Human Events Online, the companion site for an American conservative weekly maagzine, has published what they consider to be the ten most harmful books of the 19th and 20th centuries.
I’ll agree with their picking the communist ones and Mein Kampf and say that some of Kinsey was silly, but Feminine Mystique? Keynes? John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty? Darwin? No wonder they’ve earned the moniker “wingnuts”.
There’s a bonus list at the bottom of the page: it’s the 15 biggest douchebags of the 21st century.
10 replies on “"Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries"”
I have actually read 1,2,3,4,6,10.
And you Joey? Which have you actually read?
Stu Savory
http://www.savory.de/blog.htm
This list includes the honourable mentions I’ve read…
Never got around to the Nietzsche.
Note that of the 15 judges–“scholars and public policy leaders”– the only apparently non-male on the list is Phyllis Shlafly.
–Margaret B. Adam
When I saw the list I yawned. Full of predictable “enemies of the state”, no thought required, no thought engendered.
It’s sad that these people think they are in any way important.
The list is absolutely crazy!!! Someone has to talk some sense into editors that pick such books.
Inclusion of The Feminine Mystique, The Course of Positive Philosophy and General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money make absolutely no sense to me.
Project Management Software
All I have to say is when you’ve chosen to debase your argument by name calling then you are one step away from giving up entirely.
Actually, it’s because I’m a little too short time to take apart their arguments piece by piece. I’ve got real, customer-serving, value-providing, internet-improving, pocketbook-filling work to do.
Besides, it’s therapeutic.
Surely you agree that they’re waaaaay off with at least one of the books on the list — John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty perhaps?
Yes, that is an anomaly all right. I think their webmin probably added that just to spice up an otherwise rather orthodox list.
Hi Joey:
As a librarian, I am not surprised! Living in the States these days and working in Young Adults books, has put me in the middle of a banning frenzy!
The average # of book challenges in normal times is 300/year…with a republic gov make that 900!
I think it’s amusing that they provide Amazon links for each book.Apparently they want to encourage the spread of said harmful books…