The Relationship Between Books and Power

One of the most quoted lines in the history of reading posits that “leaders are readers”. Ideally, all powerful leaders have the reading habit as evinced in this work of art. The thirst for knowledge, the want to know and the passion to be informed cuts across this book as the main thrust of all individuals that have acquired, exercised or controlled power from the medieval, antiquity, agrarian, industrial period through to the current information ages.

The characters discussed here have changed the course of history through their direct or indirect actions in the fields of art, medicine, politics, religion and science. Some of them died without excess material possession but their contributions have influenced the nature of humanity to date.

Key Features

• One of the most quoted lines in the history of reading posits that “leaders are readers”.
• Ideally all-powerful leaders have the reading habit as evinced in this work of art.
• The thirst for knowledge, the want to know and the passion to be informed cuts across this book as the main thrust of all individuals that have acquired, exercised or controlled power from the medieval, antiquity, agrarian and industrial period through to the current information ages.

The characters discussed here have changed the course of history through their direct or indirect actions in the fields of art, medicine, politics, religion and science. Some of them died without excess material possession but their contributions have influenced the nature of humanity to date.