5 Essential Books for Everyone's Bookcase

With so many books crying out for a place of your bookcase, how do you choose 5 essential ones? It naturally depends a great deal on personal preference, but a good place to start is by selecting individual texts from throughout history and across the different genres, and finding those books that have made a difference to literature and our understanding of science and society.

The First Folio, William Shakespeare

The First Folio is the collection of William Shakespeare’s plays, entitled Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies. Prepared by Shakespeare’s colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell, and published in 1623, about 7 years after his death, the Folio contains 36 plays. For about 20 of the plays, it is the only reliable text we have.

The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith

Considered to be the foundation of modern economic theory, The Wealth of Nations was published in 1776. Reflecting the economics of the start of the Industrial Revolution, Adam Smith argued that free market economies are better for societies as they are more productive.

David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

First published in 1850, David Copperfield is considered the most autobiographical of all Charles Dickens’s novels. Like many of his books, Copperfield was originally published in serial form a year earlier. The story follows the life and times of David Copperfield, from childhood to adulthood.

The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin

Published in 1859, Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species is considered the foundation of evolutionary biology. Its full title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life – and it was only for the sixth edition, in 1872, that the title was shortened. Darwin was the first scientist to introduce the scientific theory that populations evolve through a process of natural selection.

The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy tale of the struggle of the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took to save Middle Earth by destroying the One Ring. The sequel to The Hobbit, the book was published over the course of a year in 1954-1955 in three volumes entitled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King.

5 Essential Books for Everyone's Bookcase