Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man | 2006 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 2 | The Qur’an: A Biography | 2006 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 3 | Darwin’s Origin of Species: A Biography | 2006 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 4 | On The Wealth of Nations | 2006 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 5 | Homer’s The Iliad And The Odyssey | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 6 | The Bible | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 7 | The Qur’an | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 8 | Darwin’s Origin of Species | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 9 | Plato’s Republic | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 10 | Clausewitz’s on War | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
| 11 | Marx’s Das Kapital | 2007 | P.J. O’Rourke | Buy |
The Books That Changed the World series gave P.J. O’Rourke an unusual assignment: apply his satirical voice to some of history’s most influential texts. Published primarily in 2006 and 2007, the eleven volumes cover a wide range, from religious texts like the Bible and the Quran to political philosophy in Plato’s Republic and military theory in Clausewitz’s On War. O’Rourke also tackled Darwin’s Origin of Species, Homer’s epics, and Marx’s Das Kapital.
The series works because O’Rourke does not approach these books with academic reverence. He reads them as a journalist and humorist, pulling out what still matters and poking fun at what does not. The result is a set of introductions that are more accessible than typical scholarly commentary, though readers looking for rigorous analysis may want to supplement them with other sources. As entry points to these classic works, they are hard to beat for sheer readability.