10 Books That Screwed Up the World

And 5 Others That Didn't Help

By: Benjamin Wiker

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

You've heard of the "Great Books"? These are their evil opposites.

From Machiavelli's The Prince to Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto to Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, these "influential" books have led to war, genocide, totalitarian oppression, family breakdown, and disastrous social experiments. And yet these authors' bad ideas are still popular and pervasive; in fact, they might influence your own thinking without your realizing it.

Here with the antidote is Professor Benjamin Wiker. In this scintillating new book, he seizes each of these evil books by its malignant heart and exposes it to the light of day. You'll learn:

Why Machiavelli's The Prince was the inspiration for a long list of tyrannies (Stalin had it on his nightstand)

How Descartes's Discourse on Method "proved" God's existence only by making Him a creation of our own ego

How Hobbes's Leviathan led to the belief that we have a "right" to whatever we want

Why Marx and Engels's Communist Manifesto could win the award for the most malicious book ever written

How Darwin's Descent of Man proves he intended "survival of the fittest" to be applied to human society

How Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil issued the call for a world ruled solely by the "will to power"

How Hitler's Mein Kampf was a kind of "spiritualized Darwinism" that accounts for his genocidal anti-Semitism

How the pansexual paradise described in Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa turned out to be a creation of her own sexual confusions and aspirations

Why Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was simply autobiography masquerading as science

Witty, shocking, and instructive, 10 Books That Screwed Up the World offers a quick education on the worst ideas in human history and how we can avoid them in the future.

©2008 Benjamin Wiker (P)2008 Tantor

A little too preachy!!

I thought the writer has some very interesting theories as to why the world is "screwed up". However, I felt the author took some of the books out of context and many times espoused the ideas expressed in these books to an outlandish absurd conclusion. It is clear that the author's pro-Christian/anti-Atheist views influenced his analysis of these books and possibly conflated the ideas expressed by the books he criticized discounting their revolutionary nature.

Further, the anti-abortion rhetoric would have been more effective if it were a little more subtle. Even though I personally do not agree with the author's point of view in some parts of the book, overall this book provokes thought and discussion.

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!

Modern day liberals must have read and studied these books mentioned by Mr. Wiker. You will see the beginnings and development of this sad philosophy. Look at the policies of this current administration and it all plays out right before your eyes.The unfortunate seepage of this "rot gut" into the educational system and the liberal wing of our government is causing much of our modern day problems. Great overview of what liberals and progressives all believe and worship!

If only everyone could read this book!

This book opened my eyes to the miseducation I had received and so many are still receiving!
How culture can be shaped by lies, when only part of a story is told! Yet it has happened many times over as this book documents

How often a charismatic person with a so-called new philosophy was just trying to justify and normalize their selfishness.

think twice before writing a book

The book helped me to understand the essence of -some of them difficult- philosophers' thoughts, the developments of their ideas, and their effect in history and society. I will think twice before writing a book, after reading what can follow!
Clearly written from the conservative (as one can see in the authors website) and Christian point of view, but it nonetheless logically structured and well researched.
It contents a good dose of humor. It's been well read and is easy to listen to.

Phenomenal

This is a must read for any honest intellectual or serious thinker - and really anyone with a heart for literature, philosophy, or society at large. A comprehensive, in-depth, brutally honest, and articulate analysis of some of the most impactful books and ideas of all time.

Excellent, albeit depressing, book!

The book is depressing because of the bad ideas that have led (and continue to lead) to so much pain and suffering in the world. But the bad ideas behind the bad books are presented clearly and exposed effectively. The narrator does a good job as well.

An education

I totally enjoyed this book! It is like a timeline of liberalism. Rarely do I go out and buy the written version after listening to the audio, but on this one I did.

Excellent..Should Be Required Reading

This excellent book by Benjamin Wiker should be given to every high school student in America. It gives an unflattering look at some books that have shaped our modern world. Granted many will be unhappy with Dr. Wiker's choices. After all he does give an honest view of several works that are sacred to the modern intellectual elite. After nearly two decades in higher education I understand the importance of this book.

The book is well written and the reader does a great job. I look forward to more audiobooks from this author.

Why we are so screwed up in this world.

This book lays a good (if incomplete) case for what has happened to us since the so-called enlightenment. It exposes the true effects of atheism on the human mind and it's consequences for society, by analyzing some noted works. I highly recommend it to all open minded people.

Great book with brutal honesty-if you can take it

As soon as I saw the other reviews that accused the book of religious fundamentalism, then I knew this book must be good. I was right! Once I started it, I didn't want to stop until I completed all of it.

Whether you don't like the "religious" connections in this book or not, you can't argue with the brutally honest evaluation of these terrible tomes. The author points out that each book's "religious system" is based on a faith in atheism. I think someone asked, "What's God got to do with it?" This book answers, "Everything! Witness these results." These are the types of books -- and their results -- that you can expect when God's existence is denied and something else is put in His place.

I found the author's reviews excellent and thorough, and his logic was sound. I was already acquainted with a few of these books, but the others were new. Glad I missed them. I also thought the narrator was well-chosen.

I'll definitely be listening to this one again.