12 Books That Changed The World
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Bragg writes with passion...and once again, shows his capacity to make science and technology both exciting and accessible.' (Independent )
'Bragg has established himself over the past decades as a fearlessly dedicated, popular educator . . . a highly and easily readable book.'
(John Sutherland, The Sunday Times )'It can charm almost anyone of any age . . . yet again Bragg has displayed his extraordinary and unique gifts as a communicator'
(Christena Appleyard, Daily Mail )'This is an inspiring, fascinating and stimulating book with marvellous illustrations'
(Niall MacMonagle, Irish Times )The Sunday Times
'Obviously an expression of sincere personal enthusiasm...a highly and easily readable book.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.
If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.
The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?
Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.
If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.
The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?
Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Bought this a few weeks ago, the title being sufficiently persuasive to cause me to ignore my misgivings about reading something authored by Mr Bragg (sorry, I can't take the Lord thing seriously) and ploughed through it on the train to work over a fortnight.
While interesting generally, I found it a bit annoying in places. Some chapters I raced through: Wilberforce, Smith, Stopes, Newton, Darwin and Faraday in particular were quite fascinating.
Others however were hard going. The Rules of Association Football left me surprisingly cold, I wanted more from Arkwright and the King James Bible was a real struggle, though this may be due to the fact that Mr Bragg kept getting in the way with his views on word usage.
All in all money well spent and I'll probably dip into it again from time to time. In other words it will go into the bookcase, not under the corner of the sofa that has a leg missing.
While interesting generally, I found it a bit annoying in places. Some chapters I raced through: Wilberforce, Smith, Stopes, Newton, Darwin and Faraday in particular were quite fascinating.
Others however were hard going. The Rules of Association Football left me surprisingly cold, I wanted more from Arkwright and the King James Bible was a real struggle, though this may be due to the fact that Mr Bragg kept getting in the way with his views on word usage.
All in all money well spent and I'll probably dip into it again from time to time. In other words it will go into the bookcase, not under the corner of the sofa that has a leg missing.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Although it may be too late, an interesting exercise before reading this book is to select your own list of twelve books; if it isn't too late and you don't know his list, look away now and get writing. (Bragg's list is at the bottom of the page; scroll down to find it.)
I made my personal list and there was little correlation. Therein lies the interest and the problem many have had with this book. They expected their twelve and were disappointed not to find them; Bragg never claims it to be other than his personal list and does not claim it is THE twelve, a comprehensive list or the list others would choose.
However, it is worth reading just to consider another's view, especially one so well read. If readers don't like one of his choices, it does not have to be read.
MELVYN BRAGG'S LIST
"Principia Mathematica"
"Married Love"
"Magna Carta"
Rule Book of Association Football"
"On the Origins of Species"
"On the Abolition of Slavery"
A Vindication of the Rights of Women"
"Experimental Research in Electricity"
"Patent Specification for Arkwright's Spinning Machine"
"The King James Bible"
"An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"
"The First Folio"
I made my personal list and there was little correlation. Therein lies the interest and the problem many have had with this book. They expected their twelve and were disappointed not to find them; Bragg never claims it to be other than his personal list and does not claim it is THE twelve, a comprehensive list or the list others would choose.
However, it is worth reading just to consider another's view, especially one so well read. If readers don't like one of his choices, it does not have to be read.
MELVYN BRAGG'S LIST
"Principia Mathematica"
"Married Love"
"Magna Carta"
Rule Book of Association Football"
"On the Origins of Species"
"On the Abolition of Slavery"
A Vindication of the Rights of Women"
"Experimental Research in Electricity"
"Patent Specification for Arkwright's Spinning Machine"
"The King James Bible"
"An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations"
"The First Folio"
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
to much of himself
not something that has made me feel very different about our history apart from women's emancipation and magna carta both of which are so relevant to now
Published 19 days ago by Nima
Anglo-centric opinion
A better title would be 12 books that changed England. This book is a typically Anglo-centric view of the world, and the choice of books contained, whilst on the whole interesting,... Read more
Published on 8 May 2010 by Cricket Mad
Bragging Rights
A dozen essays on an eclectic selection of influential British written works.
If you are a fan of Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time" Radio 4 show, you will probably enjoy this... Read more
If you are a fan of Melvyn Bragg's "In Our Time" Radio 4 show, you will probably enjoy this... Read more
Published on 17 April 2010 by Rotgut
12 British(!) "books" that "changed" the world
The book provides light reading, digging very shallowly indeed into the history of science, sociology, culture, and football. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2010 by GunillaB
12 Books That Changed the World
I found the book very interesting and easy to read, although I possibly would not have chosen the same 12 books looking from a female perspective. Read more
Published on 15 July 2009 by Mrs. S. M. Elkington
Mony a mickle maks a slightly bigger mickle...
2006 book. Bragg credits a huge list of people for each of his books or documents. It's an insight into the awfulness of TV: a roomful of hacks dredge their memory and come to some... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2009 by Rerevisionist
Shawn
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2008 by Shawn Smith
Highly readable
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2007 by Davywavy2
An interesting list...
I have to say I found this book quiet interesting and readable. I am not familiar with any of Mr Braggs TV or Radio work (unlike some other reviewers) so I am viewing this book in... Read more
Published on 8 May 2007 by Michael Rowan
Thought provoking snapshots
Previous reviewers having been so negative thought it worth pointing out the Bragg doesn't pretend this selection is anything other that a personal choice. Read more
Published on 13 April 2007 by VivMac
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
