HIST054 - BOOKS THAT MADE HISTORY

It is often said that books reflect the society in which they were written. Yet many books--and their authors--shaped society, and changed how people understood the world around them. In this course we will focus on a variety of texts from the world of Rome to 1600, the era in which European society took form. In each case, we will seek not only to understand the work itself, but also how it affected the lives and the thought of its readers. Works will range from Cicero and the Biblical New Testament to Luther and Machiavelli.