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10 Books that Screwed Up the World

Jamie Frater . . . Comments

Ten books that led to wide scale death, destruction and evil governmental regimes – books that would have been better unwritten.

Meinkampf 1450686C


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Excerpt from the original: “Books are one of our greatest resources. But many times in history books have been written which are misleading or untrue. In some cases this has led to wide scale death and destruction and evil governmental regimes.

This is a list of ten of the worst books of this type – books that have done more harm than good. The common thread in all of these books is deception – invariably not intentional, but the consequences are the same regardless.”

Read the original list here.

Items in this podcast:

10. Malleus Maleficarum
9. Coming of Age in Samoa
8. The Prince
7. Mein Kampf
6. The Pivot of Civilization
5. Democracy and Education
4. Baby and Childcare
3. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
2. The Manifesto of the Communist Party
1. Darwin’s Black Box

Jamie Frater

Jamie is the owner and chief-editor of Listverse. He spends his time working on the site, doing research for new lists, and collecting oddities. He is fascinated with all things historic, creepy, and bizarre.

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  • segseehei

    hm

  • massive611

    This list should be a list of religious Holy Books! Listed chronologically based on popularity.

    • Jazinho

      first thing I thought just when I saw the title…

      • DogBitez

        Ditto. That's what came to my mind. But the list author had the good sense to just say this was a list of "10 Books that Screwed Up the World"… not "The Top 10 Books that Screwed Up the World". Because we all know that the Top 10 would have to include holy books. I'm sure J. Frater didn't want to open up that can of worms.

        • Ganid

          Ahh, the mantra of the excessively ignorant or irrepressibly young. I can tell you really think you are something special don't you? Even as an atheist I am not such a moron as to blame religion for MANS problems LOL. But by all means continue to seek the attention you so desperately crave because mommy and daddy didn't provide you enough of it when you were the young little gadfly preparing for the life of the absurd liberal loon you have become!

          • lily

            But religion twists people’s minds to do things (example; the Qur’an teaches men to stone women if they have been deflowered before marriage)

          • Fan

            to lily, no it doesnt
            have you ever even read it?..

          • Smartass

            You realize that religion is man made. So religion is one of mans’ problems. Also, turn off the caps lock when you type. It makes you look like an IDIOT. Had religion never been conceived, then no books on the subject would ever have been written, obviously. Which means no Crusades, no people dying of starvation in Europe while money went to build elaborate churches and houses of worship, no other “holy wars” or religious wars or killings. You can say exactly the same thing about all the other books and ideals represented in those books above. Had they never been written and the views expressed, likely the outcome and impact they had would be very different. Same with the bible and other religious texts. Exclude those texts and call everyone an idiot if you feel it necessary Ganid, but please don’t think you’re the brightest crayon in the box. People out there are laughing at you.

          • diwolfka

            The crusades would have happened anyway. The printing press wasn’t invented until 1440 and basically until that time the priests would teach people the bible. They still do but now its because people are lazy and not illiterate. In fact most holy wars (aside from Islamic expansion) weren’t text based but arose from human greed. There are plenty of nationalist wars that were fought in the same way (for instance Mein Kampf, but that’s on the list).

            Ganid has a valid point about a lot of people but please dude, could you have phrased it in a more pretentious, douchey way?

          • Chris White

            way to be meek mate! I think that guidance can often be to blame, think toy soldiers in africa! I dont blame any of the books themselves. Only peoples misinterpretations (usually fasicious subconcious ignorance I believe )(charles the 5th edtion). nature or nurture? I think we should be able to agree its both (with he emphasis on nurture at an early age). I liked to think that Atheists were open minded, somewhat humbled by the enormity of our existence, and plain ignorance of some ……. but there has never been a man so ignorant I couldnt learn somthing from him (somebody famous) – thats you my friend. Atheist’s keep your chins up its hard with no lights in the tunnel!

        • Vince

          It’s kind of funny that thinks SA thinks that without religion that the rich wouldn’t have taxed the crap out of the poor.

          The difference between religious text and the others is that their has been good that’s come of them. This is a list of books that have done more harm than good. You can’t possibly put most religions on a moral scale and accurately weigh them.

    • Caitlin

      Yes! Its true and I am a religious person…

    • steve

      I couldnt agree more it is religious holy books and its crazy follwers that will most likely kill us all and no one seems to see it.

      • joshua

        what you don,t understand is that the books are good in themselves the reason we see religious fanatics is because there are many evil sly heartless so called religious leader twist the bible writing or any good religious book to suit there agenda yes you are right about one thing steve about the cazy followers but more then likely they are being screwed with by the wicked leaders, who are looking out after there own selfs.

        • joshua

          im wondering why the satanic bible is,nt o n the list :(

      • Truth

        wrong, government will do that, mainly with the mass array of armaments they have? whats a christian going to do, throw the bible at me? don’t get me wrong, the misinterpretation of holy books is sad and has undoubtedly caused wars, but then so has the misinterpretation of people intentions; hitlers plans for germany caused many to follow him that would have if the cult of personality hadn’t stirred up so much fear, the same can be said of americas plans for the middle east etc.

        Bottom line, just like guns, holy books don’t kill people. People kill people.

    • Jorg

      Why isn't the bible and the koran on this list ?

      • frank

        to put the koran and the Bible in the same sentance, and implying that they are similar, infers that you know nothing of either…

        • jacks

          You put the two in the same sentence… and they are similar. They are both religious books.

          • lily

            and they are both really f***ed up.

          • George

            Enter your comment here.

        • Popov

          You right Frank OK for the Koran and learn about the Bible and Gospels.
          Koran is the most evil book ever published in the world, so evil like MeinKampft

          • Jery

            Have you ever read both of the Texts? if you had. you wouldn’t say it, Popov.
            You are talking with a pre-determined mind about Koran that’s what occult who rule the world need. so it will lead segregation between Human,
            before you criticize any Religious Books, first read it and review it again and agian and you will surely find the trueth behind those Holy books.
            Qur’an is the only Holy Book to teach Arab Society from Darkness to light.

            and even lead them to develop science after the revelation of Qur’an, later, that helped Europe to find more things about Science after Crusades against Islam that lead Europeans to get touched with Muslims.
            Europeans not even used to have a bath before Crusades being afraid of getting sickness if touching water. but the relation between Muslim after the Crusades lead the Europeans to know the important of bathing. that Muslims already do. i am saying these things not to mock others who aren’t Muslims but to understand the truth. please learn the truth before you criticize anything…………………

          • soma

            Speak Search

            You speak demonstrates that you are ignorant and live outside history
            The Quran is the why of barefoot and naked minimum time and they come from the first universities to develop science history
            Go to Spain and see progress is the basis of the progress the European man and West when Islam there
            And see what happened to the Muslims after that moved away from the Quran
            Made of underdevelopment and stagnation of miserable disrepair
            Although there are book wicked is the Jewish Talmud offender
            The man will cause the destruction of the world
            The foolish who speak in amuses me things I don’t understand because they are donkeys
            Eat and sleep and excrete famous only and does not know anything then comes ass public spectacles and online books

      • Sara

        Your ab ass that needs 2 learn 2 stop being a racist dumb-ass

        • GM Roper

          Religion implies racism? Islam is a race? Confucianism is a race? Christianity is a race? Hinduism is a race? What an ignorant statement.

          Who is the dumb bunny here, and it isn’t everyone else bud, it’s you. Oh, and by the way, learn to type.

          • GM Roper

            That should read “… and it isn’t everyone else sis, …”

    • popsicola

      Yeah thats what I was thinking too.

    • Stoned McMuff

      I think you don’t know what chronologicaly means.

    • Queeny

      Agreed!

    • marshall

      listed chronologically based on popularity? OK

    • Josh Fowler

      i thought it would be too

  • gregoer

    Hey, Frater. Please stop reading the list as if you were an airline pilot. Really annoying. Just use your voice as if you were talking to a friend. Great list.

    • frater isn't american, genius, he's a kiwi.
      that's a different dude reading.

      • gregoer

        The comment is still valid, it's annoying as hell to listen to this. But I am impressed with your knowledge of Frater, you might want to make a list about your top 10 trivia about him.

        • if i did author a list on that topic, i dont believe i'd use the country he lives in as an interesting piece of trivia.

          thats kind of like writing a list on the top 25 most interesting things about mcdonalds, and making #3 read: 'mcdonalds has food'.

          chuck fresh is the guy reading

  • bender

    how has "coming of age in samoa" caused more harm than the bible?

    • Bones

      Sure. Why blame a book, blame the people who abused it for their own gain.

    • Jake

      Because the bible, except for wrong interpretations therof, has done more good than harm..just think about it, without the bible there is no such thing as right and wrong.

      • jose

        Bull shit Jake Bible had done so much Harm New world.

    • GEE

      THE BIBLE HAS CAUSED NO HARM,,,,TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE YOU NEED WISDOM,AM SURE IF YOU SAY IT CAUSED HARM THEN YOU HAD A WRONG INTERPRETATION OF IT,NOT ALL HAVE THE WISDOM ,

      • A Guy

        Moronic use of comas and capslocking…

        What about the Spanish Inquisition? The Holy Crusades? They were all carried out in the name of the ideals for which the Bible stands for. I am not saying that it has done no good, just that it has done a lot of evil too.

        • Topa

          It wasn’t the Bible that said “Go kill people to spread your religion.” As GEE said above, if it caused harm it was from misinterpretation.

        • Jessie

          So many killings because of the evil that they have! ex.
          1. king philip IV and pope clement V – Templars being burned at the stake
          reason try to research because of greediness.
          The Bible tells us good things and to do good things but no people always finds ways to have more and more evil doings. Why? A few will understand

      • aflyrican

        Ok the book in itself hasn’t caused harm but 90% of the morons that read it have.Funny what where the crusades, inquisitions etc…. Even today the priest the father preaching on the pulpit driving a hummer living in a million dollar home when in his own church there is someone hungry. you dont need religion to teach you how to be human.

      • LOUD

        NOISES!

    • A Guy

      I have no idea…

  • Darwin's Black Book…Hahaha Good One…lol

    • Black Box, idiot.

      • Wait a min..Are u stalking me??

      • dont take it personal, gandolf…

        she's allergic to stupidity
        it makes her break-out with hives, and insults

        • imo, it's just as stupid to go around calling people idiots, even if it's just on the internet. You never know then that person might be in direct control of your fate, regardless of their level of intelligence or your opinion of them. Also–it's just not classy.

        • bvgffgcgcgfh

          Gandolf?

        • Rod stewart

          That explains her face.

          • asdf

            BAZINGA!

  • Josh

    It isn't the bible itself that has caused harm, that is down to some idiotic interpretations of the bible.

    • the same can be said about every book on this list.

      • Josh

        A book like Mein Kampf isn't going to lead to as many different interpretations as the bible. Sure, the bible has been used as a justification to do bad (even though the bible doesn't actually advocate these acts/ideas eg race supremacy) but it has also been used to do good. I hardly think a book like Mein Kampf can claim to have had anything other than bad influence.

        • davo

          but still the bible would have been better off not written. although the gullible would have found something else silly to believe in i guess.

        • James

          Have you READ the bible with the context in mind? It does so promote racial supremacy and differences! The whole "love your neighbor" and "treat everyone as you wish to be treated" was in the context of a hunter-gatherer society where your neighbors were the 100-200 people in your tribe, and the rest of the humans out there were to be treated like trash, because in that view they weren't humans. They were just other animals meant to be beaten down and enslaved because they were taking your food! You can ignore this all you want, it doesn't mean you're right. It wasn't idiots interpreting it, it was people that interpreted it without the context in mind.

          Also, murdering your son is fine if some powerful voice from inside your head says so, and ripping apart a woman YOU TOLD TO CHEAT ON YOU into 12 pieces is perfectly fine. Yeah, I'm calling BS on that. Both of them.

          I have schizophrenia, and how do I know that voice in my head isn't a demon?

          • Simon

            yep, mate, first century Palastine was a hunter-gatherer society… I agree that context is important, but maybe you should read up a bit more for yourself. By all means, raise serious issues, lets have a good discussion. But try not to say things that ANY student of ancient history, Christian or Non-Christian, knows are wrong.

            I’m sorry to hear about your schizophrenia.

    • Phill

      Considering only idiots believe that bullshit, and idiots make idiotic interpretations, I'd say it is the bible.

    • Jessie

      Correct!

  • Crumpet

    How about the Kinsey Reports?

    • Those were pretty controversial when they were released. There was a similar study that came out maybe 15, 20 years ago…done by a woman…I can't remember her name so I can't google her. It was equally controversial.
      The problem with those anonymous, supposedly blind interviews, was that there was no way to check the results….ollie can correct me if I'm wrong about any of this. It seemed unlikely that such a large portion of the population was having illicit sex, especially during the era that the report covered.
      I don't think the Kinsey Reports themselves did any damage, I think the Kinsey's were just in a hurry to make a name for themselves.

      • I think Alfred Kinsey made some of his reports on human sexuality by participating himself in orgies with his female students…. which sounds cool by me… I would do that as well, if I had the opportunity :D

      • Kanza

        Would that be Shere Hite, Segues?

        • Yes!
          Thank you for having a better memory than I have.

  • The Bible and The Qu’ran aswell as many other religous books should be on this list.

    • rab3

      You for got Origin Of The Species. Darwin did more damage than any religious book.

    • ssfreakkk

      did u even read the quran you ignorant fool??

      • lily

        I have read the Qur’an, and it is really REALLY messed up. Having a child wife? Raping women? Torturing a man for money? Telling people Jews are evil??? (all in there) If YOU ever read the Qur’an, you will understand.

        • pierre

          raping women & torturing for money?where did you get that koran?i never read about that! you need wisdom or a devout moslem guide to understand it (if those verse really is there). people used to come out with their own conclusions on the religious books without asking those who really understand it. one more thing, the bible came after the old testament while the koran came after the bible which was due to people being ignorant to the GOD. who are those people? you said it lily.

    • Fred

      The Bible did not screw up the world…religious fanatics that thought they could play God screwed up the world.

    • Sara

      No the should not have they r just informing ppl of what happened b4 and if you think they r so bad dont annoy other ppl by this u racist ass! >:O

  • Ozz

    The Bible, the Koran, pretty much all holy books

    • chucklestain

      Original…

      • how many times do you intend on saying original? Thats so "original…"

        • Maybe he's just repeating it until the correct spelling is ingrained. Everyone has a word that is difficult to remember how to spell or pronounce. In fact, it's a running joke in my family. We all know exactly which word is each persons bugaboo, and so we work it into conversation or correspondance.
          It's all in good fun, and we all know it.

          • An optimistic way to look at it don't you? I think its just some idiot being an idiot.

          • chucklestain

            The funny thing is you responded to it…MORE THAN ONCE!!

            So tell me, who's the idiot?

          • Didn't you keep using the same word to whoever mentioned religion, more than once??

          • chucklestain

            Basically.

          • I'm sure we'll be best friends one day

          • Didn't you respond to mine more than once?

            "Since I already used that line you're not being ORIGINAL!! ; ^ )"
            And the one you just said?

            So tell me, who's the idiot?

          • chucklestain

            When I read your original post which was "original… :P" I responded with a quasi joke AND a winking smiley face (and trust for me to use a smiley face is truly a rarity let alone a winking one) and then you responded to anothers post by saying that I was "some idiot being an idiot.". Which, in all honesty was a tad hurtful seeing how you used ":P" in your original post and all…

          • I said you were "some idoit being an idiot" because all you were saying was "original…"
            Sorry if I insulted, angered, ect., you?

          • chucklestain

            ; ^ )

        • chucklestain

          As often as it takes…

      • Sorry, just making sure you were noticing?

        • chucklestain

          I am!

      • Steve

        I love the irony that you've replied at least three times with "original".

    • Phill

      The Quran/Kohran/Koran isn't actually as bad. It doesn't advocate converting everybody to one faith like christianity does, and thus doesn't ending up causing stuff like annihilating all other cultures , but some people still make stupid interpretations and make it look bad.

      • ygtbk

        Excuse me, but which terrorists are christian?

        • Steve

          Well… Tim McVeigh was and both Bush and Blair are devoutly Christian. Just because they were leaders of Governments doesn't mean they didn't cause "terror" and are therefore "terrorists". They've killed more civilians than any individual muslim.

          • thisguy

            dont forget the KKK

        • Waleed

          Had the terrorists been muslim they would never attack mosque, cant u see logic in that

      • GEE

        Christianity{the bible} does not force anybody into it like the quran does.the bible clearly says "IF YOU LOVE ME KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS"words spoken by GOD HIMSELF meaning its a matter of choice you either abide by it or not but the quran its like everybody has to do it which is forcing people to do what they don't want,,,,so who is making stupid interpretations here,

        • jack

          how about this verse the “you have your religion and i have mine” or do u just choose the verses that suit your pathetic need for attention u know the world would be a better place without racists like u

        • pierre

          sadly the bible nowadays was falsely altered. i found that the original bible was not that far the meaning than in the koran.

  • Tsiamon

    Enough with the 'lol religious bookz' dudes, obviously this list avoids those.

    • chucklestain

      Yes!!

      • original… :P

        • chucklestain

          Since I already used that line you're not being ORIGINAL!! ; ^ )

  • The Bible! Wow, what is up with this list?

  • Joshua

    The Silent Spring should be on here. It created what was in essence a moral panic about DDT that lasts to this day. DDT is brilliant at protecting dwellings from mosquitos. Just don't spray it on crops or drink it. It remains the one chemical that mosquitoes have no defence against. Banning DDT has resulted in the deaths of millions of people from malaria. Millions more will die because far less effective solutions are pursued. Thanks a lot, Rachel Carson, you big steaming douchebag.

    • I would have considered including that book but it wasn't until I read all the comments on the original list that I knew about it.

    • Phill

      Remember that time when we discovered that DDT is poisonous to humans? Oh yeah, lets spray it everywhere. We'll see how that works out.

      • Lost

        There is no known cases where DDT has ever harmed any human in any way, but banning it has killed millions. But I am sure you have some heretofore unknown data to support your statement?

    • Tom

      Hey Josh, did you know that you can find DDT in nearly every water supply on the planet including the ice frozen at the poles? DDT almost caused the extinction of many bird species including some that eat those mosquitos…not to mention that it is a suspected carcenagin.

    • Tom

      Hey Josh, did you know that you can find DDT in nearly every water supply on the planet including the ice frozen at the poles? DDT almost caused the extinction of many bird species including some that eat those mosquitos…not to mention that it is a suspected carcenagin.

  • Nice Top 10… but what about "The Origin of Species"? I like the inclusion of "Malleus Maleficarum".

    • How did On the Origin of Species screw up the world?

    • The Origon of Species was the beginning of true scientific study of how all of the different species, later including man, came to be what they were; how they were.
      Darwin was the first to notice, and to to put together the thoughts and ideas, that members of one species of bird, for example, had developed different beaks on different islands where the food sources were such that different methods of food collection were required.
      You are a very intelligent guy, fenda, I strongly suggest you actually read Origon of Species before you condem it. It's a completely different book from what you have probably been lead to believe.

      • I didn't comdemn the book, I just said it screwed up some people's thinking, especially the religious people. And thank you for the compliment, segues, you seem very bright as well. :)

        • bfg666

          Religious people don't need Darwin to get screwed up: they achieve it all by themselves!

      • ggg

        Origin and condemn, idiot.

        • fendabenda

          I did say "origin", segues spelt it wrong. "Condemn" was just a simple spelling error. You must be an idiot yourself for calling ME an idiot for that.

          • jjj

            It was directed at segues in response to her ironic correction for Gandalf, you happened to get in the way as I posted it so chill out.

          • i·ro·ny1    [ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-]
            –noun, plural -nies.
            1.
            the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.
            2.
            Literature .
            a.
            a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.
            b.
            (esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.

          • bassbait

            @segues
            I'd just like to add something from wikipedia:

            Irony (from the Ancient Greek ε?ρωνε?α eir?neía, meaning HYPOCRISY, deception, or feigned ignorance)

          • xyz

            To segues,

            Do you have a life? Just curious since you're constantly posting like you have nothing better to do. I would think that someone that is so interested in evolutionary anthropology, biology, physics and astronomy etc, would have a little more to do.

          • To xyz,

            Do you have a life? Just curious since you're replying like you have nothing better to do. I would think that someone that is so smart and obviously very busy would have a little more to do.

          • Contradictory–as in, correcting of use of wrong word and calling someone an idiot for it, which means that you, not presumably calling yourself an idiot as well, always use right words–then using a wrong word or two, yourself.

          • ThunderArse

            Now now, no need to be such a Troll segues.

            We all know you never actually post your own ideas on Listverse.

            It is ironic that a dimwit attempts to make herself appear smart by cutting and pasting a definition of irony.

          • Sammi

            Piss off ThunderArse, segues is a long time and respected Listverser. Don't be such a d*ck.

          • duck?

          • Do you suck balls as a profession, or only as a hobby?

          • Sammi

            Me suck balls as a hobby? No but I do pimp out my manwhore (BigHairyDavey) to suck your fathers balls and then your father pays me directly. So yes – a profession of sorts but its Davey sucking the balls not me. Hey, don't judge after all it helped me put the kids through college and if your father wasn't such a fucken degenerate prick who likes to pay people to suck his balls I wouldn't have amassed this colossal pile of dollar coins I am sitting on.

            But I digress and let's back to your question – no I do not suck balls personally or as a hobby (its a professional service I coordinate and ya gotta pay). So I can arrange my manwhore, Davey, to suck yours, just like your father likes it. My number is 555 GO FUCK YOURSELF, text me any time and I'll send Davey over pronto after he is done ploughing yer father.

  • As a book lover, i love the list.

  • ihatetwilight

    How about Twilight? If Meyer hadn't written that… the world would have much less a stupid place. The writing of that novel is the raping of literature. Each and every great pieces of literature torn to bits and lit on fire.

    • Your probably gonna be mad when I tell you that there is a book about "Twilight Philosophy". A philosophy based on a very bad book that happened to sell because people are getting progressively stupider.

      I actually read a bit of it and most of it is just quotes from famous philosophers and really isn't unique.

      I'm team "I don't give a f***"

    • bassbait

      You can't say that Twilight screwed up the world by making people dumb and then say "the world would have much less a stupid place."

      It wasn't Twilight. You know what it was? The generation gap. The reason why people are so stupid now is because ever since the 80's, education has been going down. The age gap between students and teachers is thinning, and thus the schools are too lenient towards the students. I am in high school right now, and I know people that still can't read. The teachers haven't even tried helping. Most of my teachers are more like friends than authority, and even though that makes High school more fun, it doesn't make it a better place to be. Couple the generation gap with the internet which rids the perseverance from knowledge. Now that people can know whatever they want, they don't NEED to know anything, and so we've become stupider on the basis of websites like Google that make things too easy. Google would only work if people remembered what they learned from it (I actually do. Most words that I look up stay in my vocabulary for the rest of my life).

      • bucketheadrocks

        So if i told you what Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is you would be telling me that you would remember it 50 years from now?

        • stockyzeus

          i know i would

      • bluesman87

        nope i think its the national enquirer, people and the E! entertainment channel that is making people dumber . Serious my GF puts that channel on and i feel my braincells dying i have to switch over to history or discovery for 30 mins to erase the damage .

    • I like Twilight. And I'm not stupid. I do very well in school studies.

      • Phill

        This is what we call a paradox. If you like twilight you are inherently a moron, qnd btw, school studies have nothing to do with intelligence.

  • Interesting list.
    I remember reading about the flap over "Coming of Age in Samoa" in a cultural anthropology class at Uni. And I also remember the hippie crowd who took the book as gospel, using it as one excuse for excessive, anonymous sex…I had to read the book for class and, for the life of me, couldn't find excessive, anonymous sex anywhere in it…although there was plenty of sex.
    The rest of the books are seriously damaging to the world. Just awful in their scope and intent.

    • Well… what's wrong with excessive, anonymous sex? :D :D :D (Sorry, I'm from Sweden) :D

      • ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
        Nothing, in and of itself, it's the ramifications I'd worry about…and what does your being from Sweden have to do with it? :-)

        • Nothing… except that we Swedes seem to have a certain reputation… :D

          • I've always wanted to visit Sweden (certain reputations aside).

          • did the Swedes give themselves said reputation because i have never heard of it.

            are you guys like the latinos of europe?
            honest question

          • latinos of europe? Europe is where latinos live.

          • I think we have been considered promiscuous, since we had no film censorsip in the 1970's so a lot of hardcore porn flicks were made over here. In Denmark, as well. Swedish guys also seem to have a reputation of being gay (it's not true), especially in Finland, where I live now. This is a joke a Finnish friend told me and I laughed like a madman: "How do you separate the Swedish hockey Team members from each other? -With a crowbar."

    • kwick

      i agree with segues. people will interpret what they read however they want too

  • Martin

    I cannot see why Darwin’s BB is on this list. Sure, it has been used by fanatics out of concept but fact remains that there are clear flaws in the modern theory of evolution, not to mention Darwin’s original theory.
    Claiming this book, which doesn’t even deny evolution has been more destructive than Mein Kampf is ignorant. The “worst” this book can do is convince a few people that there is a God. Denouncing everything to do with religion might make you feel very clever and reasonable but no serious unbiased scholar can claim that christianity has not contributed greatly to western civilization.

    • easalfai

      he said the list was in no particular order, they are just all on the list. He never said Darwin's BB is worse than Mein Kampf. Listen to it again.

    • bfg666

      Sure, the Inquisition was a great contribution to civilization! Islamic terrorists are such gentlemen! And the Jews' psychotic belief in the "Holy" land led to such happy happy joyful behaviors…
      Martin, are you a CareBear or what?

      • lawlypop

        OMG I LOL’D IRL SO HARDCORE!!!!!11!!one!

  • Víctor

    Same here, as much as it is a flawed book, Darwin's Black Box has not caused tyranny or other type of disasters. Then again, the Original List was about 10 Books that Screwed Up the World.

    Then again, blaming books for the evil things some people have done is stupid as well.

  • Víctor

    Also, Democracy and Education has not caused murders and disasters as well. And while I agree that teaching lies in schools is bad (whatever, though, in every history class there are gonna be lies spread) the general idea of teaching skills instead of just teaching facts to memorize is quite important.

  • dostoyevsksy76

    The Prince didn't screw up the world, Machiavelli simply laid out how things really work in politics. There was just as much intrigue and bloodshed before his work as after.

  • Konor

    Pretty cool list.. or podcast haha But you forgot the bible.

    • thats like saying "your mum is sexy"

      either it is a compliment or a slur. either way it is completely upto to the person interpreting it. so dont let oyur prejudices ruin this list.

  • reggae

    The bible!

    • gerth

      Agreed, the bible along with the koran.

  • I do not think that The Prince should have been included on this list. Machiavelli wrote about what he saw happen in Cesar Borgia's court. He also wrote about how Borgia ruled. He himself did not support the ideas that were in his book.
    Some people do not like The Prince because it tells the truth. It is better to be feared than to be loved because people are more likely to do what you want them to do. Although this is very unfortunate and disheartening, it is sadly true.

    • PAthena

      "The Prince" is satire. Many years ago there was a book (or article) published, "The Prince: Political Science or Satire." I have forgotten the name of the author, who argues that it is satire. How can a book be serious when it describes how ? Borgia did not continue a war because he had a stomach ache!

  • I lost count how many people were complaining about religion on the original list and this podcasts. Anybody keeping count?

    • The more people that say what about the Bible and knowing how many times it has been mentioned in the comments in both the podcast list and the regular list the more religious I get.

      • Jay

        In that case, by now we should be measuring you for wings and a halo…

  • Rob

    I really don't care for the podcasts, as I sit here watching TV, and playing a DS the last thing I want to do is have more sound going. But if I have a thing to read during breaks that is much better. So please go back to the standards lists. Thanks

  • Davey

    I'm surprised that Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman isn't on that list… I think it has done a similar amount of damage (if not more) than The Manifesto of the Communist Party.

    • pooner

      yea like raise the standard of living? give poor people cars and air conditioning? things that kings of yesteryear would have killed for? make it so children didnt have to work to feed a family? worry about other things other than food?

      hippy.

    • Lav

      Yeah. Promoting individual choice is far worse than a system that inevitably leads to tyranny, bread lines, starvation, corruption, and gulags.

  • Martin

    I can only hope davey is joking. Calling the communist manifesto worse than friedmans book is an insult to the victims of the soviet union, the brave people fighting oppressive communist governments today and all other billions of people who have had to pay for the idiocy known as communism. Capitalism and freedom can hardly have caused any harm, partly because there is little new in it, just old principles of the free market explained to laymen. Sure, people may have suffered due to international corporations exploiting countries and resources but blaming that book for the downsides of capitalism is absurd.

    • Davey

      Capitalism and Freedom would seem a harmless book, mostly because it grossly misunderstands how markets and society work, never makes any violent or racist claims (although it comes close), or incites the reader to do so.
      However one cannot deny that the implementation of Milton Friedman's policies in Chile (by way of the "Chicago boys", Chilean students of Friedman who passed on their policies to Pinochet) are a testament to how harmful laissez-faire capitalism can be. One could cite post-communist Russia as well, which experienced an incredible social and economic downward spiral under Boris Yeltsin. Let's not even bother discussing institutions like the IMF and World Bank that continually cripple developing countries' economies around the world with Friedman's policies, under the pretense of saving them.
      You mention that Friedman is just regurgitation older beliefs and you're right–he largely got his free market theories from his mentor, Friedrich Hayek. But it was Friedman that managed to shift the economic paradigm towards these beliefs in the 1970's, earning him a Nobel prize in '76.
      My point is that Friedmanite free market capitalism just doesn't turn out as peachy as he promises in his book, sometimes with really dire consequences. I don't see how what I said bothered you, Martin. If you can't see that the damage that laissez=faire capitalism has done, then you got blinders on.
      Don't let your mind skip steps and assume that I'm some kind of commie because I don't like Friedman. in fact, I think his brand of capitalism has a terrible reality in common with communism: if the proponents of either got their way, the societies that let them would wish they hadn't.

      • pooney

        i was waiting for you to say chile and boris

        only talking points that are not even valid.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Chile

        boris:

        Russia is mega corrupt crony capitalism. dont pass it off like it's free markets like america. when you have to bribe the right person to start a business in a particular town, that does not represent free markets.

        try again. and enjoy your capitalistic computer. One of the most lassie faire markets there are.

        Computers and cell phones very few regulations and you see what has happend. case and point.

  • bluesman87

    man judging from the amount of time people are getting called idiot , it seems the comment section is getting rougher….

  • sheesh

    i dislike podcast as much as i despise an old, smelly, moldy sandwich.

  • i would have added any book of the twilight saga.
    and also those other popular kid's phenomenoma caching a side that is darker than it looks:
    Pokemon: reminds me of both, the summoning of demons and the dog fighting
    Harry Potter: how pagan are those kids at hogwarths!!! Even worse, they are pagan-atheists. I mean they use those mysterious powers they see in nature but worship none.
    And other
    i know pokemon is not a book but i don't care. still is screwing up my nephew's mind.

    • What?

      • wbr

        Yeah what?

    • epicfail

      someone didn't get pokemon cards when he or she was a kid…

    • alice potter

      what the hell is wrong with you. your soul is ful of hatred. your just hating on the books the world has grown to love. if youve ever read a book, then surely you'll understand that you can take anything and make it look like the devil wrote it. just a hint, if you ever decide to write a book i doubt you'll even get it published. go jump off a cliff

    • Cantaloupe

      Seriously. And for someone who seems to despise pagans as much as you do, you'd think you'd know the origin of your username. The origin of the name Mordechai (As found in the Hebrew Bible as well as elsewhere) is identical in meaning to Marduku. Which means "Follower/Servant Of Marduk" Marduk being a Babylonian God. The Babylonian Mythos being a pagan establishment. Also even more ironically, the Babylonian Mythos provides much of the foundation for modern day satanism.

      You are spreading hate against pagans while professing your allegiance to a pagan god!

  • Billy Beer

    Whomever is reading the list, he sounds like he's trying to do a bad Casey Kasem imitation. He also has some speech problems, like his "s" 's are hard has hell to listen to and he makes very loud mouth inhales to close to the mic.

    To me it makes the whole thing unlistenable.

  • Robert

    the Bible the Koran and the Tora should all be put as the same item…. and should not have been missed…..

    They have messed up this planet for centuries.

    • rab3

      The Bible goes back millennia(sp?) and has screwed up nothing. Its those who don't follow it or misinterpret it who screw up the world. Atheism is the real killer in this word.

    • guest

      Books don't kill people.

      People w/ or w/o books kill people!

      Besides, the 20th century killed far more than any perversion of the Bible has.

      Mao, Stalin, &, Hitler were ALL against everything The Bible stands for and they killed MILLIONS of people. The most you can get from the Crusades & Inquisition is a couple hundred thousand people, maybe a million or two?

  • bob

    Im pretty sure this is the same list posted for like the third time, along with many others. You are seemingly running out of ideas.

    • Wow, it has taken more than a day for the first idiot to appear, we're making progress.
      Yes this list has been released before but now it is re-released as a podcast (!) and not in it's written form.
      The reason the podcasts are only re-releases of older lists is that an astonishing numbers of idiots, complained they wanted to read the lists, not only listen to them in podcasts. It is only logical for some of the items on this list (i.e. the prince, the communist manifesto), to appear on some of the other lists concerning books, seeing that they're pretty controversial.

      To sum up my comment: idiot!

      • One of the "idiots"

        I certainly am sorry if what seems to me like the majority of readers here have offended your high principles by wanting to read new lists rather than only listen to them being read by a narrarator that by the comments I have seen can be described as poor.

        You certainly have hit the nail square on the head that everybody is an idiot. Congratulations.

    • gam

      humpf!..

  • ald

    bad list no holy books…. fail

  • I like the list being re-released as podcasts, not because I listen to them, but because I can go back and read the list if it looks interesting. I have no recollection of this list (or, I didn't. When I read it, I began remembering), so this was a nice reminder of a good list.

  • sandel712

    About those estimated 10m copies of "Mein Kampf" in 1945…
    It wasn't like the book was THAT popular in germany, you simply could hardly avoid owning one!
    When a couple got married, the registrar would give them a copy. If you were a child winning e. g. a sports competition, you wouldn't get a medal, but "Mein Kampf"…
    That way the Department for Propaganda made sure the book was widely spread in germany and Hitler got his royalty…

  • It seems that there is a particular bend that 'religiously'-framed books are the ones that 'screwed' up the world. Hmm…

    With Love and Gratitude,

    The Intentional Sage

  • To those of you who say that the Bible should be on the list: The Old Testament is simply a collection of books that teach about the history and laws of the Jews…with some poetry thrown in (Psalms) etc. and the New Testament teaches love (feed the hungry, do unto others…, love your neighbor).

    Anyone who believes the above mentioned things are bad is as screwed up as some of those that have been influenced by the books in this list.

    • Meh

      "Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." – Deuteronomy 13:13-19

      Plenty more examples where that came from…

      • dakota1022

        That's history, not doctrine! If you're reading a history book and you come to the period when the transplanted Americans were conquering the country, you gonna start killing Native Americans?

    • SMM

      Your bible causes death every single day. Get a clue please.

  • Linus

    The old testament prescribes the stoning to death of not only homosexuals, but adulterers (many disgraced evangelists would fall under both the former categories), and disobediant children amongst others. It also condones ethnic cleansing (the promised land was already inhabited) and slavery.

    Anyone who believes the above mentioned things are bad is as screwed up as some of those that have been influenced by the books in this list.

  • brock

    Where is curan or bible

    • That is so lame…. have you even read either of them? Because I have noticed that most people who blame everything that's wrong in the world on religious books, haven't even BOTHERED TO READ THEM!

    • Qur'an… spell check please.

  • Meh and Linus: What you don't seem to understand is that you're reading history, not doctrine.

    The Romans used to kill Christians. When you learned that in history class, did you take that to mean you should kill Christians or did you take it for what it is: History? History is full of atrocities against humanity but that doesn't mean we're supposed to do those things now.

    The books listed here are described as "treatise", "outline", "manifesto", "manual", "advice" and "propaganda". See a trend? The Old Testament, as a whole, can not be described using any of those words. The laws that are mentioned, and are observed by Jews and/or Christians today, do not condone violence or greed or hatred

    In the New Testament, Jeshua (Jesus) teaches love, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, understanding, sensitivity, devotion, harmony…need I go on? What the Bible teaches and what some individuals get from it can, and has been, on opposite ends of the spectrum in some cases.

    I'll sum this up by saying that the Bible isn't what screwed up the world, it's the individuals throughout history who misinterpreted what they read and taught it to others that did it. Most of the books on this list were intended to incite hated, violence etc., the Bible was not.

    • Meh

      How is saying 'you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock' not inciting violence? The new testament is, admittedly, much less bloodthirsty, but the old testament, the one that is the foundation for three major religions, is full of statements like those I posted above. I am aware there is a historical context to passages like those but the bible is not treated as a history textbook by Christians: it is considered the word of god. Now whether you read that passage at face-value or try to justify it with some far out interpretation, at the end of the day that is a book which encourages people to kill others.

      If I write a book now that says that all Christians should go out and kill all non-Christians it isn't going to be said in 1000 years time that 'it's history, so it doesn't really count', it would be denounced as inciting hatred and violence. So why should the bible, or at least the old testament, be treated any differently?

    • My thoughts actually. I am a Muslim and I think it's not the Qur'an that screwed the world. It's the Arabs that twisted its content for their benefit. When Islam was first established, women had rights equal to men. Centuries later, certain Islamic cultures have reduced women's rights to zero..

      • I am so glad about your comment. I'm not a muslim myself, I was raised as a Lutheran, but now I'm an Agnostic. I think… more than any religion. And I agree that people have really twisted the words of both of those books (The Bible and the Qu'Ran)

    • Using that same type of logic, you may as well say this list is incorrect, because all these books only had words, and it was the actions of those that interpreted it that are at fault. Perfectly reasonable, but to be in defence of one book with this argument, one should be in defence of all.

    • Claud

      the title of the list is called 10 books that screwed up the world, we are really focused on what the book says but rather of its consequences and responses. This is probably why the communist manifesto or the prince is on the chart

    • 34E

      The Old Testament is one of the most gruesome pieces of work ever written. I don't even know how it is still paired with the New Testament.

      Reading the Bible is what made me an atheist.

    • Desh

      haha, im sorry to burst your bubble, but you in no way must twist the words of the bible(or any other religious scripture for that matter) in order to get a hateful message promoting violence. there are several passages in both the new and old testament and the koran that specifically, word for word, tells you to kill people who don't agree with its teachings.

      • dakota1022

        I'd appreciate it if you could provide me with some examples from both the Old and New Testaments.

  • Thou art welcome! :) But tell me before you come, I'm not in Stockholm right now, I'm in Finland :( IF you would like to meet me…..

  • Roy

    The Prince has done no harm at all. It is just a matter-of-fact commentary.
    The Bible, on the other hand, has caused untold suffering and death, and must be one of the most destructive books ever.

    • guest

      Your lack of critical thinking skills and obvious need for easy bits of information to swallow, or, slogans, to understand and interact in the World

      IS WHAT KILLS PEOPLE!

      A book neither holds, hugs, loves, or, strangles. It is only MAN. Douche!

      Also, add it up. Hitler, Stalin, & Mao, not to mention every other skirmish and battle through the 20th c. !!!
      Then, taking even generous estimates of 'your ideas' of the Bible "killing" people. People kill people w/ or w/o a motive, and, usually it is a selfish means anyways so unlike the movies & TV you've seen, say 7even!, most killers are not killing for/because/ of any God, let alone Christ.

      LASTLY, you cannot judge a system by its perversions.

      Like, Muslims saying they aren't all suicide bombers! Is that so insane an idea? Playing with children is wrong. No No it is not wrong unless you're a pervert & a pedophile! Are we not allowed to interact with children because of a few rotten apples? Ofcourse NOT, because that logic is what's truly dangerous.

      The lack of evidence, logic, or, effort to reach either is what makes U closer to a killer than any inanimate object can be!

  • falujah

    Sorry NZder but with all your world class education, is Baaaaaa! five a's or six?

  • Wahbi

    Is the voice of the podcast even real? It sounds computer generated to me.

  • Beast Of Gevaudan

    Number 1 should be The Bible.

    • GFronsac

      AMEN, Monsieur.
      Easily far more blood was shed because of the Bible and its fellow so-called "Holy Books" than all ten of these combined.

  • Victor

    Most certainly the Bible needs to be burned. The transcendent monotheistic 'god' mentioned in the Bible obviously does not exist, as all the 'sky-gods' presented by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All books representing those three religions need to be at the top of the list as books that have "screwed-up" generations for centuries. Perhaps my book titled: Did God Screw Up? published by lulu.com might make a list of books that readers would enjoy reading. Why not have a list of the most influential authors and books
    starting with "The God Delusion" by Professor Richard Dawkins?

    Prowriter

    • bitty

      assuming that your response is not on three fundamental religions but the book in which some of the most influential writer have sort refuge you must remember that these books particularly the Quran where written by mad man that is not to say they did or did not hear the voice of God merely that what they wrote can not be disputed as the most empowering and important words in all history those books may have done damage but they have saved more people then they have killed built more civilizations then they have destroyed and cultivated heroes who lead the way in conquering poverty and world hunger

      • rls

        sorry i hit the wrong key

    • Jasmine

      @ Victor: U are such a hater,I am SURE ur life is so miserable and lonely that u didn't wanted to be the only miserable one..u need it to poison the world around u with ur words.

      Don't make war..Make LOVE :)

  • Fire

    yes..bible sud be #1.So should most other religious books. Religious fanatics have killed and murdered quoting verses from these books,twisting the words to fit their bill.

    • guet

      Hitler hated religion.

      Stalin wasn't religious.

      Nor Mao, although they ALL were fanatics for their own beliefs.

      Either way, you are thinking on level of a child, average American who watches TV and is more afraid of a book because of these poor, half-baked ideas everyone gets from the media and our culture.

    • frank

      you should actually read the Bible, you would have a completely different opinion.. try it,, I challenge you.

  • Jay

    In truth, all books are evil. The written word has a level of authority the spoken word doesn't have. A man with an opinion is just that. A man with a book to back him up is a man who will murder you without guilt for what he KNOWS is right.

    Which is the worst book? Whichever one led to the second one.

    • guest

      U WATCH TOO MUCH TV!

      Trust any teacher who knows books don't kill people,

      people with either poor thinking skills or poor interpersonal connections kill people.

  • Samuel

    I strongly disagree with the inclusion of number 5. How can teaching people how to think be a bad thing? Is knowing the outcome of the War of 1812 really all that vital in today's society? In my opinion, Dewey had it right.

  • Czar

    So did Dewey teach people to have that nice sex with goats? Because they picked up that skill like a fat kid to cake

  • Czar

    Oops, I mean sheep, I'm getting all your guys' favorite meat puppets mixed up

  • Fat Kid

    That's okay. Cake is my favorite meat.

  • Engels

    You're shit, long life to marx !

  • wickedjack

    i can't believe 120 days of Sodom isn't in here

  • Akuma

    This is a list of ten of the worst books of this type – books that have done more harm than good. The common thread in all of these books is deception – invariably not intentional, but the consequences are the same regardless.”

    If this list is to be accurate then religious books should have been added. I dont slam any religion nor do i think religion is a bad thing. However, man has used these religious books to commit some of history's most horrifying deeds against another man, and they have done so for 1600 or so years. By far the Bible and Koran are guilty for killing millions if not billions in the last two millennium.

    To have omitted these two books from the list is a tragedy and just another example of the media not being true to themselves or their readers.

    • gyuet

      You are so off base, sorely lacking a real education, and a stack of books W/ bibliographies @ the end!

      There were NEVER billions of people for any religion to kill before now. Adding all the people to ever live and you still come with the fact that PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE!

      Dunce! You are judging the perverts as if they were professors! Anyone who can use The Bible to rationalize any anti-thesis to what is actually professed & COMMANDED inside The Bible would have killed if there had been NO book. Hitler, Stalin, &, Mao actually did kill MILLIONS and it was IN line with their beliefs & books they used.

      U cannot judge any system/group/people by how it is/they are perverted!

      If it says, Thou (meaning everyone!) shall NOT kill then THOSE who KILLED & CLAIMED 2 be a Christian were CLEARLY NOT Christian @ ALL!!!

      Wolves in sheeps clothing, or they were rationalizing, like you seem to do oh so well!

      • First of all, the podcast basically implied that they left of the Bible and other religious texts since they knew they'd show up in the comments anyway.

        The Bible is more than just the Ten Commandments an the Golden Rule. There is a lot of other rules in there. There are tons of instances where specific things require someone be put to death (adultery, working on the Sabbath, etc). A big one, tied to the 10, is that worshipping other religions was punishable by death. Which is basically justification for things like the Crusade. Thou shalt not kill leaves out the small print of "applies to 'our' people only".

        • Truth

          wrong, the new testament negated the more ruthless bits of the old testament (which were there mainly to help people survive in those times) if anyone in power had had the balls to point this out, people would have quickly realised the crusades was just people killing people whilst using the bible as a scapegoat and all hell would have broken loose, kind of how the americans claimed nuclear weapons were in the middle east then invaded despite mass opposition.

  • really now?

    "according to wikipedia" – 'epic face palm'

  • You're missing "Silent Spring", by Rachel Carson. The anti-DDT hysteria that she started has resulted in more deaths from malaria than all the murders by all the communist and fascist dictators of the 20th century.

    -jcr

    • drlmg

      Great point!!! Should definitely be on the list.

  • yao aikins

    The word of God is sweeter than the honey and fresher than the best fruits.Enjoy it fellow. how God loved the world that he gave his begotten son for us, me and you. aikins yao amemavor

    • jasmine

      AMEN!!!

  • yao aikins

    i love to share the gospel of Christ with lovely people like you. Jesus loves you so much. He make mention of your name every morning and i hear him weep for your salvation. aikins yao amemavor.

    • Grace

      wow.

  • Delaktek

    All good. How about the Bible and Quoran? Those two books made people to kill each other over centuries and still do and caused more casualties than all those mentioned above all together …

  • Theodor Hertzl

    How is possible that book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion " first time published 1905. in Russia, describes the whole XX century?

    • guest

      This was actually a HUGE influence for Hitler as it was about the conspiracy of how the Jews were controlling the world, banks, et al. & how the Jews were the bain of society!

      Also, the idea of the Superman from their German philosopher helped support eugenics!

  • Jay

    Ever read it? You found that in there? I must have read the abridged version…

  • Sudders

    What a lame list. Compiled by someone aged 9.

  • jamie

    Really, Iraklis? Are you sure that's a real Bible quote? I would have thought that Jesus was able to form coherent and grammatical sentences.

  • Robert

    Iraklis, I'm familiar with the passage you mis quoted, and to characterise it as Jesus calling for a personal vendetta is every bit the malicious lie you know it already to be. Why don't you try making a point by saying what you know to be true instead of branding yourself before others, and in your own eyes, as somebody to keep making things up to supply yourself an excuse to keep sucking air?

  • Eden

    Oops!

    ***1. The Bible

  • Jay

    "The Ultimate Book of Top 10 Lists." Has wasted more time than I care to think about..

  • Rhadamanthus

    Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged." People who actually took to heart the fictional philosophy and economic theories therein have taken imperialism and materialism and made it something people who haven't even read it believe with absolute fervor.

    Kinda like the Bible, actually. But then, religious books were left off the list, so…

    … never mind.

  • destiny

    of course the bible is one but he said he left out the obvious ones

  • Jay

    I'm just surprised no one thought to mention the Bible.

  • Sean

    i'd just like to point out that some of you need to do some actual and ACCURATE history and mathematics…

    blindly saying that Christians or Jews or Muslims have killed more people than any of the proponents of the above listed books is just wrong.

    Tell me Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, et al, and their LITERAL hundreds of MILLIONS of murders is somehow less than religious wars and fanatics…really?

    Most historians place the casualty totals for the whole of the crusades at somewhere between 1.5-3 million. any of the above dictators killed 3 times that, by themselves. Come on! Mao's cultural revolution killed upwards of FIFTY MILLION PEOPLE.

    I also think Silent Spring should be included, Carson's book has killed millions because of her unscientific sensational approach to DDT. Absolutely midblowing. Millions have died in Africa alone due to malaria because of her.

    An interesting side note: I read an article by an atheist reporter in Africa that concluded that the best thing for Africa was not government or foreign aid, but Christian NGOs (non-governmental organizations) because they were the only ones DOING anything about the situation. Doesn't sound like such a harmful book to me…I'm trying to find the article and author in my notes…

    • SMM

      you are stupid. and stop trying to promote ddt just because you own stock in it.

  • Sean

    i'd just like to point out that some of you need to do some actual and ACCURATE history and mathematics… appease some others here, both the Bible (at #1) and Silent Spring are in another list here: https://listverse.com/2008/06/11/top-10-most-contr…

  • Jay

    I see a lot of votes against "Silent Spring." I'd like to point out that DDT DOES build up in the body, it IS harmful and it WAS being sprayed indiscriminately on anything and everything that didn't spray first. You may not think a total ban was the right way to go, but it was obvious that something needed to be done. And at that time there were numerous other poisons that worked well and were far less harmful.

    A lot of people stand to make an enormous amount of money from the use of DDT and you cannot believe what those people say.

    Given that, I have to agree that we need to do something about the mosquito problem. They also carry Dengue Fever which has been especially bad this year. One of the first steps would be to quit protecting the wetlands which are a major breeding ground for these things. Another would be the judicious use of poisons. Overuse of poisons is one of the reasons mosquitoes have adapted to withstand them.

    • ISHGEBOR

      DDT was too cheap to make and too effective, it had to go. Follow the money , new more expencive pesticides that do more damage to the environment have been produced , costing too much to use in third world countries . But the enviro-nazies don't care about them anyway.

  • t0mmy2X4

    How about, "Everythings Archie!"?

  • dddf

    9. Coming of Age in Samoa
    8. The Prince
    5. Democracy and Education
    2. The Manifesto of the Communist Party
    1. Darwin’s Black Box

    Right so you are clearly some sort of conservative. A shitty one at that. Especially given the fucking DEWEY book.

  • jon

    This whole list is crazy. Books don't cause destruction, people do. If I shoot a man to steal his wallet, am I allowed to blame his money for my actions? No, I'm not.

  • bobby

    How about Fox News? LOL

  • andrew

    I still say the Bible. Read the subject of the article again.

  • SMM

    inbred hillbilly. fuck your jesus. thank the flying spaghetti monster for separation of church and state.

  • Tim

    The way I see it, most or all of the books on the list are "religious" books. Any belief that one class or group of people is better than another, or that one nation is greater than another is purely religion. Belief in science as being the ultimate authority is religion. So, I can agree with the list.

  • Fred Read

    You make some good points Rika. Especially of how the Catholic church was founded. I can see that you're a clear and reasoning thinker.

  • Ada

    Seriously?? The Bible is NOT in the top ten?? The Bible screwed up the world more than any other book!!

  • alvin

    Bible should be no. 1

  • paul

    lucky all this vitriolic crap is virtual reality. Else we would have to put this list and many internet lists like it at spot number 11

  • Claire

    Ridiculous. Books cannot be evil, understanding that they are, indeed, reams of paper and ink. The author's intentions may be evil, but book material is generally subjective, therefore rendering intentions useless if many people interpret a book differently. And thirdly, books are a key element in capturing and expressing a basic human right, freedom of emotion, and even more so, freedom of speech. All books should be allowed to exist, no matter how "evil," they seem to be.

  • CommonCents

    Where's the Talmud… and the Torah, along with the KJV Bible and Koran?

  • R315r4z0r

    How is the Bible not on this list?

    It's not what the book is about that makes it bad, but what the book caused (and is still causing).

  • yah man do dis giv da youth da real ting……wuh-gwan……bat ting………..

  • alex mazuzan

    How come the bible isnt number 1?

  • Keram

    The statistics are very nice, but everybody who came to NZ from other countries, also from bananas republics says the NZ educational system sucks … any idiot can pass any school, what's the point?

  • nnuumm

    The Koran in the first place.

    No doubt about it !

  • The Author seems a bit confused. They list opposing books like the Creationist "Darwin's Black Box" AND Sanger's Nihilistic/Eugenicist "The Pivot of Civilization." Did Christian's or Nihilistic Atheists ruin the world? For things like this you have to pick a side. Either way you're an idiot without an opinion.

  • Mith

    Just a fact check issue, The Prince was a work of satire…..

    • Mr.CR

      Fact-checking seems to have been passed over in putting together this list.

  • name

    why isn't twilight on this list?

  • Dr.CR

    What a horrible list! Whoever put it together was driven more by a political agenda than by facts.

    How is it that Darwin's Black Box by Michael Behe topped the list? I've read it, it's a horrible book, but it is hardly a significant book that screwed up the world. Anti-science Christian fundamentalism had been around long before Behe's book. The Bible itself has caused more harm, promoting ignorance, genocide, and (in the New Testament) antisemitism, all in one place.

    Another major error is the fact that the education system in the US is hardly based on John Dewey's Democracy and Education. It's as if this person has only read a summary of the book written by someone who completely misunderstood Dewey. Dewey did advocate that students learn facts, he just thought that teaching them to think in a scientific way is more than just learning facts – and he was right.

    Mein Kampf definitely deserves to be on a list harmful books. That's because it explicitly advocates harmful actions. You shouldn't blame a book for being misinterpreted and misapplied by idiots. Place blame where it should be placed. The Communist Manifesto should be blamed for being wrong, but not for causing Stalinism.

  • YourPlanetIsAToilet

    Mein Kampf is one of the GREATEST books ever written. After the NY jew bankers had their "six million shall not return" (Thats right in the Torah), they stopped financing Hitlers war machine, dooming dur Furher to defeat. Now, without his leadership, now take a hard look at your planet… it's a freaking toilet, a pig stye of begging, groveling human drek.
    The jew bankers got what they intended, sympathy for something THEY planned and they got their homeland (ROBBED from the Palestinians)
    READ the goddamn history!

    • YourMouth IsAToilet

      Show me Palestine on a map. It doesn't exist. If Israel wanted to wipe these people off the map, they could do it in a second. If the Palestinians put down their guns, there is peace. If the Israelis put down their guns, they got shot. As a christian, I am greatly offended by you. And the planet is not a toilet, it is you with the potty mouth. Jesus <3 you

  • edna

    incredible, how narrow-minded you people are! it's such a hypocrisy. one moment it's a natural selection and we are all just mammals with basic instincts – other it's Evil – is that so? maybe you should change information in the pages of your cooking books first and then make stupid lists… (when babies are born technically they are even more stupid than animals we eat, so does that means – they can be eaten, tortured and slaughtered??? of course not!!!!)
    ask yourself a question – what do I do, to make this world better? whatever, don't expect anyone to understand anyway…

  • tlay10

    books that screwed up the world? Where's twilight?

  • Kuroukaze

    The Prince was written as a satirical work about the Medici's control of Italy. It didn't create any governmental regimes or initiate any horrible means of governance. It's supposed to be read with irony.

    • 11010101011110101

      i guess you havent played assassin creed 2 lol

    • Flash

      "The Prince" wasn't written about Medici's, it was about Cesar Borgia's (and whole Borgia family) way of control Firenze's Republic. According to J. J. Rousseau, Machiavello wrote it to be read by Firenze's citizens as a denounce against the risks of absolutism, specially the risk of setting the national welfare in hands of a short-minded criminal. In fact, Cesar Borgia and his sister Lucrecia were the children of pope Alexander VI, whose real name was Rodrigo de Borja and was a spanish criminal wanted for serial murdering and robbery, who became "Pope" (getting in this way political and legal immunity) after having bought (with stolen and bloody money, of course) the immense debt of the catholic church. Moreover, Rodrigo was not a catholic priest, and even more… he wasn't catholic!
      I apologize for my English

  • Bob

    It's the peoples, not the books, who screw up the World…

    Anyway, apart from religious books, which are obviously missing :

    If Mein Kampf is to be included, so should be Das Kapital and The Wealth of Nation.

    If The Prince is to be included, so should be The Art of War and On War.

  • Melonhelmet

    *cough* the bible *cough*

    • Triston

      *Cough* moron *cough*

  • anonymous

    im pretty sure the #1 should be the coming race… cuz you now hitler right???

  • theKarnivalGods

    A book is an inanimate object capable of nothing!

  • alsdhalsd

    I think the BIBLE should be on the #1 spot here..

  • ho down

    according to Wikipedia . . . . . . instant removal of validity

  • Deist

    You forgot the Qu'ran, Sunnah, Bible and Torah

  • BILL THE BIGAMIST

    WORKERS UNITE!

  • Marsh

    A bad baby guide worse than Mein Kampf?
    The philosophy of Marx responsible, that a cruel regime much later exploited it for propaganda?

    Do your homework before you spread stuff you obviously didn't understand.

  • XoF

    Uh, "The Bible!" I don't think so, it's the greedy political minded creeps who used it for their purposes! really now, what's in it? Just a set of things common to basic humanity, and some a**h*** makes it "its" own to control others and take what they have. Education is a right, shouldn't be a privilege!!!

  • Chris C, UK

    You have no idea what youre talking about!!! Shame you dont care to actually read what youre quoting about.

  • Desh

    why aren't religious books like the Bible or the Koran on this list, they have both caused more death and evil then any of those books on the list. it may not be the intention of the books, but neither was "baby and childcare".

  • Quintilianus

    Fuck the person who wrote this. Number 9, what the fuck man. Nothing horrible there. Number 8, truer than algebra. Number 6, eugenics may be immoral, but we have allowed our genepool to be totally ruined. Don't hate a book for simply stating an idea. Number 5, Dewey was a motherfucking badass, and people could use a little more common sense. Number 2, LONG LIVE MARX! You little piece of shit. The American Constitution has led to one of the most oppressive governments in modern history. Don't fuck something over because people misinterpret its concepts. Number 1, so its a stupid book. Let Fundamentalists think and say what they will.

    • Ah the irony – you are posting from the US (according to your IP address) which enables you to say something as ridiculous as “long live marx” – maybe you should move to North Korea where Marxist ideals are in place and try saying something like “long live capitalism” – oh wait – you don’t want to do that because your freedom of speech doesn’t exist there and you will end up in jail with hard labor.

  • Nico

    The Manifesto of the Communist Party & Darwin’s Black Box;
    Hahahaha good one.

    Now please go and die, you fuck.

  • philip

    #1 the bible

  • The Elder

    Where is the Bible and the Quran?

  • BunnyO

    YOU FORGOT THE QU'RAN !!

  • Fred

    The Bible provided the ideological foundation for the deaths of well in excess of 100 million people. Why is it not here.

    The Koran has provided the ideological foundation for the death and enslavement of more people than the Bible. It is not here either.

    This list is poxy.

  • Will "the real" One

    OK, you'd figure once one person made the comment about the bible and the quran not being on the list. 30 other people wouldnt feel the need to make the SAME EXACT COMMENT. The bible and Quran are books of salvation. Telling of a higher purpose for life that helps people during times of deathand hardship.The two books were written with a general message of peace, mapping down basic human laws such as "love thy neighbor" "do unto others as you would have done unto you" and "thou shalt not kill". Any message or messeger of peace and unity typically sparks hatred, outrage, and last but not least war. Thus the reason why such great men are usually killed and assasinated. (Christ, JFK, Martin Luther King) The books on this list however, were nothing more then books written by sly and cunning men that promoted a series of criminal like behaviour. In conclusion, the bible and quran isnt on this list because it has helped more then it has hurt. These books listed have done the exact opposite. Destroying and killing more then it has ever helped.

  • GreatOne

    You anti religion posters are amazing! I assume you are hopping to be listed in the book "100 great atheists, and their contribution to society"? You know its your right as a free human to be ignorant but good lord why would you admit it? And the replies, sheesh it is like you wallow in each others delusion and just get farther and farther away from reality. And i don't mean religion is a reality, I mean you obviously aren't even smart enough to recognize reality. IQ's above 120 please and post ONLY if you have a full time job!

  • just saying

    Darwin and the Bible are wrong! Everything was created three hours ago. The supreme being (God, Allah , Vishnu, or whoever you believe in) just put our memories in to take place of the blank areas before that. Think about it. Why cant this version of creationism be true?

  • SmokeySmogs

    The cast was so full of shit at least half! Just randomly asserting stuff to use it as "proof". What a joke.

  • scottm

    Forgot the quoran, still a rallying point for evil today.

  • Forgot One

    Bible ?

  • kprizzle

    Dewey shouldn't have made it on this list, their definition was a very innacurate interpretation of facts. Dewey believed in teaching through experiential models and believed that hammering facts without purpose would lead to a limited amount of retention of knowledge when there was no context for the knowledge. Saying the current educational crisis in many countries is Deweys fault is flat out wrong. In the US it has been because of a fundamental push away from Deweys ideas that have caused collapse, concepts like increased classroom hours, minimizing classes that require any type of motor function, increased useage of standardized testing and limiting of personal development were all things that Dewey opposed. In the US we are currently in a downfall of education because of things like "no child left behind" not the teachings of John Dewey. Many teachers still push for more of Deweys theories to be practiced across the board and if anything, resitance to these concepts has been damaging. It should also be noted that many countries more adoptive of Deweys ideas (New Zealand) rank higher in educational standings than those who don't (US).

  • bvnbvnvb

    the author of this article and list is BIAS and unjust. The Manifesto of the Communist Party symbolizes great equality. the problems were the abusive leaders who really did not follow the book.

  • Lumber

    Would it be too pedantic and predictable to correct your grammar?
    At least in percentage terms it was significantly less than those who have thus far responded. As for the list? A very emotive title preceeding a list of books chosen from a mindless PC pro-American viewpoint. If intentionally inflammatory, (based on the quantity of responses) I'd say very successful.
    I hear that New Zealand is very beautiful and the people are very pleasant.

  • mr.obvious

    What book has empowered Governments around the world to comit crimes against humanity for personal gain in the name of righteousness?
    King James…hmmm sounds more like a political kind of guy than a humanitarian.
    Question 54 of 1000 – Was Hiroshima a military base?

  • simonsi

    Where’s the bible?

  • Popov

    You forgot Al Coran

  • Abdullah

    The Koran and the Hadith are the most malicious books ever written because it inspires murder, robbery and rape innocent people.

    • pierre

      tell me this verse of murder, robbery and rape innocent people please?

    • Israel

      The Talmud is the most evil book ever written, and it happens to be the the most revered and holiest book in Judaism, the Koran is a wonderful book when compared to the racist hate filled Talmud.

  • bandcamp

    The Holy Bible. Not saying it’s evil, but certainly many conflicts resulting in death and destruction have come from misinterpretation/religious fanaticism.

  • joe

    Where is the Bible?

  • patmos

    It could be argued that ‘mein kamf’ screwed up the world because it was not read.As few as 100 thousand copies were published before 1939,most were left unread on the shelves of the party faithful.If more people especially ordinary germans had read it,Hitler might never have been elected.It is not books themselves which cause scewups, but rather a lack of free and open disscusion and intellectual laziness.This is not a problem which our PC, banality obsessed western world has solved.

  • Kathryn

    That’s baby stuff. You neglected to include Bible and Quoran. They are the most evil books ever written!

    • pierre

      maybe both are the words from the GOD, not a book. that’s why they are not listed above. but still, if it’s the word from the GOD then it must be those who misinterpret them are the evil!

      • Diana_512

        Or worse yet, it’s those who BELIEVE the books that cause the problem. Everyone always accuses those who don’t parse the book just their way as “misinterpreting.” What is the part of “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” that was misinterpreted by the Salem gang?

        People talk about the Bible as the foundation of morality, but society has evolved to a much higher morality than Biblical morality. This is evident in the ways that people have reinterpreted the Bible to make it less malicious. Nowadays we consider it evil to kill people for gathering sticks on certain days of the week or to stone disobedient children to death. Many churches even allow women to speak.

        Biblical (and Qur’an too) morality may have been a step in the right direction back in days of barbarism but they are morally very deficient these days.

  • Joe Lyon

    What the —
    This list is all over the place! I’m guessing James Frater’s personal biases are on evidence here (hence the reference to the state of NZ’s public education). Not knowing him personally I can’t say for sure. I mean, really…REALLY… Democracy and Education is among the most evil books in history, managed to screw up the world and should never have been written?
    It’s on the same list as Mein Kampf?

    Really?

    I suppose this plays right if you have fantasies about what “classical education” really was and that any attempts to rebut it should have been thrown into the fire. All in all, the rate of literacy is still much higher than it was in the days before John Dewey. I’m not saying this is BECAUSE of Dewey or that classical education or the banking approach to learning is all bad, but merely that the idea that people today are somehow stupider than ever is far, far from the truth.

    And the Margaret Mead bashing? Ignoring the importance and scope of her work over some allegations that were never really proven? It ends with a hint that what’s really getting Listverse’s goat is that Mead was allowed to be influential in the Anglican Church. The horror!

    And the comments on Sanger seem to stem from a desire to bash Planned Parenthood through the use of the scary word “eugenics” to conjure up the ghosts of Dachau. Mead’s ideas may be outdated (I have more issue with her views on immigration, but from her pov in the inner cities I can understand someone not wanting to see the streets filled with cripples and mental cases that our country could not afford to care for) but her core concept was that birth control – through education and NOT state mandated – would lead to less birth defects is hardly irrational. Ooh, scary.

    I won’t get into the Communist Manifesto too much. Only to say that if blaming the millions killed by the Stalins and Pol Pots of the world is laid at the feet of this book, then it seems disingenuous not to also include a religious book or two. Or three.

    By the time this podcast gets to Dr. Spock, I take it that they’re just grasping at straws to surprise us with the old “Yes, but did you know that…”. Did you know that Hippocrates advocated leeching? His writings screwed up the world! Did you know the Constitution proclaimed slaves were 3/5’s of a person. It screwed up the world! No, not really.

    And Darwin’s BB? Trying too hard to balance this list out if you ask me. Much like it tries to convince us that Michael Behe doesn’t believe the crap his “research” supposedly concludes, the inclusion of DBB is an attempt for this list to seem like it’s NOT written by someone with an obviously (perhaps closested?) conservative religious view of modern society.

    • Joe Lyon

      sorry -mean to say “closeted” not closested. typo.

  • karl

    the malay magic curses and cures written 100 year old

    • pierre

      what is that?

  • johnlennon

    How can god be merciful when theres hell? Dumb bible

  • Eve

    Wow, I’m speechless that the NUMBER ONE “evil book” is one that … challenges Darwinism.

    Not books that let to witch burnings, or the purges of Stalin and Mao, or the Holocaust. Sure, genocide is bad, so they get a place on the list … but not as bad as challenging orthodox Darwinism, apparently. And the people who say that hardcore Darwin zealots sound JUST LIKE religious zealots are crazy because … ? I’m sorry, if you think “Darwin’s Black Box” has done more harm in the world than Mein Kampf, you are a fanatic, plain and simple.

    Since when is ANY scientific theory immune to criticism? It’s not like we know everything. No one in 1900 had any idea that Newton’s physics would be replaced by Einsteinian relativity theory and quantum mechanics within 50 years. And how did that happen? Because people kept posing questions that Newtonian physics couldn’t answer. Why should Darwin get a free pass? Answer: he shouldn’t. If evolutionary theory is good science, then it should be able to answer the questions it needs to answer.

    Evolutionary theory may be up to the task, as we learn more. Or it may not, just as Newtonian physics could not, in principle, EVER explain relativistic phenomena (although the Newtonians of the day were confident that it COULD, when we learned more).

    Behe introduced the idea of an irreducibly complex system: that is, a system that requires all its parts to work at all, and asked (very reasonably) IF there are such systems in nature, HOW could they have come about in tiny, gradual increments — because until all the pieces are in place, the system doesn’t work, and hence isn’t useful, and hence, in standard evolutionary theory, would not be preserved.

    One either has to show that there are no irreducibly complex systems (which is hard, because there are some good candidates, backed up by information theory — information rich systems tend to show this feature, and the genetic code of living things is information rich); or show how one could get such a system by means of a blind, mechanistic, step by step natural process. To argue that such systems exist, so THEREFORE they must have evolved (because evolution is true) is circular. Scientifically, that isn’t any better than “God did it.”

    Nor is Behe’s book a sneaky attempt to undermine science based on religious faith. Whether there is a creator/designer of the universe is one question. Whether Darwinism can explain what it needs to explain is another. It could very well be that natural phenomena are more complex than evolutionary theory takes them to be, just as physics discovered that nature is more complex than Newtonian theory took it to be. If that’s the case, then evolutionary theory needs to be replaced by a better account of nature. That’s how science works.

    • Diana_512

      Uh, Eve, he said at the beginning “in no particular order” so he is definitely NOT saying that Behe’s book is worse than Mein Kampf.

      By the way, the whole concept of “irreducible complexity” as an argument against evolution is horribly flawed. It ASSUMES an evolutionary path and then shows that the ASSUMED path doesn’t work. Then it makes the leap of logic that therefore NO evolutionary path can exist.

  • SUNDER

    very nice collection

  • PsychoBug

    Mein Kampf
    Yeah but so much truth in it.
    I bet none of you people even read it.
    Knowing that this book is on the list makes me want to read the others as well.

  • Nimm_90

    This is funny. Really funny.
    Like 50 people fighting here, and saying: “Hey! The Bible killed thousands! Why is it not there?”, or comments alike.
    First. They’re all books, meant to be read and interpreted. Those who make the wrong interpretation are the ones that “screwed the World” (if you really think it’s screwed).
    Second. Most of those books state facts. Whether you like them or not, they’re facts. The Prince might be something really malefic, evil, or whatever you want to categorize it in, but it’s true.
    Third, religious books don’t state “Go ‘n kill ’em”. They’re books, and in the time when written, books were poetry. Of course Jesus didn’t multiplied bread and fish, he might have made a stew or something so everyone there could eat. That’s what most of you people can’t get. Poetry does not screw things, those who intend, or choose, to use it as a reason to screw things are the ones who do. Or don’t you think that the people that ruled the World back there said: “Oh, okay, let’s do this. Many people is choosing Catholicism in the west. So why not make a war with the east and get some profit from it?”.
    Never forget, that those who rule the World (not presidents, kings, etc., those who really rule it, and are behind the “major figures”) chase money, power, and that the World keeps running like they want to.
    So back to the books, there’s no book that can screw things. Reading is healthy, improves your mind, and makes you have whole lots of new ideas. How can that screw the World?
    Besides, reading Mein Kampf won’t make you go and kill everyone out there. You’ll do it because you want to.

  • PaNKiO

    bullshit list. the most people in this world died for tora, bible and koran.

  • Swiddy

    lol Darwin’s Black Box. Well no religious books per say in the list, but that one falls under moronic religious books.

  • Spacetonic

    I’m surprised the Bible is not there!!!

  • Diana_512

    “according to Wikipedia…” LOL, and this is the reference he uses when complaining about inaccurate books?

  • Bayoán

    I would have included the Invisible Hand and Wealth of Nations, by far a lot more damage to humanity, society, and the worst repercussions to the environment… The legitimization of inhumane exploitation…

  • Chris

    This list is uninformed and biased.

    I am no longer a subscriber to your podcast.

  • Guy From Troy

    The Communist Manifesto is one of the most important books ever written. I’m shocked that there are no religious texts on this list.

  • Guy From Troy

    The Manifesto of the Communist Party is on your list, huh? Well it’s obvious where you stand as far as class consciousness goes.

    What a terribly short-sighted list you have written here.

    Where is the Bible and the Koran? Those have created far more trouble for much longer than ANY single book on this list.

  • tom

    rubish.

  • Obiwan

    When you look for the bad things in anything you will surely find them… even in the bible or the koran… but why look for the bad things when there are so many other good things in them? why hate when you can love?

  • Ian

    I am surprised. I thought it would be the Koran, then the bible. These surely are the most evil and have caused the most destruction.

  • HELLO !! THE QU’RAN !!! 240,000 people and counting killed by islam.

  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

    Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men….should have been considered for this list….IMO

  • You will find alot on this list was scripted in >

    The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment) is the era in Western philosophy, intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century (The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800) , in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. It is also known as the Age of Reason.”

    …….is that not in a nutshell, where we find ourselves today?” Here in the later parobolic phase of an exponential technology and medicine evolutionary LEAP.

    The Elightenment developing simultaneously around the globe during that time period. Including France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the American colonies. The movement culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions, especially the success of the American Revolution, which resulted in independence from the British Empire. The authors of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Polish–Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791, were motivated by Enlightenment principles.

  • Israel

    The Talmud is the most evil book ever written, and it happens to be the the most revered and holiest book in Judaism.

  • Gabriel

    As people can see just by reading the comments, the subject of religion causes conflict even in a forum on the internet. It must be the most evil thing in the world, no matter what side you are on. I wonder if satanism has ever caused any wars and as many deaths as other religions. A point to ponder.

  • ZINGA

    NERD

  • Aiman Hilmi

    You read the Quran thoroughly and then let me know whether it should be in the list. Don’t be judge without investigating.

  • George

    Enter your comment here.both fruits but….they are very diferent

  • Sword

    These books are only screwed up in the eyes of idiots who take all of the words for granted. While reading from a intellectual standpoint these books teach different lessons, whether you act on them , and the way you act on them, is a product of your own. Why sit there going ” LAWL THEZ BOOKZ IZ R BADZ”? Mein Kampf may be the work of a Nazi, but we’ve all sat through history class listening to the horrific things Hitler did and we know his views are incorrect. Had it not been released, I doubt anything would have changed other than the KKK and Neo-Nazi idiots we have here in America. Its not the books, but the idiot reading them and their interpretation that make these books out to be so bad. Sure some of them may contain horrifying things, but we all have our own horrifying thoughts and skeletons in our closet.

  • Pwntage

    Ignorance is bliss ppl, chill and enjoy. also stop with the trolling :] . what u say doesn’t affect the thoughts of other ppl. simply cuz this is internet. u believe what u want and dont try to imprint ur thoughts onto other ppl. This isnt the Matrix and ur not Agent Smith :D

  • Thorn

    You forgot the Bible.

  • dr raja

    you know. Wasting your overtime Saturday not just entertaining popular idea server was the champion of the cars in her book she says the most urgent problem of today is how to limit and his chili, mentally and physically defective she goes on to say possibly trashed intense parts and methods may be forced upon American societyencourage the chance in chaotic breeding test resulted from our stay cool sentimentalism birth control was in her mind quote the greatest 10 most sure you change method” needless to say

  • bullshit

    wow this is really interesting

  • Gothic_bug

    I started to read Mein Kampf and there seems to be a lot of truth in it.
    But the truth in it can be used by anyone and should be, because that is the nature of man.
    This whole thing about holding hands and sining kumbaya around a book burning campfire is dangerous!
    Why? Becuase of all the people using the very tactics the book warns you about.

  • Anthony

    They forgot “The Bible”

  • that guy

    what a carefully tailored group of responses, did the atheists get a heads-up first so they could come out and spew bigotry?

    Now if you’d just print a list of books that show atheism as the religion of the fool, we’d be getting somewhere…

    • Captain Necron

      Bigots you hypocrite just look yourself in the mirror for once.

  • hal

    Obama’s favorite is number 2.

  • bill cane

    you forgot “the great sun of knowledge” …creepy book

  • Captain Necron

    Wow if by evil you mean some of the most influential books of all time i guess your right maybe you should put the names of almost all religious books up there to considering the wars they’ve influenced.

    • Captain Necron

      Also i think i now have my summer reading list. Ill start with The Prince thats a good how-to book on world domination right?

  • SELEMALMASRE

    HI ADD

  • Mr X

    The Koran and the Bible should be tied at No.1 on this list.

  • Helena

    i was kinda hopin/expecting the bible to be in there , anyone else?

  • Chris White

    Alll respect to the followers of religion (those who do so by the morals implied not the morals assumed). But My list would go

    1 King Charles the 5th bible (its all circumstantial hearsay, and personal derivings(for personal gain)

    2The Koran for being the other main blade in the war that has and will be going for tempus immimorium

    3 the anarchists cookbook, for being a supply of dangerous information with no regards as to has access

    4 I agree with all of the origional list but believe the first 2 of mine are the foundation, and the 3 the most contemporary

  • akt

    well educate yourself by reading it before you say some thing bad about it.
    i love my religion and my holy book quran . and i respect other religions so bet you that you probably don’t know what in it and here you giving your comment

  • Lester

    The bible is the worst.

  • Nabil Al-Murabit

    I take umbridge with the comment that the Arab/Muslim countries of the middle east are political enemies of the Zionist country of Israel. Not all of the countries are political enemies of that country. There are many countries in the middle east that have large Jewish communities that are pretty much thriving. Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the U.A.E are just some of the countries that aren’t enemies of Israel

  • hippypoet

    the most evil book ever written was the bible. people kill people anyway, but when its in the name of god, well thats when folks go over board big time.

  • Shailesh Tripathi

    I found some info on http://shareitto.com but still i need some reference. Your article is good.

  • Scootaloo

    By whose standards are these evil? I have never laughed so hard in my life. They are anthropological, theoretical and philosophical gold. And if not that they are lessons from the past. In any case “evil” isn’t the word. Thought provoking and idea challenging, but not evil. Just because you don’t agree with something doesn’t make it evil ( I do disagree with some, I mean hunting down women and burning them isn’t a good idea ).

  • thetko

    joy har har

  • Stuart

    Tope ten books to screw up the world?

    1.The Holy Bible

    2. The Quaran

    3. The Holy Bible

    4. The Quaran

    5. …. you get the picture…

  • nilanjan debnath

    I like that

  • nilanjan debnath

    1. holly book bhagabath gita
    2.baibel
    3.quran
    4.tripitak

  • devans00

    Where is the Holy Bible? That one should have been #1 on the list.

  • Dani

    I get a lot of good out of the bible, and knew some numb nut would moan about it not being on the list. Also, the word “religion” is man made. It’s a word, so easily thrown around by morons, that is used to divide the masses. Stop picking a part things you don’t like, and focus on further improving things in your own lives. Intelligently questioning text in the bible is one thing. But to go and say the bible should be amongst the “top 10 books that screwed up the world” is ignorant, and not at all intelligent. For those that said that, please, do the world a favour and grow a brain.

  • Jerold Crismon

    Great post and right to the point. I don’t know if this is actually the best place to ask but do you guys have any thoughts on where to employ some professional writers? Thx

  • bugaboo donkey

    Normally I do not learn article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to take a look at and do so! Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, very great article.

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