The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: The History of Thought From Ancient Times to Today

Many reviewers seem to have forgotten the purpose of the book. It was not to show off the pyrotechnical writing skills of the author or his strong opinions or his knowledge of literature. It was to identify the 100 Most INFLUENTIAL books ever written. The structure is similar to the "The 100 Most Influential People" as is the content. In both cases, it is the religious and spiritual realms that have exerted the most influence with political philosophy and scientific breakthroughs secondary. There may be a greater quantity of the later two but what has truly shaped mankind are the I Ching, The Old Testament, The Upanishads, Avesta, Dhammapada, Analects, The Way, etc. The author does not timidly offer the easy way out, saying that it could have meant this or that they may have been right. No, he states what he thinks emphatically. For those who blasted his left-liberal stance, they should note that he takes on all comers. He savages the eco prophets of doom as well as the Marxist Left. In the preface he skews Richard Dawkins, the new High Priest of Atheism, by saying his books will NEVER be included because he has contributed nothing original and besides, what he has written is "ludicrous". So tell us what you think, Martin! He omits E.O. Wilson because he treats people like his beloved ants. Yet he has praise for Aquinas and Augustine even as he decried their faith. He distinguishes between popular classics ("Gone With the Wind") and literary classics ("War and Peace"). He skipped Whitehead and Russel for Hegel. So this is not a random selection of "popular" works - a few are obscure. The descriptions and commentary are jewels - his skewings of Hegel, Chomsky, Martin Luther and Newton are worth the price of the book alone. One can argue with "Candide" (represents the Enlightenment) or Malthus's "The Principle of Population (included because Malthus was wrong and policies deriving from this were harmful). The one, similar thing uniting all these books is their promulgation of an idea that has changed mankind for better or worse. This collection proves that by far, "the pen is mightier than the sword".

As a sort of intro humanities course this is certainly worth reading. Martin Seymour-Smith brings to bear a lot knowledge on the books he writes about and more often than not he is able to look at the books and their authors in novel ways. If there is one criticism I have of this book it is that the author can come off as terribly arrogant. But if he is arrogant then his analysis is also incisive and almost always rings true. And I definitely came away with a few books to add to my wish list. Also worth reading is Seymour-Smith's Guide to 20th Century Literature.

OK, so it's full of run-on (and on and on and on....) sentences, and it has an abundance of Christian-bashing (although raised a Christian, I did find myself agreeing with the author most of the time), and he did leave out the other Little Red Book, by Harvey Penick, but how can you not appreciate the sheer girth of this guy's insight into all of these.... Sorry, I'd better end this sentence and start a new one. You see, not only have I read it through twice, but this book is a mainstay next to the toilet. Despite its obvious flaws, this collection of 100 refreshingly blunt book reports is simply one of the most inspirational things I've ever read. It stunningly reminded me of how limited my influences have been in shaping by beliefs (or lack of), and was instrumental in my decision to get a Masters in Social Science. I'm obviously not speaking to the nit-pickworthy scholars out there, but for the thirsty non-intellectuals ready to realize that most of what we know is what we've been told by other narrow minded (however well meaning) people. And arguing about who or what's left out is a moot point; this book is merely a starting point to expanding our capacity for understanding others. Of course, like Mr. Seymour-Smith's, all this is just my opinion.

If you want a dry philosophy text book that is stuffy and sensitive to the status quo then this book isn't for you. Seymour-Smith is really hard on the establishment, particularly the Christian establishment. He's not over fond of Political Correctness either. In a book that deals with epistemology I found his being highly opinionated most refreshing, another reason that I highly recommend this book: Seymour-Smith can be really funny.

I enjoy such compilations generally as I did this one BUT it is definitely invested in a view of the world that is Anglo-American/Enlightenment ...to be expected I guess. What I found disconcerting most was how Sartre came to represent "modern" thought. A derivative thinker at best, moderately interesting novelist/writer. But this century is most characterized by the diversity and plurality of thought. Unless its political (which may also be the other great contribution to thought this century), this book didn't seem to "get" the 20th Century in all its post-modernism. However, it was great as a pre-20th "humanities" (which is of course a Western idea) course.