12 Books that Changed the World by Melvyn Bragg

BOOK OF THE MONTH - May

12 Books that Changed the World – by Melvyn Bragg

Lord Bragg of Wigton has penned a bibliophile’s book of books to accompany the ITV series ‘Twelve Books that Changed the World’. As befits a liberal minded – even egalitarian minded – lover of books Bragg states that great economic, social, personal and political change has come about through the power of the book.

Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come and books are nothing if not the concrete form for ideas. Bragg presents a blend of the obvious and the idiosynchratic amongst a representative selection of printed ideas ranging through Science, Society, Law, Leisure, Industry, Literature and Religion.

Few would argue against the influence of Newton’s ‘Principia Mathematica’, Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species’ nor Faraday’s ‘Experimental Researches into Electricity’, nor against their inclusion in Bragg’s list. Having previously published a history of science Melvyn Bragg is well qualified to document these lives and elucidate their works. In a style symbiotic with his Radio and TV broadcasting skills he writes clearly but unpatronisingly, often allowing others with more specific knowledge to contribute.

Other non-contraversial books in the list include Shakespeare’s First Folio and William Tyndale’s Bible – the King James Version. Shakespeare has to carry the baton for all works of fiction as no novels, poetry collections or other plays are included. This still leaves seven books with which we can have great fun taking issue with Bragg’s selection.

The first contentious point arises from his liberal definition of what constitutes a book; The ‘Magna Carta’ was inscribed on a calf-skin and is just 63 clauses long, ‘The Abolition of the Slave Trade’ was a four hour speech to Parliament by William Wilberforce, and Arkwright’s ‘Patent for Spinning Machine’ is a mere three pages. ‘The Rule Book of Association Football’ was knocked up one afternoon by a group of ex-public schoolboys in a pub, was 13 clauses long and Bragg’s reproduction covers barely two pages.

In defence the ‘book’ form was not readily available in the 13th Century when Magna Carter was inscribed and Wilberforce’s speech was reproduced in print immediately. Bragg can also seek refuge in the modern multi-media environment where ‘books’ can be downloaded and read off the screen, listened to in audio formats, and created and consumed as blogs or podcasts. The point with this selection is not the form but the potency of the content.

And the content was potent; the fundamental right of the individual was enshrined in law, the Atlantic Slave Trade was abolished (eventually), the factory system of production was introduced, and the game of football was codified to become the greatest mass leisure pre-occupation in the world – 8 out 10 people on the planet are expected to see some of the 2006 World Cup.

There are two books on Bragg’s list that deal with attitudes in society; Mary Wollstonecraft’s ‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’ (1792) and Marie Stopes’ ‘Married Love’ (1918). These two authors met with contrasting fortunes on publication; Wollstonecraft was villified for decades while Stopes had immediate success and impact - no doubt in part due to the ground prepared by the earlier writer.

The last work is Adam smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ – a hugely influential book on publication in 1776 which has had a resurgent popularity through the economic theorists Milton Friedman and Von Hayek, the economic policies of Reagan and Thatcher, and the emergent super economies of China and India. If all other books on the list have provoked change in the world for the better, Smith’s is far more contentious – rampant, unfettered capitalism has a lot of losers as well as winners.

Melvyn Bragg entertains as well as informs with his lively, provocative and accessible personal selection on the power of the pen. A Joy.