I was at work when the DC earthquake struck. At first, the vibrations felt like one of the large trucks that makes deliveries to our loading dock. When it kept going, I asked everyone in the room, "Is the building shaking?" When they agreed, I said, "Must be an earthquake." I slid off my chair and rolled under my desk. When the earth stopped moving, I grabbed my keys and cell phone and left the building. Sadly, I left my lunch inside, so the aftershocks were caused by the rumbles in my tummy.
Our building sustained no damage, and only a few books fell to the floor in the stacks. All in all, I can now say that the earthquake was a wee bit fun.
A lucky side affect of the earthquake is that it gave me a great idea for this month's Variations on a Theme. The following books are all ground-breakers. These are the books that have sent ripples through history and society. Some of them caused immense change, and others spurred smaller movements, but they all had an impact on history.
The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Frederich Engels
Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles. [From Amazon.com]
The Prince
Niccolo Machiavelli
Classic guide to acquiring and maintaining political power is refreshing in its directness, yet often disturbing in its cold practicality. Starkly relevant to the political upheavals of the 20th century, this calculating prescription for power remains today, nearly 500 years after it was written, a timely and startling lesson in the practice of autocratic rule. [From Amazon.com]
The Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
On December 27, 1831, the young naturalist Charles Darwin left Plymouth Harbor aboard the HMS Beagle. For the next five years, he conducted research on plants and animals from around the globe, amassing a body of evidence that would culminate in one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind—the theory of evolution. Darwin presented his stunning insights in a landmark book that forever altered the way human beings view themselves and the world they live in. In The Origin of Species, he convincingly demonstrates the fact of evolution: that existing animals and plants cannot have appeared separately but must have slowly transformed from ancestral creatures. Most important, the book fully explains the mechanism that effects such a transformation: natural selection, the idea that made evolution scientifically intelligible for the first time. [From Amazon.com]
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe
"Uncle Tom's Cabin is the story of the slave Tom. He is sold and sent south, where he endures brutal treatment at the hands of a degenerate plantation owner. As the novel that helped to move a nation to battle, Uncle Tom's Cabin is an essential part of the collective experience of the American people." [From Amazon.com]
Lady Chatterly's Lover
D.H. Lawrence
D.H. Lawrence finished "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in 1928, but it was not published in an uncensored version until 1960. Many contemporary critics of D.H. Lawrence viewed the Victorian love story as vulgar, and even pornographic. It was banned immediately upon publication in both the UK and the US. The obscenity trials which followed established legal precedents for literature which still endure. At the heart, "Lady Chatterley's Lover" is a story about the invisible bonds between lovers, companions, and husbands and wives. Against this backdrop, Lawrence also explores the relationship between physical desire and spiritual fulfillment, often using sensual and explicitly sexual language. [From Amazon.com]
The Feminine Mystique
Search Amazon.com for The Feminine Mystique
Betty Friedan
Landmark, groundbreaking, classic—these adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and long-lasting effects of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. This is the book that defined "the problem that has no name," that launched the Second Wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with its insights into social relations, which still remain fresh, ever since. [From Amazon.com]
Other Groundbreaking Titles:
1984
- George Orwell
City of God
- St. Augustine
Common Sense
- Thomas Paine
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
- William Shakespeare
Democracy in America
- Alexis de Tocqueville
Diary of a Young Girl
- Anne Frank
Mein Kampf
- Adolf Hitler
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
- Isaac Newton
The Republic
- Plato
The Rights of Man
- Thomas Paine
The Second Sex
- Simone de Beauvoir
Silent Spring
- Rachael Carson
Summa Theologica
- St. Thomas Aquinas
The Wealth of Nations
- Adam Smith
Our building sustained no damage, and only a few books fell to the floor in the stacks. All in all, I can now say that the earthquake was a wee bit fun.
A lucky side affect of the earthquake is that it gave me a great idea for this month's Variations on a Theme. The following books are all ground-breakers. These are the books that have sent ripples through history and society. Some of them caused immense change, and others spurred smaller movements, but they all had an impact on history.
The Communist ManifestoKarl Marx and Frederich Engels
Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be enacting its principles. [From Amazon.com]
The PrinceNiccolo Machiavelli
Classic guide to acquiring and maintaining political power is refreshing in its directness, yet often disturbing in its cold practicality. Starkly relevant to the political upheavals of the 20th century, this calculating prescription for power remains today, nearly 500 years after it was written, a timely and startling lesson in the practice of autocratic rule. [From Amazon.com]
The Origin of SpeciesCharles Darwin
On December 27, 1831, the young naturalist Charles Darwin left Plymouth Harbor aboard the HMS Beagle. For the next five years, he conducted research on plants and animals from around the globe, amassing a body of evidence that would culminate in one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind—the theory of evolution. Darwin presented his stunning insights in a landmark book that forever altered the way human beings view themselves and the world they live in. In The Origin of Species, he convincingly demonstrates the fact of evolution: that existing animals and plants cannot have appeared separately but must have slowly transformed from ancestral creatures. Most important, the book fully explains the mechanism that effects such a transformation: natural selection, the idea that made evolution scientifically intelligible for the first time. [From Amazon.com]
Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher Stowe
"Uncle Tom's Cabin is the story of the slave Tom. He is sold and sent south, where he endures brutal treatment at the hands of a degenerate plantation owner. As the novel that helped to move a nation to battle, Uncle Tom's Cabin is an essential part of the collective experience of the American people." [From Amazon.com]
Lady Chatterly's LoverD.H. Lawrence
D.H. Lawrence finished "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in 1928, but it was not published in an uncensored version until 1960. Many contemporary critics of D.H. Lawrence viewed the Victorian love story as vulgar, and even pornographic. It was banned immediately upon publication in both the UK and the US. The obscenity trials which followed established legal precedents for literature which still endure. At the heart, "Lady Chatterley's Lover" is a story about the invisible bonds between lovers, companions, and husbands and wives. Against this backdrop, Lawrence also explores the relationship between physical desire and spiritual fulfillment, often using sensual and explicitly sexual language. [From Amazon.com]
The Feminine MystiqueSearch Amazon.com for The Feminine MystiqueBetty Friedan
Landmark, groundbreaking, classic—these adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and long-lasting effects of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. This is the book that defined "the problem that has no name," that launched the Second Wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with its insights into social relations, which still remain fresh, ever since. [From Amazon.com]
Other Groundbreaking Titles:
1984
- George Orwell City of God
- St. AugustineCommon Sense
- Thomas Paine The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
- William ShakespeareDemocracy in America
- Alexis de TocquevilleDiary of a Young Girl
- Anne FrankMein Kampf
- Adolf Hitler Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
- Isaac NewtonThe Republic
- PlatoThe Rights of Man
- Thomas Paine The Second Sex
- Simone de BeauvoirSilent Spring
- Rachael CarsonSumma Theologica
- St. Thomas AquinasThe Wealth of Nations
- Adam Smith
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