20 Books That Shook the 20th Century

by

Lauren Roberts

One night while reading in bed, I suddenly had one of those interesting questions that sometimes pop up during that quiet time. The question: What were the 20th century’s most influential books, the ones that provoked large-scale actions—shifting a world, rousing a government, altering a culture, changing a society? I leapt out of bed and grabbed a notepad and pencil. Here is what I came up with (listed in chronological order).

The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) by Sigmund Freud. Opening this century (just barely) was perhaps the most influential of all psychology books ever published. Freud’s theory is that our minds preserve memories and emotions not always consciously available to us, and that our dreams or “wish-fulfillments” are the receptacles for those hidden memories. Many refinements and arguments have since been offered, but Freud’s original analysis is still the model to which those are applied.

The Jungle (1906) by Upton Sinclair. Sinclair’s intended focus on the inhumane conditions immigrant workers endured in meatpacking plants was lost in the public outcry over his admittedly gruesome meat production details which resulted in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act. But this book is much more than an food production exposé ; it is a powerful look at a nation that celebrates its colonist roots while exploiting its immigrants.

The Elements of Style (1959) by William Strunk and E.B. White. It could easily be known as the Emily Post of Vocabulary with its unshakeable faith that it is the master of language and grammar. Perhaps that confidence as well as its relatively solid advice is the reason it quickly became and still is the “gold standard” for students, writers and other disciples of the written work.

Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce. If you are unhappy with what you see in books, movies and on the Internet, look back to December 6, 1933. On that date, United States District Judge John M. Woolsey, in ordering the government to admit this book, noted “… in spite of its unusual frankness, I do not detect anywhere the leer of the sensualist. I hold, therefore, that it is not pornographic.” This dense, difficult novel was the lightning strike that burst open the dark clouds of censorship in this country and sent Comstockery reeling. 

Mein Kampf (1925-1926) by Adolf Hitler. The impact of thinking that resulted from this book still reverberates throughout the world. If you have not read this, it is worth reading. The ideas are ugly, explicit and filled with hate, but like cowardly bullies, they are powerless against those who are willing to face them down with honesty, integrity and decency.

The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) by John Maynard Keynes is generally regarded as probably the most influential social science treatise of the 20th Century. It permanently changed the way the world looked at the economy and the role of government in society. For good or bad? That’s for you to say.

How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) by Dale Carnegie. Possibly the first—at least the first wildly successful—self-help  book, this one revolutionized the thinking about professional and personal relationships. Its straightforward advice is the basis for all the hopefuls that have followed it.

The Grapes of Wrath (1938) by John Steinbeck. His biting novel about conditions of migrant farm workers in California actually led the federal government to step in and create government-run camps where dignity could be restored. This is a book that offended many at the time, but it has never left the public consciousness or anyone who has read it unaffected.

AA Big Book (1939) by Alcoholics Anonymous. The “bible” of all Twelve Step programs, the simply named Big Book has carried the advice, wisdom and stories of the founders and early members of Alcoholics Anonymous to generations of those still suffering from the disease.   

The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946) by Dr. Benjamin Spock. I was one of the baby boom generation affected by the advice in this book. As a pediatrician with psychoanalysis training (in fact, the only one at the time), he gained a good understanding of family dynamics and psychological needs. His revolutionary views contradicted the strict, one-size-fits-all prevailing wisdom in a friendly, reassuring manner.  

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948). More commonly known as The Kinsey Report, the book, detailing the results of the largest study conducted on human sexual behavior, caused sharp and volatile reactions. It contradicted the conservative ideas and commonly held views of the time regarding sexual behavior, laid open the societal mores of the era and opened the way the sexual freedom movement of the 1960s and beyond.

The Power of Positive Thinking (1952) by Norman Vincent Peale. Ironically, this bestselling self-help book on positive thinking almost failed to get a publisher when Peale gave up and threw it in the wastebasket. His wife rescued it, and it became one of the bestselling self-help books of all time. Its source of faith is the Bible, its message that positive thinking requires going beyond oneself to something greater.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) by Julia Child. When Julia McWilliams married Paul Child she learned to cook in order to please him, first at the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and later with master chefs. When she met Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle who were writing a French cookbook for Americans, they asked her to work with them to make it appealing to Americans. She did, translating the French into American English and ensuring the recipes were sufficiently detailed, practical and interesting.

The Making of the Presidency 1960 (1961) by Theodore White. High level politics had always been shrouded within the inner sanctum of the connected. For the first time, the bare-fisted reality of a presidential campaign was detailed. In conjunction with the momentous Kennedy-Nixon television debates, this book permanently altered the political landscape and opened the door to more public scrutiny of the process.

Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson. This book launched the environmental movement. It explored the results of humankind’s desire to control nature, specifically through synthetic insecticides such as DDT. Still compelling and even more relevant 40 years later is her statement: “The ‘control of nature’ is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and the convenience of man.”

The Feminine Mystique (1963) by Betty Friedan. Her words gave a voice to a nation of silent women who, after serving their country during World War II, found themselves confined to and frustrated by traditional roles. The discovery that their discontent was deeper than mere boredom, and that it was shared grew into a national consciousness that gender alone should not determine human options.

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (1964) is nothing more than a collection of quotations excerpted from Mao’s past speeches and publications. Its “popularity” was probably due to the fact that it was an unofficial requirement for every Chinese citizen to own, read and carry it at all times under the latter half of Mao's rule. The Cultural Revolution in 1976 brought an end to the importance of the book in China and probably elsewhere.

In Cold Blood (1966) by Truman Capote. A new genre, literary nonfiction, was born with this book. Capote himself called it a “nonfiction novel” (meaning journalism with a literary voice). It details in frightening prose the 1959 murders of a rural Kansas family and follows the murderers through to their executions. Some critics debate whether Capote in fact invented this type of writing. The story was originally published in serial format in The New Yorker magazine in 1965, and published in January 1966.

On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac. An autobiographical novel of jazz, sex and fast, aimless driving on (what else?) an open road,  it captured perfectly the spirit of restlessness brewing underneath the numbing conformity of the 1950s. The story is told in a stream-of-consciousness method that helped make Kerouac a talented albeit reluctant spokesman for the hip youth of the 1950s and forthcoming 1960s.
 
The Complete Book of Running (1977) by Jim Fixx. This book put exercise on the map for millions of Americans by making it fun and popular. (I loved both the book and running, and two years after I first read it, I finished a marathon.) Ironically, Fixx whose father died of a heart attack at age 52 died of one himself at the same age while he was out running.

Now that you’ve read them, how do you feel? Do you agree with my choices? Disagree? What are your ideas? What do you think I left out? I’d love to hear about your ideas, but remember the criterion: Did the book shift a world, rouse a government, alter a culture, change a society?

Almost since her childhood days of Mother Goose, Lauren has been giving her opinion on books to anyone who will listen. Lauren shares her home with several significant others including three cats and nearly 1,000 books that, whether previously read or not, constitute her to-be-read stack. She can be reached at