Research Brief

The research topic I have picked is “5 Centuries, 5 Books”. I plan to take the last five centuries from the 20^th to the 16^th and pick a book from each that defines the century it was printed in and that has ongoing relevance even for readers of today. I will investigate various lists of published and “best of” lists published to view the available books. I will be concentrating on non-fiction. When I narrow the search down I will write about the books themselves and their authors.

I shall research the impact that the various books have had not just on their times but also on subsequent times.

I plan to research the various literary reviews and literary criticisms of each book. I plan to search the various online databases for these.

I shall briefly outline the historical context into which each book arrived.

The 16th Century

Well known authors of this century are Shakespeare, Machiavelli, More and Marlowe.

Significant events of the century are The Protestant Reformation, The Reign of Elisabeth I, The Spanish Armada and Copernicus writes Commentariolus.

The 17th Century

Well known authors of this century are Shakespeare again, Cervantes, Moliere and Descartes.

Significant event include The English Civil War, The Fall of the Ming Dynasty and The Reign of Peter the Great.

The 18th Century

Well known authors of this century are Voltaire, Swift, Defoe and Paine.

Significant events are The American War of Independence, The French Revolution and The beginning of The Industrial Revolution.

The 19th Century

Writers: Wilde, Twain, Dostoyevsky and Dickens

Events: Population of the planet reaches 1 billion, Napoleonic Wars, The Irish Potato Famine and Slavery abolished in many countries.

20th Century

Writers: Orwell, Rowling, Atwood, Plath and Joyce.

Events: Great Depression, Population of the planet reaches 6 billion, W.W.I, W.W.II and The W.W.W.