I think I’ve always had a strong sense of curiosity. As a kid playing Rome Total War, all I wanted to do after playing the game was learn more about the Romans and all these other factions I had never heard about. Even as a high schooler, I can remember confusing my parents as I had asked for a 700 page history book for Christmas.
As I grew up, I discovered “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, and I was pleasantly surprised that the advice in the book not only lined up with what I had been taught by my parents and church, but that it was actually useful! It was then that I thought to myself, “What other books are out there that could change my life?”
“What other books are out there that could change my life?”
Gradually, I started diving into economics, self-help, philosophy, religion, and so much more. Each time I read a book it felt like it changed my life for the better, and I couldn’t just stop.
However, my reading journey really kicked off after reading “Ordinary Men”, by Christopher Browning. The book shocked me and shook me to my core by showing me that every one of us can be manipulated into committing horrendous acts of evil. I knew I couldn’t just move on to the next book, I needed to get others to read it as well. I wanted to encourage everyone I knew to start reading these life changing books. If I could get just one other person to read a book that changed me, I knew I could change their life, and the world.
After 2 years of running an Instagram book review account, it has changed my world and I’ve been able to help others to read the great books of our time. I want to continue to do this, and I’m excited to be able to use Iliad to help the world read more.
- Peter, Abridged Book Reviews
Interested in reading Peter's favorite books? Check out his top shelf picks below:
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
As the scientific revolutions of the 1800s were underway, man was finally able to conquer nature; we no longer needed wind for ships, we identified the planets and their orbits, we built bridges out of steel and lit them with electricity, and we finally discovered the evolutionary process. There was only one field of nature we had yet to conquer. “Man’s final conquest has proved to be the Abolition of Man”
The Global 7 Years War by Daniel Baugh
Without exaggeration, I think you can say that the modern world began with the Seven Years War between Britain and France in the 1750s. The war is the catalyst for the American and French Revolutions, laid the groundwork for British domain in India and the future British Empire, spread British capitalism to the other European powers of France and Spain, to name a few of the effects of the war. If you want to understand the world today, start with the Seven Years War
Confessions by Saint Augustine
Considered to be the first true autobiography, Augustine’s master work, the Confessions, proves to be more than just man’s search for God, but more God’s search for Man. As Augustine struggles to understand just what he should believe, and where, he is willing to ask himself the deepest questions, and to make himself the fool if necessary. His search for Truth has proven itself as one of the master works of mankind. To quote Peter Kreeft, “no one should be allowed to die without reading The Confessions of St. Augustine.”