The EssayThe Book that Changed MeEpisodes Episode guide

Back up to: The Essay

1. Chocky

   10/10Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock on how Chocky by John Wyndham inspired her.
2. The Silent Spring

   9/10Journalist Julian Pettifer on how Rachel Carson's The Silent Spring inspired him.
3. In the Land of Israel

   8/10Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner on Amos Oz's book In the Land of Israel.
4. Othello

   7/10Poet Musa Okwonga on how Shakespeare's Othello mirrored his experience of isolation.
5. The Smoking Diaries

   6/10Ed Smith explains how Simon Gray's The Smoking Diaries liberated him as a wordsmith.
6. Pride and Prejudice

   5/10Academic Mona Siddiqui explores her affection for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
7. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

   4/10Scientist Colin Blakemore praises a lesser-known work by Charles Darwin.
8. For Colored Girls...

   3/10Writer Bernardine Evaristo on how For Colored Girls... by Ntozake Shange inspired her.
9. The Wrench

   2/10Potter and writer Edmund de Waal explains how Primo Levi's book The Wrench inspired him.
10. Homage to Catalonia

    1/10Alan Johnston explains how Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell inspired him.