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12 Books That Changed the World
 
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12 Books That Changed the World (Paperback)

by Lord Melvyn Bragg (Author)
2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.65 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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  • This item: 12 Books That Changed the World by Lord Melvyn Bragg

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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Sceptre; New edition edition (8 Feb 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340839821
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340839829
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 93,921 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #7 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > B > Bragg, Melvyn

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Product Description

Review
"'Melvyn Bragg's superb new history of the English language is told as an adventure story, and rightly so. There is much splendid intellectual firepower in this book.' - Andrew Roberts, Spectator 'Excellent... always readable, often thought-provoking, and consistently entertaining.' - Independent 'Bragg's approachable account...gleams with little gems. His enthusiasm is appealing...he digs beneath modernity and examines our bedrock with a sympathetic eye. It has power and clarity...this adventure is rewarding.' - Sunday Herald 'This is a highly readable, jargon-free treatise on a notoriously prickly subject. Bragg's affection for his subject is infectious. In this he successfully joins a long tradition of gentleman enthusiasts from peppery Dr Johnson to genial James Murray.' - Observer" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 )

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.7 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Got through it eventually, 28 Jul 2006
By Robin Johnston (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: 12 Books That Changed the World (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.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking snapshots, 13 April 2007
By VivMac (Norfolk) - See all my reviews
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. I think he justifies the "books" fairly well and I enjoyed the snapshot way they were presented. I am unlikely to ever read all of them in full, in the original, so enjoyed the chance to skim through some Newton, Faraday and Stopes inter alia.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Mony a mickle maks a slightly bigger mickle..., 22 Jun 2009
By Rerevisionist (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: 12 Books That Changed the World (Hardcover)
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 sort of agreement, on things they have no serious idea about.

Newton gets #1 mention, but it's not credible Bragg has any grasp of Newton's (and others') idea of trapping rates of change as a formula, let alone universal gravitation. Darwin is here, but Bragg and his numerous assistants (key texts, and conversations) don't know about the plagiarism issue. Or other factoids - I'm told the first edition of the 'Origin' did not in fact sell out. It's pitifully clear Bragg has no knowledge about the reality of Shakespeare. I quite liked Bragg's account of the 'King James Bible' but naturally Protestantism is not the sort of thing a media person could be expected to understand. Bragg doesn't seem to know that 'Magna Carta' was one of a batch of written declarations. His account of the the slave trade (speech by Wilberforce, 1789) has a timeline with a whole batch of 'abolitions' though the realities (Muslim slaves, modern slavery) naturally are terra incognita to Bragg. The same applies to Marie Stopes - condoms are now available; the facts of third world breeding rates are something else. At least Bragg and his advisors dare to step slightly out of the ordinary - Football rules, Faraday on electricity.

I saw Bragg speak once; he was entranced that the establishment permitted a mere northerner to enter an Oxbridge library. No wonder he was promoted!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters
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. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Eclectic Reader

4.0 out of 5 stars 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 18 months ago by Shawn Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars 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 22 months ago by Davywavy2

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

1.0 out of 5 stars Very misleading title
A more honest title would have been: 12 things that may be books, speeches, research papers, or political documents, that show what a jolly fine bunch of people we English are,... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2007 by MacLeod

1.0 out of 5 stars Who reads Melvyn Bragg?
Another apolitical, self-satisfied and hopelessly outdated book from Melvyn Bragg, educating the masses on things they need to know. Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2007 by B. Hickman

2.0 out of 5 stars A Creditable List...
While it would be hard to fault the list, the research is at times sloppy. There is a lack of the intellectual depth to which I thought the reader of such a work was entitled... Read more
Published on 15 Jul 2006 by Ade at Bigfoot

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