36 Books That Changed the World
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![36 Books That Changed the World](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004.jpg)
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![The Epic of Gilgamesh](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L01.jpg)
01: The Epic of Gilgamesh
How many stories have you read that start with a hero embarking on an epic quest? It’s a narrative structure that unites civilizations around the world and across time. And the earliest example we have of it is the Epic of Gilgamesh. What makes this ancient work—which dates back to around 2800 B.C.E.—so crucial to the subsequent history of world literature? In what ways does it serve as a blueprint for everything from Virgil’s Aeneid to Finnegans Wake? You’ll learn the answers to these questions and others in this captivating lecture. (This lecture is from The History of World Literature by the award-winning Dr. Grant L. Voth, Professor Emeritus at Monterey Peninsula College in California.)
![The Odyssey](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L02.jpg)
02: The Odyssey
Western literature (and culture) is forever indebted to the treatment of heroism and hospitality found in Homer’s Odyssey—so indebted, in fact, that the poem is considered the foundation of the Western literary canon. Who was Homer? What archaeological evidence supports this ancient adventure story? And how does it reflect what’s included in—and excluded from—lists of important literary works? You’ll find the answers in this illuminating lecture. (This lecture is from The Western Literary Canon in Context by widely published scholar and award-winning professor John M. Bowers of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.)
![The Bhagavad Gita](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L03.jpg)
03: The Bhagavad Gita
Mahatma Gandhi. Ralph Waldo Emerson. These are just two of the many great minds who have been inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, a landmark text in Asian intellectual history. In this lecture, you’ll discover how this beloved work of Hindu scripture became so renowned in Asia—and across the globe—and how it still speaks to us about effective action, family obligations, personal fulfillment, spiritual values, and more. (This lecture is from Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition by the award-winning Dr. Grant Hardy, Professor of History and Religious Studies at The University of North Carolina at Asheville.)
![The Art of War](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L04.jpg)
04: The Art of War
Though written well over 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has influenced generations of warriors, statesmen, and other leaders. What makes this fascinating piece of ancient military strategy so enduring—and so historically relevant? You’ll find out in this lecture, which will whet your appetite for a short, spare book that offers captivating lessons on how to win important battles. (This lecture is from Masters of War: History’s Greatest Strategic Thinkers by Dr. Andrew R. Wilson, Professor of Strategy and Policy at the United States Naval War College.)
![The Analects](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L05.jpg)
05: The Analects
Confucius is undoubtedly Eastern intellectual history’s greatest mind. And yet we have no record of any of his own writings. What we do have is The Analects, a collection of Confucius’s sayings written down by his students. This great book offers a fascinating window into moral, social, and political ideas that would become the backbone of everyday life in China for thousands of years. (This lecture is from Religions of the Axial Age: An Approach to the World’s Religions by religious studies expert and award-winning professor Mark W. Muesse of Rhodes College.)
![The Histories](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L06.jpg)
06: The Histories
With the Histories, the Greek writer Herodotus sought to recount the Greco-Persian Wars that tore apart the ancient world decades before his birth. His technique was to explain the causes of historical events in a narrative manner. The end result was a work that would inform how generations of writers record the past and how readers make sense of it. In this lecture, you’ll meet the man now considered to be the father of history. (This lecture is from Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver, an expert classicist and award-winning professor at Whitman College.)
![The Republic](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L07.jpg)
07: The Republic
Plato’s Republic is a blueprint for his grand political philosophies. It also marks the first time this iconic philosopher set forth the idea of power as a noble enterprise. In this lecture, you’ll learn more about Plato’s theories on justice and the creation of a good state. Your windows into these theories are the intriguing parable of the ship of state and the famous allegory of the cave. (This lecture is from Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition, by Dr. Dennis Dalton, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University.)
![The Nicomachean Ethics](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L08.jpg)
08: The Nicomachean Ethics
What is happiness? How does one live a “good” life? These are questions that have perplexed countless philosophers throughout history. And the first work to propose solid answers that would influence later thinkers is Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. This lecture provides you with an in-depth reading of Book X, one of the most critical parts of this masterpiece of ancient philosophy. (This lecture is from Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle by Dr. Robert C. Bartlett, the Behrakis Professor of Hellenic Political Studies at Boston College.)
![The Metamorphoses](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L09.jpg)
09: The Metamorphoses
Some of the greatest sources of inspiration in Western art history are classical myths. And our complete (and sometimes only) account of the stories that fueled so many sculptures and paintings is Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In this lecture, you’ll explore what sort of book the Metamorphoses is, what it was meant to do for its original readers, and why Ovid took such pains to record the stories of Apollo, Phaethon, Narcissus, and others. (This lecture is from Classical Mythology by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver, an expert classicist and award-winning professor at Whitman College.)
![The Meditations](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L10.jpg)
10: The Meditations
Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher king whose writing would go on to inspire future generations. Written in Greek and addressed to himself, the Meditations are a fascinating window into the business of ruling an empire during a time of constant turmoil. This book also offered subsequent leaders grand insights into the morals that shaped this Roman emperor’s iconic rule—and that could shape their own. (This lecture is from Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman Moralists by award-winning professor Luke Timothy Johnson of Emory University.)
![The Confessions](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L11.jpg)
11: The Confessions
One of the key texts of Christian theology is the Confessions by Saint Augustine. Christian writers as diverse as Dante Alighieri and Martin Luther—not to mention everyday believers—have looked to this autobiography for guidance and inspiration. The legacy of this intimate journey from sin to faith has lasted for over 15 centuries. This lecture is an engaging survey of how—and why—the Confessions endures to this day. (This lecture is from St. Augustine’s Confessions and is delivered by two instructors from the State University of New York at Geneseo: Dr. William R. Cook, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of History; and Dr. Ronald B. Herzman, Distinguished Teaching Professor of English.)
![The Qur’an](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L12.jpg)
12: The Qur’an
As the sacred text of Islam, the Qur’an is a daily part of life for more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide. What do some of its most important and beloved chapters, or surahs, say? What is the book’s relationship to people and themes originally recorded in the Old and New Testaments? What are some of the book’s original scriptural claims, and can they adapt to a postmodern age? You’ll learn the answers to these questions and others in this intriguing lecture. (This lecture is from Sacred Texts of the World by the award-winning Dr. Grant Hardy, Professor of History and Religious Studies at The University of North Carolina at Asheville.)
![The Liber abaci](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L13.jpg)
13: The Liber abaci
Imagine if you lived in a world that still used Roman numerals in everyday transactions. The reason you don’t is because of the Liber abaci, which replaced Roman numerals with the Hindu-Arabic number system that is still in use today. This influential book also had a profound impact on the economy of the Middle Ages and paved the way for future developments in banking, commerce, and even mathematics. (This lecture is from Turning Points in Medieval History by medievalist and professor Dorsey Armstrong of Purdue University.)
![The Divine Comedy](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L14.jpg)
14: The Divine Comedy
It’s a sometimes horrifying, sometimes breathtaking tour through the Christian afterlife. It’s a groundbreaking work of literature that has inspired other great Western authors. It’s a watershed moment in the development of poetry and the Italian language. It’s Dante’s Divine Comedy, and its intimate visions of hell, purgatory, and heaven still resonate with believers and nonbelievers today. (This lecture is from The Western Literary Canon in Context by widely published scholar and award-winning professor John M. Bowers of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.)
![The Prince](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L15.jpg)
15: The Prince
Like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Machiavelli’s The Prince is a history-changing book that is still studied today. Written in voluntary exile from Florence, The Prince served as a powerful manual for people looking to attain—and hold on to—political power. In this lecture, you’ll explore the history behind Machiavelli’s short masterpiece. You’ll also learn how he responds to—and sometimes unravels—the ideas of earlier political philosophers. (This lecture is from Machiavelli in Context by Dr. William R. Cook, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of History at the State University of New York at Geneseo.)
![On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L16.jpg)
16: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs
One of the defining moments in the history of science was Copernicus’s assertion that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of the cosmos. The topic of this lecture is the book that introduced this radical idea to the world: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs. In this lecture, you’ll take a closer look at Copernicus’s iconic exploration of heliocentrism, and you’ll learn how this concept was received by his intellectual contemporaries. (This lecture is from History of Science: Antiquity to 1700 by Dr. Lawrence M. Principe, the Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University.)
![Hamlet](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L17.jpg)
17: Hamlet
Western literature would never be the same after William Shakespeare. And in a catalog of the Bard’s most definitive works, his tragedy, Hamlet, is at the top. An essential part of the Western canon, Hamlet is intricately linked with European history, the rise of Elizabethan England, and the evolution of poetry and drama. In this lecture, you’ll discover why no list of influential books is complete without Shakespeare’s masterpiece. (This lecture is from The Western Literary Canon in Context by widely published scholar and award-winning professor John M. Bowers of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.)
![Don Quixote](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L18.jpg)
18: Don Quixote
Don Quixote is considered the Western world’s first novel, introducing a literary form we still engage with today. But is this novel’s claim as being the first of its kind really true? How do its adventures offer biting commentary on chivalric romances? How does it anticipate the complexities of the modern novel? As you’ll discover in this lecture, there’s much more to this fascinating book than meets the eye. (This lecture is from Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Ronald B. Herzman, Distinguished Teaching Professor of English at the State University of New York at Geneseo.)
![The King James Bible](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L19.jpg)
19: The King James Bible
The King James Bible was a political wedge in Reformation England. It’s a stunning work of literary beauty. It has become the authorized version of Christianity’s sacred text. It’s the most-read book in the history of English literature. The world would not be the same without it. In this lecture, you’ll learn how this work was compiled and translated—and you’ll meet the forgotten individual some believe to be responsible for its existence. (This lecture is from Classics of British Literature by Dr. John Sutherland, the Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University College London and Visiting Professor of Literature at the California Institute of Technology.)
![The New Organon](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L20.jpg)
20: The New Organon
Knowledge is power. Natural philosophy must be separate from theology. New facts should be acquired through deductive logic. These are some of the themes found in Francis Bacon’s The New Organon, which revolutionized how philosophers and scientists studied the world. It also changed the face of Western education, which was previously founded on Aristotle’s methods, and helped usher in a new era of intellectual thought. (This lecture is from Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition, by Dr. Alan Charles Kors, the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.)
![The Encyclopédie](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L21.jpg)
21: The Encyclopédie
A fundamental pillar of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, edited by Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert. This comprehensive reference guide was a daring project. Not only did it aim to change the way people thought, but it also fueled the Enlightenment’s ability to replace tradition and faith with reason and science. In this lecture, you’ll get the full story on the reference book that changed history forever. (This lecture is from Turning Points in Modern History by expert historian and award-winning professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.)
![A Dictionary of the English Language](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L22.jpg)
22: A Dictionary of the English Language
When you’re unsure of a word’s spelling or meaning, your first impulse is to find the nearest dictionary. Because of this, we’re forever indebted to Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, first published in 1775. How is this reference work a testament to Johnson’s views on linguistic flexibility? How is it a work of autobiography as much as a work of lexicography? You’ll discover the answers to these questions and others in this illuminating lecture. (This lecture is from The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition, by award-winning author and noted professor Seth Lerer of the University of California, San Diego.)
![Common Sense](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L23.jpg)
23: Common Sense
Thomas Paine was one of the American Revolution’s least likely heroes. Yet his best-selling pamphlet, Common Sense, redirected the course of the debate over independence in the American colonies. Without his arguments, there may never have been a “shot heard round the world.” In this lecture, you’ll learn why Paine’s remarkable work occupies—and deserves—such a unique place in political history. (This lecture is from Great American Bestsellers: The Books That Shaped America by noted author, literary expert, and award-winning professor Peter Conn of the University of Pennsylvania.)
![The Wealth of Nations](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L24.jpg)
24: The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations is considered one of the key texts of modern capitalism. It is central to our understanding of how competitive markets work. It also has been a reference point for many of the world’s most influential economic minds. In this lecture, you’ll examine some of the arguments and insights from this landmark book, as well as some of the historical moments that formed the backdrop of their writing. (This lecture is from Thinking about Capitalism by award-winning author and professor Jerry Z. Muller of The Catholic University of America.)
![The Federalist Papers](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L25.jpg)
25: The Federalist Papers
With independence achieved, the next challenge for America’s Founding Fathers was creating a working constitution for the new nation. The Federalist Papers—assembled by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay—put forth powerful arguments for ratifying the Constitution. In this lecture, you’ll strengthen your appreciation for just how much these papers contributed to American history and political philosophy. (This lecture is from The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition, by Daniel N. Robinson, a member of the philosophy faculty at Oxford University and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University.)
![The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L26.jpg)
26: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The idea of the self-made man is at the heart of the American dream. And it’s an idea that got its start with The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. With this work, the United States was bequeathed its greatest myth: the success story. It’s a central ingredient of the nation’s history, and it would go on to inspire everyday individuals to take their lives into their own hands. (This lecture is from Classics of American Literature by noted author and literary scholar Dr. Arnold Weinstein, the Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at Brown University.)
![A Vindication of the Rights of Woman](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L27.jpg)
27: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Women are not inferior to men; instead, they’re made inferior by being denied essential tools, such as education. With this simple argument, Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman set out to battle society’s maltreatment of women. In the process, she helped pave the way for subsequent human rights movements and strengthened the case for the power of the female authorial voice. (This lecture is from Classics of British Literature by Dr. John Sutherland, the Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at University College London and Visiting Professor of Literature at the California Institute of Technology.)
![Democracy in America](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L28.jpg)
28: Democracy in America
The greatest book written about American democracy, it turns out, was written by a Frenchman. Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is an intriguing examination of how our nation works. It played a role in introducing Europe to the political experiment that was the United States. It’s also a living work—one whose observations and insights challenge us to think not just about America in the 19th century, but also America today. (This lecture is from Tocqueville and the American Experiment by Dr. William R. Cook, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus of History at the State University of New York at Geneseo.)
![The Communist Manifesto](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L29.jpg)
29: The Communist Manifesto
Many of the 20th century’s most potent revolutions were rooted in communism and socialism. And the leaders behind these powerful political ideologies were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In The Communist Manifesto, they put forth the need for the working class—the proletariat—to revolt against the harsh economic conditions of capitalist society. In this lecture, you’ll read between the lines of this groundbreaking book in an effort to uncover what made its contents so transformative. (This lecture is from Thinking about Capitalism by award-winning author and professor Jerry Z. Muller of The Catholic University of America.)
![Uncle Tom’s Cabin](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L30.jpg)
30: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The debate over ending slavery in America reached a fever pitch in the years before the Civil War, thanks in part to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Even Abraham Lincoln credited Stowe’s work with playing a part in pushing a divided nation to war. In this lecture, you’ll examine this best-selling book from an intriguing new perspective—as a work that celebrates not just freedom from slavery, but also the ability of art and the imagination to break intimidating social bonds. (This lecture is from Classics of American Literature by noted author and literary scholar Dr. Arnold Weinstein, the Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at Brown University.)
![On the Origin of Species](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L31.jpg)
31: On the Origin of Species
There’s the world before the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and there’s the world after it. Darwin’s ideas completely overturned our connection to the natural world. They were met with acceptance and controversy among his contemporaries. And they also were used in ways this iconic scientist would not have endorsed. Welcome to the Darwinian revolution—and the single book that started it all. (This lecture is from Turning Points in Modern History by expert historian and award-winning professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.)
![On Liberty](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L32.jpg)
32: On Liberty
In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argued for a society that actively encouraged and facilitated diverse ways of living and thinking. It was a dramatic, refreshing, and—for its time—radical manifesto. And its illuminating, and sometimes provocative, ideas about freedom, speech, diversity, and individuality would become the veritable lifeblood of healthy civil societies in the modern age. (This lecture is from The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions by prolific author and professor Jay L. Garfield of Smith College.)
![The Jungle](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L33.jpg)
33: The Jungle
Many of the developments in 20th-century America were the result of muckraking journalists who exposed life at the bottom of the social ladder. Prominent among these individuals was Upton Sinclair, whose book The Jungle brought to light the horrors of the nation’s meatpacking industry. As you’ll learn, it was Sinclair’s shocking exposé that paved the way for dramatic reforms in how food was mass-produced. (This lecture is from Great American Bestsellers: The Books That Shaped America by noted author, literary expert, and award-winning professor Peter Conn of the University of Pennsylvania.)
![Being and Time](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L34.jpg)
34: Being and Time
To ignore Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time is to ignore the beginning of 20th-century existentialism. Dealing with complex issues about angst, death, existence, and time, Heidegger’s work had a tremendous impact on generations of European students searching for the meaning and purpose of life. How does one begin to make sense of the book’s ideas and arguments? This lecture will help guide you through Being and Time’s perplexing—but undeniably intriguing—pages. (This lecture is from The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida by Dr. Lawrence Cahoone, Professor of Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross.)
![One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L35.jpg)
35: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The realities of life in the Soviet Union’s labor camps opened the world’s eyes to the true horrors of the regime. And this revelation was all due to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This stirring book also introduced the world to the voice of a powerful critic of totalitarianism, one who would help show just how appallingly the Soviet Union could treat its citizens. (This lecture is from Classics of Russian Literature by Dr. Irwin Weil, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Northwestern University.)
![The Feminine Mystique](https://secureimages.teach12.com/tgc/images/m2/wondrium/courses/9004/9004-L36.jpg)
36: The Feminine Mystique
Published in 1963, Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique was a sweeping indictment of how postwar American women lived their lives. Women, the book argued, should have the right to actualize their own identities—not just live vicariously through their husbands and children. In this lecture, you’ll learn how Friedan’s life inspired this landmark book and how it sparked movements and organizations dedicated to abolishing discriminatory legislation. (This lecture is from The American Identity by widely published author and award-winning professor Patrick N. Allitt of Emory University.)