This is the book that shouldn't have been written

I have struggled with this book. it's a simplistic, black and white interpretation of some of the most influential books ever written ( even if they may have had a bad influence). The author colours everything with a conservative, anti-atheist, anti-abortion slant with many snide remarks about "liberals". Politics aside, the author only focused on the bad aspects of the books without explaining the books in the context of their times and why they were so popular/influential or suggesting what our world would look like if the books hadn't been written. Sure, we could probably have done without Hitlers Mein Kampf, but most of the other books were important philosophical or political pieces that have had huge influence, both good and bad, on our world. Some of the comments may have been written in jest but, if so, the sarcasm was too fine for me to appreciate.
Narrator was okay but didn't distinguish between quotes from the books in question and from the actual narrative very well.

25 people found this helpful

0/10

Blatant Christian propaganda. if you're up for a sermon - this is the book for you. Atheists will find this preachy and a complete insult.

18 people found this helpful

Wiker, 10 books that screwed the world

Author reviews well known books and authors with religious logic.
Describers Machiavelli as an atheist who is evil by renouncing god. (No doubt Machiavellism is unacceptable.)
Describes Marxism as an evil idea because communism in Russia and China reveal awful casulties. His logics are rediculous because what is then Christianity if we judge it by the acts of Catholic pedofilic priests?!
Really sad I wasted time and money.

12 people found this helpful

terrible

nothing more than religious bigotry a shameless attack on philosophy that ignores the wrongdoings of the church.

6 people found this helpful

Deeply thought provoking

This important book examines where so much pain in society comes from, it shows that ideas, especially those based on flawed science can hurt society. Even if people disagree with some points in this book the overall points are well worth considering.

6 people found this helpful

Religious propaganda

In a world where anyone can write a book this is a disappointing review of a number of important books in our history. While there were points throughout the book I did agree with, he manages to ignore the ongoing development of our morality and intelligence throughout time. According to him everything is an attack on religion and somehow Christian faith is the answer to all the ills of the world.
There is a lot of black and white thinking, with everything atheistic is bad and any Christian thought is good. Almost every book is reduced to an oversimplification.
If like me, you like your views to be challenged, by all means listen, but don't expect to find an argument which will alter your life views. - For the record, I am an atheist who was brought up Catholic.

4 people found this helpful

great informative summary

Exellent read, summarises alot of influences that have contributed to the degeneration of western society that most people don't realise and gives an opportunity to investigate further.

1 person found this helpful

Interesting, but a hidden underlying common thread

I don't know much about philosophy or the books that were summarised by this book, so the summary that was provided was certainly instructional and educational to a point.
The further I got through the book however, the more some familiar conclusions kept coming up. For the most part, all the weird perverse ideologies of the authors seemed to stem from one common factor: atheism. In the end, I found this common conclusion overly simplistic and coloured every other assertion that the author made.
The orator certainly had a distinctive voice with a very authoritarian tone, but as other reviewers have mentioned, didn't distinguish enough between standard text and quotes which made it easy to drift off and lose concentration.