The Most Influential Books (1497 books)

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Holy books, political books, fiction, whatever. Which books do you think have had the greatest impact and influence (positive or negative) on our world? Please only add books, not documents or essays.

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1	The Holy Bible: King James Version by Anonymous 4.45 avg rating — 326,819 ratings score: 143,798, and 1,455 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin 4.01 avg rating — 124,140 ratings score: 131,262, and 1,333 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	القرآن الكريم by الله 4.37 avg rating — 75,214 ratings score: 104,501, and 1,062 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	The Complete Works by William Shakespeare 4.48 avg rating — 57,539 ratings score: 75,693, and 786 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx 3.69 avg rating — 207,393 ratings score: 72,929, and 752 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	1984 by George Orwell 4.20 avg rating — 5,701,973 ratings score: 72,688, and 758 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	The Republic by Plato 3.97 avg rating — 231,589 ratings score: 64,516, and 671 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	The Odyssey by Homer 3.85 avg rating — 1,255,331 ratings score: 54,000, and 570 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli 3.84 avg rating — 397,387 ratings score: 48,910, and 514 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States of America, Bill of Rights and Constitutional Amendments (Including Images of Original by Founding Fathers 4.44 avg rating — 27,789 ratings score: 46,190, and 486 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	Animal Farm by George Orwell 4.03 avg rating — 4,762,818 ratings score: 43,911, and 469 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 4.20 avg rating — 4,303,504 ratings score: 43,805, and 464 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	The Art of War by Sun Tzu 3.94 avg rating — 592,130 ratings score: 43,395, and 460 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 4.26 avg rating — 7,076,859 ratings score: 42,436, and 451 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3) by J.R.R. Tolkien 4.55 avg rating — 745,696 ratings score: 39,939, and 425 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	The Iliad by Homer 3.94 avg rating — 530,223 ratings score: 39,604, and 425 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther 3.90 avg rating — 2,562 ratings score: 39,208, and 413 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso by Dante Alighieri 4.09 avg rating — 178,155 ratings score: 39,177, and 422 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith 3.89 avg rating — 35,976 ratings score: 35,806, and 385 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	Relativity: The Special and the General Theory by Albert Einstein 4.20 avg rating — 23,318 ratings score: 35,773, and 388 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Isaac Newton 4.24 avg rating — 4,843 ratings score: 34,983, and 376 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 3.91 avg rating — 313,043 ratings score: 34,461, and 376 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 3.74 avg rating — 2,878,394 ratings score: 33,773, and 365 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ by Joseph Smith Jr. 4.23 avg rating — 92,255 ratings score: 31,260, and 321 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings by Thomas Paine 4.15 avg rating — 15,970 ratings score: 30,627, and 327 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe 3.92 avg rating — 246,314 ratings score: 28,416, and 306 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	Harry Potter Series Box Set (Harry Potter, #1-7) by J.K. Rowling 4.73 avg rating — 305,886 ratings score: 27,266, and 291 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler 3.18 avg rating — 44,377 ratings score: 26,126, and 285 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	Spirit Filled Life Bible: A Personal Study Bible Unveiling All God's Fullness in All God's Word by Anonymous 4.43 avg rating — 8,253 ratings score: 25,167, and 256 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	Hamlet by William Shakespeare 4.03 avg rating — 1,083,386 ratings score: 24,283, and 270 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud 3.84 avg rating — 83,034 ratings score: 23,984, and 269 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 4.30 avg rating — 4,970,024 ratings score: 23,598, and 264 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	Les Misérables by Victor Hugo 4.22 avg rating — 859,290 ratings score: 22,751, and 251 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	The Analects by Confucius 3.80 avg rating — 24,687 ratings score: 22,176, and 249 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 3.98 avg rating — 2,137,729 ratings score: 22,084, and 251 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	Das Kapital by Karl Marx 3.91 avg rating — 12,691 ratings score: 22,008, and 248 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant 3.96 avg rating — 43,904 ratings score: 19,583, and 219 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 4.29 avg rating — 1,140,758 ratings score: 19,349, and 224 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand 3.69 avg rating — 411,121 ratings score: 18,927, and 203 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa 4.19 avg rating — 83,988 ratings score: 17,600, and 197 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau 3.78 avg rating — 59,775 ratings score: 17,504, and 202 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
42	Silent Spring by Rachel Carson 4.06 avg rating — 56,848 ratings score: 17,271, and 191 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Adventures of Tom and Huck, #2) by Mark Twain 3.83 avg rating — 1,350,418 ratings score: 17,196, and 200 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
44	Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 3.92 avg rating — 1,982,391 ratings score: 17,039, and 199 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	The Iliad / The Odyssey by Homer 4.07 avg rating — 86,149 ratings score: 16,821, and 191 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	Utopia by Thomas More 3.55 avg rating — 85,338 ratings score: 15,763, and 183 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
47	Paradise Lost by John Milton 3.86 avg rating — 187,184 ratings score: 15,501, and 182 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	The Epic of Gilgamesh by Unknown 3.76 avg rating — 123,082 ratings score: 15,397, and 182 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	The Jungle by Upton Sinclair 3.78 avg rating — 157,307 ratings score: 15,361, and 175 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien 4.30 avg rating — 4,594,679 ratings score: 15,291, and 179 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche 4.07 avg rating — 182,258 ratings score: 14,836, and 174 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer 3.53 avg rating — 241,151 ratings score: 14,079, and 168 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 3.80 avg rating — 3,987,960 ratings score: 13,763, and 162 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
54	The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton 4.10 avg rating — 42,598 ratings score: 13,690, and 160 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
55	Candide by Voltaire 3.76 avg rating — 308,594 ratings score: 13,384, and 160 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 4.09 avg rating — 958,967 ratings score: 13,307, and 161 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	Two Treatises of Government by John Locke 3.87 avg rating — 19,825 ratings score: 12,780, and 149 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
58	Civil Disobedience and Other Essays by Henry David Thoreau 4.06 avg rating — 17,938 ratings score: 12,227, and 146 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm 4.23 avg rating — 223,208 ratings score: 11,950, and 143 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	The Gutenberg Bible by Martin Davies 3.79 avg rating — 95 ratings score: 11,665, and 132 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
61	Lord of the Flies by William Golding 3.70 avg rating — 3,293,249 ratings score: 11,651, and 142 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
62	Macbeth by William Shakespeare 3.89 avg rating — 1,049,147 ratings score: 11,603, and 141 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
63	Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl 4.37 avg rating — 926,371 ratings score: 11,302, and 130 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
64	Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu 4.29 avg rating — 187,008 ratings score: 11,009, and 133 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
65	Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche 4.02 avg rating — 119,223 ratings score: 10,974, and 137 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville 4.06 avg rating — 27,525 ratings score: 10,909, and 130 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
67	Holy Bible: New International Version by Anonymous 4.63 avg rating — 99,672 ratings score: 10,833, and 121 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
68	Confessions by Augustine of Hippo 4.01 avg rating — 77,558 ratings score: 10,672, and 127 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
69	On Liberty by John Stuart Mill 3.96 avg rating — 44,608 ratings score: 10,607, and 128 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
70	On The Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus 4.08 avg rating — 1,005 ratings score: 10,539, and 128 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
71	Beowulf by Seamus Heaney (Translator) 3.50 avg rating — 354,581 ratings score: 10,440, and 130 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
72	Euclid's Elements by Euclid 4.31 avg rating — 3,411 ratings score: 10,365, and 122 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
73	The Aeneid by Virgil 3.88 avg rating — 147,634 ratings score: 10,277, and 129 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
74	Alice in Wonderland by Jane Carruth (Adapted By) 4.03 avg rating — 397,768 ratings score: 10,156, and 123 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
75	The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir 4.19 avg rating — 48,894 ratings score: 10,155, and 123 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
76	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 3.43 avg rating — 572,170 ratings score: 9,873, and 121 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
77	The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 3.81 avg rating — 1,362,090 ratings score: 9,565, and 117 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	Little Women (Little Women, #1) by Louisa May Alcott 4.18 avg rating — 2,526,671 ratings score: 9,498, and 114 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
79	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes, #3) by Arthur Conan Doyle 4.30 avg rating — 332,625 ratings score: 9,472, and 116 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
80	Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican by Galileo Galilei 4.07 avg rating — 1,315 ratings score: 9,297, and 111 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
81	Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas 4.13 avg rating — 4,173 ratings score: 9,118, and 111 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
82	The Rhetoric & The Poetics of Aristotle by Aristotle really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,498 ratings score: 8,886, and 111 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
83	The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan 3.88 avg rating — 31,898 ratings score: 8,881, and 108 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
84	Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 3.97 avg rating — 2,958,718 ratings score: 8,779, and 108 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
85	A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft 3.92 avg rating — 27,732 ratings score: 8,720, and 112 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
86	Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe 3.68 avg rating — 337,402 ratings score: 8,520, and 110 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
87	Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 4.09 avg rating — 907,519 ratings score: 8,466, and 96 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
88	Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes 3.70 avg rating — 54,612 ratings score: 8,298, and 104 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
89	The Ego and the Id by Sigmund Freud 3.81 avg rating — 12,729 ratings score: 7,813, and 102 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
90	Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung by Mao Zedong 3.52 avg rating — 4,344 ratings score: 7,803, and 97 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
91	General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes 3.85 avg rating — 5,858 ratings score: 7,714, and 97 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
92	The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan 4.08 avg rating — 163,885 ratings score: 7,366, and 93 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
93	Selected Philosophical Writings by René Descartes 3.85 avg rating — 756 ratings score: 6,977, and 90 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
94	Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally 4.34 avg rating — 167,235 ratings score: 6,854, and 84 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
95	The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation by Aristotle 4.41 avg rating — 2,400 ratings score: 6,851, and 83 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
96	The I Ching or Book of Changes by Anonymous 4.19 avg rating — 21,019 ratings score: 6,739, and 84 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 4.17 avg rating — 375,595 ratings score: 6,552, and 85 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
98	The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie 3.71 avg rating — 73,212 ratings score: 6,490, and 83 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
99	Experiments in Plant Hybridisation by Mendel 4.01 avg rating — 160 ratings score: 6,487, and 82 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
100	The Histories by Herodotus 4.01 avg rating — 56,974 ratings score: 6,263, and 87 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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1,497 books · 5,310 voters · list created November 15th, 2008 by Crazy Uncle Ryan (votes) .

Tags: best, classics, important, influence, influential, most, powerful, significant, worst

2270 likes · Like

Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.

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Comments (showing 73-122)

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message 122: by Jubilee (new)

Feb 18, 2025 10:32AM

twighlight is literally more influential than any book every written-literary masterpiece on the levels of the brontes and the bible

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message 121: by Gloriana (new)

Oct 07, 2024 09:27AM

I'm so happy the Bible is number one. There is still hope for this world.

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message 120: by Rainbowheart (new)

Jun 21, 2021 10:32PM

Reverted title back to original. This was changed by someone other than the list creator.

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message 119: by J_BlueFlower (new)

Mar 27, 2019 01:29AM

I have voted for The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe

In Polen in 1930-ish a radio operator was inspired by this story to start trying to analyse the German codes (his job was to just copy the signals). This was the start of Polish code breaking before WWII and the first breaking of Enigma. A crucial progress that was later given to the English and gave them a head start. It may have had a direct impact on WWII.

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message 118: by Laurence (new)

Dec 27, 2018 09:24PM

From my reading of this list, it is apparent few understand the meaning of influential. This is more like best-sellers. Not very helpful.

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message 117: by [deleted user] (new)

Jun 21, 2018 09:33PM

David wrote: "The bible isn't the most influential book ever!"

I agree...after all it was written by men. It should be in the fiction section :)

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message 116: by JZ (new)

Jun 01, 2018 09:58AM

Ian wrote: "How is the Origin of Spieces above the Bible? It's only been around for 160 years! I can see how it would be no. 1 if this was a list for most influential books nowadays, but c'mon! There've been w..."

How about Truth over Fiction for a reason? I like that one.

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message 115: by JZ (new)

Jun 01, 2018 09:55AM

Rommy wrote: "The Epic of Gilgamesh: No. 1
Written ~2100 B.C.E, exerting over 4,000 yrs of influence throughout history."

Yes! Read "The Written World" for an amazing perspective on language, writing, and literature's influence on the progress of civilization. Hint: There wouldn't be any without it.
It has the very exciting story about how The Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered. Blew my mind, and made me mourn for all the rest that has been lost, burnt, destroyed, and suppressed (Vatican City, I'm looking straight at you.)

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message 114: by Rom (new)

Jun 01, 2018 09:49AM

The Epic of Gilgamesh: No. 1
Written ~2100 B.C.E, exerting over 4,000 yrs of influence throughout history.

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message 113: by Sorobai (new)

Nov 28, 2017 07:56AM

The Book Thief!?

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message 112: by Tarik (last edited Feb 07, 2017 02:55PM) (new)

Feb 07, 2017 02:45PM

So terrible list!

There is no way Orwell to be so influential like Bible, Shakespeare, Plato and Quran, sorry but Marx and Darwin are also overrated, outside the top 10 would be of good size for both, only a few decades later and few people still are influenced by Communism and Evolution, ...

Martin Luther, Isaac Newton, Mormons Book and Homer should be in the top 10, though.

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message 111: by Esmeralda (new)

Oct 20, 2016 02:35PM

Mukesh wrote: "The bible isn't the most influential book ever!"

Influence doesn't have to be positive. The Bible has probably had more influence on the world than any other book, but much of that influence has been incredibly negative.

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message 110: by Greg (new)

Jun 23, 2016 04:34AM

Daniel wrote: "Mukesh wrote: "The bible isn't the most influential book ever!"

No matter what religion you practice (I'm not a catholic by the way), Guttenberg's edition of the Bible IS the most influential book..."
nope, not the first printed book. the Chinese were way ahead and were printing a thousand years before Guttenburg. G. invented moveable type.

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message 109: by Greg (new)

Jun 23, 2016 04:32AM

Francisco wrote: "Danna wrote: "George wrote: "Koran is number 3?!!!"

yeah.?"

If you ask me this poll is very inflamable... dont get me wrong, if it were inflable AND had a point id be happy, but books are so subj..."
Francisco, Americans are killing Americans, right here, right now, on Ameican soil. But seriously, I must ask, why do you think religious wars should exist at all/

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message 108: by Greg (new)

Jun 22, 2016 09:45AM

The Old Testament Bible (any version) is heavily influenced by earlier works, especially Sumerian stories. Just saying....

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message 107: by Greg (new)

Jun 22, 2016 09:41AM

Rik wrote: "Marte wrote: "Faith in humanity restored. The Origin of Species at number one!"

So faith in humanity is restored when the book that tells us that we are descended from the apes is at nr. 1? I pref..."
Rik, with all due respect to a fellow reader, that's not what "Origin of Species" says.

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message 106: by Christopher (last edited Jun 10, 2016 09:05PM) (new)

Jun 10, 2016 09:04PM

The Book of Mormon outranks the Bhagavad Gita even though there are nearly a billion Hindus and only 16 million or so Mormons. I find this very odd. Somebody needs to fix this error in judgment.

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message 105: by Olli (last edited Nov 28, 2017 02:33PM) (new)

Apr 15, 2016 02:00PM

Needs more Ovid, Augustine, Gratian, Peter Lombard, Goethe... the list could go on, but you know, influential books that practically everyone knew before WWII or so.

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message 104: by Ngo (last edited Feb 09, 2016 05:35PM) (new)

Feb 09, 2016 05:34PM

Western bias list, few non-Western people could cite Charles Darwin as the Bible and the Qur'an.
Origin of Species had no direct impact on the world, the mere mention of Darwin as influential as Jesus and Muhammad is mere mockery.
This list is just awful.

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message 103: by Violetta (new)

Jan 27, 2016 08:43PM

My books to add to the list:
La Comédie Humaine by Honoré de Balzac
The Thousand and One Nights, also called The Arabian Nights
Divine Comedy and Inferno by Dante Alighieri
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
L'Homme qui Rit by Victor Hugo
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Golden Calf by Ilf and Petrov
Roadside Picnic by Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky
The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Sun King, Louis XIV King of France by Alexander Dumas

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message 102: by Ian (new)

Oct 23, 2015 11:35AM

How is the Origin of Spieces above the Bible? It's only been around for 160 years! I can see how it would be no. 1 if this was a list for most influential books nowadays, but c'mon! There've been wars and martyrs and all that for thousands of years over the Bible. Lke Francisco said, Medieval Europe and everything. How could Darwin have influence over more people in one and a half centuies than than all the billions of people before him put together influenced by the Bible?! These last couple generations havn't been the only ones.

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message 101: by Addi (new)

Sep 08, 2015 10:14PM

The Hobbit, yay! (:

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message 100: by Silk (last edited Aug 20, 2015 07:58PM) (new)

Aug 20, 2015 07:53PM

Meh, opinion is subjective, but does not mean that there was no influence. Marx certainly has influence, Rousseau not much. We can not like Shakespeare, but all his genius is there, his metric rhyme, poetry, complex characters and whole their influence in nearly 500 years. The books on the list are not we like or sympathize, but that actually have more impact, whether cultural, political or religious. You may have learned more on political reading Sherlock Holmes, but that does not make him be as politically influential as Marx.

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message 99: by Sharon (new)

Aug 20, 2015 04:12PM

Booklovinglady wrote: "Sharon wrote: "It's really all a matter of one's taste, isn't it?"

Isn't it always? :-) Goes for every Lisopia, I'd say."

Yep.

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message 98: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (new)

Aug 20, 2015 12:27PM

Sharon wrote: "It's really all a matter of one's taste, isn't it?"

Isn't it always? :-) Goes for every Lisopia, I'd say.

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message 97: by Sharon (new)

Aug 20, 2015 11:20AM

It's really all a matter of one's taste, isn't it?

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message 96: by Lucinda (new)

Aug 19, 2015 04:08PM

Thanks, I'm glad you understand my meaning.
I learned nothing reading The Confessions, hated it, I stopped half way through.
It doesn't mean I think it had no impact on Western culture.

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message 95: by Sharon (new)

Aug 19, 2015 04:03PM

Lucinda wrote: "Nick I'm sorry to say but it's not because The Social Contract had influence in politics than it's more influential than Sherlock Holmes.

Problem is, you don't take the right frame of reference wh..."

You go, Lucinda! I've learned more from fiction - including Sherlock Holmes - than from reading any dry political treatise.

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message 94: by Lucinda (new)

Aug 19, 2015 02:31PM

Nick I'm sorry to say but it's not because The Social Contract had influence in politics than it's more influential than Sherlock Holmes.

Problem is, you don't take the right frame of reference when you talk about these books.

According to what right can you assert than politics is better viewed than popular culture? I'm sorry to say, but this is a very elitist way of thinking.
Thanks to Conan Doyle, MILLIONS of ppl whatch the series "Sherlock". And you know what? I'm almost sure that half of these ppl don't give a shit about Rousseau or Marx.
To be frank, I don't. I find it dry, badly written literature and I don't care about what they say, and I found the topic extremely boring. So in a way, I would be more like 19th century middle class reader who enjoys penny dreadful and who dislikes politics.
Does that make me a person less capable of thinking? I don't think so. Actually I hate reading newspapers because a lot of what you see written in it is bullshit, many, many journalists write what they think without checking on their sources. Look at the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris last january, it's exactly what happened.

And you know what? Marx and Rousseau had their own opinions, and I'm pretty sure some parts of their books are unaccurate, because they see everything through the prism of their own thinking. The reason why I don't like them is because I find them dogmatic. Which is rarely the case with a work of fiction.
It doesn't mean I don't respect these authors and admire how influential they were for 19th century society.

There's a HUGE difference about recognising the degree of influence of some work and your OWN opinion about it. Try to think about that before patronizing ppl who favour Sherlock Holmes over The Capital.

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message 93: by Lobstergirl (new)

Aug 13, 2015 10:03PM

I deleted a few self-published books from the last couple years. Only their authors, living in a world of fantasy and desperation, thought they were influential.

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message 92: by Silk (last edited Sep 09, 2015 04:13PM) (new)

Aug 07, 2015 12:51PM

How did hell the Origin of Species is more influential than the Bible, Quran , Shakespeare and Aristotle ? Too few read Darwin , the book has no influence , he only found out what already existed 2,000 years ago with the Greek theory of Evolution, while Shakespeare , Aristotle , Marx and Homer gave us something new and that has lasted much longer than Darwin .
Evolution theory has not influenced the lives of millions of people as Bible and Quran. yet George Orwell is more influential than Dante, Homer, Newton and Martin Luther? really?

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message 91: by Sharon (new)

Jul 22, 2015 09:04AM

This is a list of influential books, not what has been read. Whether or not you have read the entire series, the series itself is what was influential, not who read it.

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message 90: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jul 21, 2015 08:59PM) (new)

Jul 21, 2015 08:59PM

Sharon wrote: "Since the HP boxed set is #29, why list the individual books also? That's redundant."

Isn't that assuming everyone read the complete series...?

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message 89: by Sharon (new)

Jul 21, 2015 09:10AM

Since the HP boxed set is #29, why list the individual books also? That's redundant.

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message 88: by Sharon (new)

Jul 21, 2015 09:01AM

Ben wrote: "Good list!

Surprised Twilight and Harry Potter haven't made their way to the top 100 yet! :o)"

Um, Harry Potter is #29.

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message 87: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Feb 12, 2015 08:07AM) (new)

Feb 12, 2015 08:02AM

I read with interest the discussions on the Bible and the Quran, the Bible versus the Quran, and so on and so forth. Seems rather pointless to me, as they both have been, and still are, hugely influential books, no matter how you look upon it. And does it really matter if either is top of this list or not...?

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message 86: by Paul (new)

Dec 11, 2014 07:11AM

Checked for duplicates: 6 books removed.

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message 85: by Lucinda (new)

Aug 31, 2014 01:07AM

and so that makes Alice in Wonderland a more influential book in history than Sherlock Holmes?

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message 84: by Nick (new)

Aug 28, 2014 12:39PM

Most of the fiction on this list doesn't belong, the influence of most of these novels exists primarily in the world of literature. Frankly, Sherlock Holmes wasn't and could never be expected to have the same breadth of impact that certain politically oriented texts here have had.

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message 83: by Lucinda (new)

Aug 03, 2014 10:38AM

Sorry for those who made this list and apart from a few books featuring in that I've read, but I found most of it very unappealing… Also the classification "influential in history" is really debatable when you find that Alice in Wonderland and the Social Contract are in the same set.

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message 82: by Allen (new)

Jul 16, 2014 04:45PM

Francisco wrote: "Danna wrote: "George wrote: "Koran is number 3?!!!"

yeah.?"

If you ask me this poll is very inflamable... dont get me wrong, if it were inflable AND had a point id be happy, but books are so subj..."

Quaran, I slogged through it, but influential, yes. I did not vote for it though. I fyou view the world, and history, as a whole it is meaningful, but not overwhelming. The bible has the force of western civilization behind it, but good, not great literature.

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message 81: by Allen (new)

Jul 16, 2014 04:35PM

Books of all time! I take that to mean across cultures and time. What happened to the Vedantic Texts? I loved them and they are influential. I tend to the political/social contract books. These affect us all, Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and maybe Jefferson. Vote early and often!

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message 80: by Rik (new)

Apr 26, 2014 03:41AM

Marte wrote: "Faith in humanity restored. The Origin of Species at number one!"

So faith in humanity is restored when the book that tells us that we are descended from the apes is at nr. 1? I prefer the book that tells us that God has set us apart from all the other animals. Sounds like a lot more faith in humanity to me.

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message 79: by Marte (new)

Apr 25, 2014 10:42AM

Faith in humanity restored. The Origin of Species at number one!

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message 78: by Rik (new)

Feb 22, 2014 03:16AM

The Bible has been around for almost 2000 years, started wars, nations have been built upon, people took it all over the globe. The Origin of Species was first published around 150 years ago and has undoubtedly had a great influence on the world and its people, but it cannot have been more influential than the Bible. As a historian (and a Christian, but that is not the point), I cannot agree with the top 2 of this list. The rest, I don't care about. The Qu'ran at 3? Fine with me. Put Origin at 2 for all I care. But the Bible should be at nr. 1!

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message 77: by Joe (new)

Feb 15, 2014 04:03PM

Yea, I have read most of the list, So do I get a prize or something. ( I finished the bible which most have not , I have not become anything. So what!

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message 76: by Joe (new)

Feb 15, 2014 03:56PM

"The Koran" and the "Bible" bought as a religious statement not to be read.

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message 75: by Andrew (last edited Feb 08, 2014 01:58PM) (new)

Feb 08, 2014 01:56PM

I hate to break it to all you people here but the most influential books in the world are actually:

The Ramayana
The Bible
The Quran
The Analects of Confucius (not even on this list for some reason)

Just so all the narrow minded people that are questioning why such books are on this list, people do exist in other countries and million upon millions have been influenced by these books over thousands of year.

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message 74: by Manray9 (new)

Oct 12, 2013 08:42AM

Rajat wrote: "I am surprised we dont have the 2 Indian Epics on the list...Ramayana and Mahabharata. Over a billion in India and elsewhere read these 2 epics"

You've hit on the Eurocentric nature of GR and its players. Add the Indian epics to the list.

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message 73: by Rajat (new)

Oct 12, 2013 02:32AM