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LOGOS 20th Century Books Project, 101 Books

The "Books that Shaped the Century" collection features 100 pivotal books from the twentieth century, selected by a panel from LOGOS, the international book publishing journal. This panel, consisting of publishers, librarians, and booksellers, identified books that profoundly influenced societal thoughts and actions, thereby shaping historical progress. The selection was made from 500 titles recommended by various prestigious sources, including The New York Times Book Review and Waterstones bookshops. The collection includes a diverse range of works, from children's books and plays to significant texts in social sciences, science, and humanities, covering topics such as psychology, politics, medicine, and feminism. This influential collection has been exhibited across Europe and the UK and is now permanently located at the Oxford Brookes University Library.

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The final selection was made not by a public vote but by roughly thirty publishing professionals—publishers, senior librarians, and leading booksellers—who sat on the International Advisory Board of LOGOS: The Journal of the World Book Community. Their brief was to distil the 500 most-frequently cited ‘books of the century’ (as nominated by outlets such as The New York Times Book Review and Waterstones) down to the 100 that, in their judgment, most powerfully shaped twentieth-century thought and history.

This list was originally published in 2020 and was added to this site almost 2 years ago.