Books, and the amount of individuals who might read them, have been absolutely vital to human development over the centuries.

It is necessary to keep in mind that, although a lot of the best modern books of all time tend to be considered ground-breaking works of fiction, for the majority of humanity's literary history, we did not compose much fiction at all. Most stories would have been sung throughout the great bulk of history, merely since the huge majority of individuals might not read, implying that the majority of books were specialised things meant for those few who could comprehend them. After a brief boom during the classical period of antiquity, the amount of literate people dropped considerably during the Middle Ages. Books became uncommon treasures, with monks painstakingly copying out the enduring timeless texts by hand so as to protect them, as they were a few of the only members of the populace who were able to read or write. They were the expert keepers of understanding like biology and religion that all of us have access to in the modern world.

With such a rich history of concepts, events, and stories right at our fingertips, it's often simple to forget how exceptionally lucky we are to have the likes of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones or the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books supporting access to a big proportion of all the books that have actually ever been composed (or the good ones at least). The best books of all time can quickly change the manner in which you take a look at the world, and that has been true throughout all of history too. The modern world is built upon knowledge that has actually been handed down through books, whether that is ideology, science, or history, and human civilisation would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is today if it had not been for the books that changed minds across the ages.

It can be difficult to envision what the world would resemble today if the vast majority of people were unable to read, but for the huge bulk of history the vast majority of people might not, and nor were books available even if they could. It was the development of the printing press towards the close of the 15th that changed that, making books much more accessible. Obviously, it was still just actually the wealthiest and well-educated that could read or write, but it allowed a whole host of advancements in science, art, and thinking to be spread out throughout great distances. Consider what would have taken place if the theory of gravity, or of evolution, could not have been distributed across the globe. Human civilisation rests upon a foundation of books, and we are lucky to be able to just log onto a site like the one backed by the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books, and quickly gain access to the totality of human understanding.