Books That Have Altered History

While at the Lilly, we entertained the idea of launching a course which would examine books that altered prevailing cultural paradigms, that lead to intellectual revolution, or that influenced lawmakers to take new, bold courses of action.

Crafting our imaginary syllabus, we proposed Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

Ever since, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of books altering social consciousness. After abbreviated research, I’ve stumbled across numerous lists of such books. Some choices seem obvious, while others have been surprising.

For example, I hadn’t considered the Book of Mormon as a history-changing piece of literature. However, published in 1830, this book launched the largest U.S.-born religious movement. The book, containing the revelations given to Joseph Smith, has clearly impacted the lives of the nearly 11 million Mormons around the world today. Should it be added to our list?

Other scholars heralded the importance of “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. This work had crossed my mind at the Lilly, but I dismissed it seeing as I’d always considered it a ‘pamphlet’ – whatever that means. Such an arbitrary distinction in genre seems hardly to warrant its exclusion from our theoretical course. “Common Sense” has formed the foundation of many lines of American political thought and was immensely successful in shifting popular consciousness in favor of Revolution.

The journalist in me requires that I rally on behalf of All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The brave investigations of these two journalists inspired a generation of young, budding reporters to unashamedly expose corruption and misdeed – even in the highest offices of national politics. In fact, many claim that the work of Woodward and Bernstein has lead to the era of “gotcha” journalism (think of Dateline’s “To Catch A Predator”) that is so popular today. Their influence in undeniable.

Other titles that reoccur list after list include Betty Friedan’s The Feminist Mystique, which launched the modern feminist movement, and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which eloquently spoke to the latent creative talents of African Americans while condemning the institution of slavery.

Here’s our assigned reading. Anyone ready to sign up?