Books That Changed History: From the Art of War to Anne Frank’s Diary

The biggest, most breathtaking account of history’s most famous books

Imagine a world without Principia Mathematica, Rights of Man, the Bible, Shakespeare, or the Mahabharata.

Books that Changed History features 75 of the world’s most momentous titles - from The Art of War to Anne Frank’s Diary - and reveals their far-ranging impact.

Books are the medium through which scientists, storytellers, and philosophers introduce their ideas. Discover seminal religious and political titles, cornerstones of science such as On the Origin of Species, and ancient texts such as the I Ching, which is still used today to answer fundamental questions about human existence.

Get up close to see fascinating details, such as Versalius’ exquisite anatomical illustrations in Epitome, Leonardo da Vinci’s annotated notebooks, or the hand-decorated pages in the Gutenberg Bible. Discover why Euclid’s Elements of Geometry was the most influential maths title ever published, and marvel at rare treasures such as the Aubin Codex, which tells the history of the Aztecs and the early Spanaish colonial period in Mexico.

Books that Changed History gathers stories, diaries, scientific treatises, plays, dictionaries, and religious texts into a stunning celebration of the power of books.