions. Somehow fell short of world perspective.

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Too US focused

I enjoyed it, well put together from parts of other courses, informative and educational. However the books selected are far too much from the United States world view and not globally.

The course should be entitled 36 books that changed the US.

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1 person found this helpful