10 Small But Highly Influential Books You Must Read In Your Lifetime

Each book in this list is less than 100 pages but yet can be ascribed the honor of changing the world in unique ways. Everyone must go through these pages in a lifetime because it’s worth it.

For centuries, books have inspired knowledge, birthed inspiration, and engineered discoveries that have taken humanity to a whole new level of growth and advancement. They changed the perspective and belief system of a whole race and spur untold people into a specific set of actions. The following listed books have done just that: changed opinions, sprouted a movement, and triggered a renaissance. Although they’re short in page length, around a hundred or less — a number not considered standard — yet, what lay in the pages shaped men and cultures, making them very influential books then, now, and always.

1. The Metamorphosis [Frank Kafka]

This epic work by Frank Kafta is regarded as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and it is studied in colleges and universities across the Western world. It was an amazing story about a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, who woke up from his sleep only to discover that he had been transformed into a large, monstrous, insect-like creature. The cause of the metamorphosis was never revealed and neither did Kafka give the reason why. The rest would reveal wittingly, Gregor’s multifarious attempts to adjust to his new conditions after visibly becoming a burden to his parents and sisters who abhorred the horrible creature he had turned into. It is a legendary epic, absolutely thrilling, yet short-paged.

2. The Art Of War [Sun Tzu]

Just sixty-eight pages, but who have not considered this legendary book by Sun Tzu? The cunning, yet ruthless ancient Chinese military handbook has proven to be a fountain of resources to countless people. The book, “The Art of War,” is a 5th-century ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu with thirteen chapters each devoted to a specific aspect of warfare. The text is an outstanding work on military tactics and strategies and it is the most influential strategy text in the whole of East Asia. On the other hand, it also had a great influence on Western military thinking, legal strategy, business tactics, and so on. Lots of business leaders across the world have also drawn inspiration from the book.

3. We Should All Be Feminist [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]

A wonderful book that will go down in history as one of the greatest pieces that took on the world by storm with its perspective on Feminism. Adapted from Adichie’s 2012 TEDx talk of the same name, the book gave a well-received definition of feminism in the 21st century. Audio from the talk was included in Beyonce’s 2013 song “Flawless” and Adichie was credited with a featured role on the track. The Telegraph selected it as a book of the year saying “It would be the book I’d press into the hands of girls and boys as an inspiration for a future world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves.” In December 2015, it was revealed that the book will be distributed to every sixteen-year-old high school student in Sweden.

4. Animal Farm By [George Orwell]

We all love Animal Farm and the wonderful animal and human characters in the story. Snowball, Muriel, Napoleon, etc. have all become famous names forever etched unto our memories, both young and old. The allegorical and dystopian novella was first published in England on August 17th, 1945. It reflected on the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then to the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell described the book in a letter to Yvonne Davet as a satirical tale against Stalin and he admitted it was the first book where he had unleashed all his consciousness into what he was doing. Time magazine chose it as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923–2005).

5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin [Harriet Beecher Stowe]

A book that encouraged President Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation and a runaway bestseller that sold 10,000 copies in the US in its first week of release and 300,000 in the first year; even in Great Britain, 1.5 million copies in a year. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is an 1852 novel that forever changed how Americans viewed slavery and the system that treated people as property. The book demanded that the US deliver on the promise of freedom and equality, galvanized the abolition movement, and contributed to the Civil War outbreak. It has been credited for changing the views of slavery in the North and continues to serve as a vivid reminder of the effect of slavery and inhumane acts.

6. The Communist Manifesto [Karl Max and Friedrich Engels]

Written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the communist league, and published in London, “The Communist Manifesto” was recognized as arguably the world’s most influential political manuscript. It was written just as the revolutions of 1848 began to gather storm. It was a powerful book that presented an analytical approach to historical and then-present class struggles, the quagmire of capitalism, and the capitalist mode of production, rather than a mere prediction of the potential future turn-out of communism. A notable edge while the book had been so revered around the world is the feature of ideas that shows how communism of the time would eventually slither and be swayed by socialism.

7. Self-Reliance [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Self-reliance is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was first published in his 1841 collection, Essays: First Series and the book was a proponent of the start of the Transcendentalist movement in America. The essays, compiled into a book, contain the most thorough statement of one of his recurring themes which is the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency and follow their instinct and ideas. The self-reliance message was arguably his most famous essay, with immortal quotes such as, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

8. Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass [Frederick Douglass]

The narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, the famous orator, and former slave, is a book heralded as one of the most influential pieces of literature to fuel the abolitionist movement of the early nineteenth century in the United States. The memoir was written in 1845 and is generally held to be the most famous narrative written by former slaves during the same period. The memoir is believed to have documented and described the events of his life as a slave and his ambition to become a free man. It is always referred to as one of the epic books written in the United States of America.

9. A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens]

The immortal influence of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was revealed when a young girl from London asked a question. It was in 1870 after Dickens just died. She asked, “Mr. Dickens is dead? Then will Father Christmas die, too?” That was a demonstration of the extent to which Dicken’s writings were associated with the holiday season and modern Christmas tradition. It ended up making a permanent mark on how Christmas is viewed, and every time this amazing piece of literature is displayed on the silver screen, it reminds us of a vision of Christmas that has little to do with displays of wealth and instead focuses on loved ones and the joy of an act of charity. The powerful book was written when the British were examining and exploring Christmas traditions from the past as well as new customs such as Christmas cards and trees. The book has remained very popular till today, has never been out of print, and adapted many times to film, stage, opera, and other media.

10. The Prince [Nicholo Machiavenni]

Although very short in length, the book is heralded as arguably the first work of modern philosophy, especially political philosophy, because in it as it were, effective truth is taken to be far more important than as it any abstract idea. The book, “The Prince” is most responsible for bringing the word “Machiavellian” into usage as a pejorative and helped make “Old Nick” an English term for the devil. It also has the revered honor to have contributed to modern negative connotations of the word “politics” and “politician” in Western countries. The political treatise, written in 1513, offers enriching advice on how an aspiring prince can get to the throne and how an incumbent one can avoid an overthrow.