The 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Persons In History: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History

Michael H. Hart

Citadel Press, Jun 1, 2000 - Reference - 556 pages

In 1978, when Michael Hart’s controversial book The 100 was first published, critics objected that Hart had the nerve not only to select who he thought were the most influential people in history, but also to rank them according to their importance. Needless to say, the critics were wrong, and to date more than 60,000 copies of the book have been sold. Hart believed that in the intervening years the influence of some of his original selections had grown or lessened and that new names loomed large on the world stage. Thus, the publications of this revised and updated edition of The 100.

As before, Hart's yardstick is influence: not the greatest people, but the most influential, the people who swayed the destinies of millions of human beings, determined the rise and fall of civilizations, changed the course of history. With incisive biographies, Hart describes their careers and contributions. Explaining his ratings, he presents a new perspective on history, gathering together the vital facts about the world's greatest religious and political leaders, inventors, writers, philosophers, explorers, artists, and innovators—from Asoka to Zoroaster. Most of the biographies are accompanied by photographs or sketches. Hart's selections may be surprising to some. Neither Jesus nor Marx, but Muhammad, is designated as the most influential person in human history. The writer's arguments may challenge and perhaps convince readers, but whether or not they agree with him, his manner of ranking is both informative and entertaining. The 100, revised and updated, is truly a monumental work. It promises to be just as controversial, just as thought-provoking, and just as successful as its predecessor—a perfect addition to any history or philosophy reference section.

Contents

• V: 3
• VI: 11
• VIII: 17
• X: 22
• XI: 27
• XII: 31
• XIII: 36
• XIV: 42
• XV: 47
• XVI: 60
• XVII: 64
• XVIII: 70
• XIX: 75
• XX: 79
• XXI: 82
• XXII: 87
• XXIII: 99
• XXIV: 103
• XXVI: 111
• XXVII: 115
• XXVIII: 119
• XXIX: 123
• XXX: 129
• XXXI: 133
• XXXII: 138
• XXXIII: 144
• XXXIV: 148
• XXXV: 153
• XXXVII: 170
• XXXVIII: 174
• XXXIX: 181
• XLI: 188
• XLII: 192
• XLIII: 195
• XLIV: 201
• XLV: 205
• XLVII: 213
• XLVIII: 217
• XLIX: 222
• L: 225
• LII: 228
• LIII: 232
• LIV: 236
• LV: 240
• LVI: 248
• LVII: 254
• LVIII: 258
• LIX: 261
• LX: 266
• LXI: 268
• LXII: 273
• LXIII: 281
• LXIV: 286
• LXV: 291
• LXVI: 294
• LXVII: 297
• LXVIII: 303
• LXIX: 309
• LXX: 315
• LXXI: 322
• LXXII: 328
• LXXIII: 336
• LXXIV: 341
• LXXV: 348
• LXXVI: 351
• LXXVII: 355
• LXXVIII: 359
• LXXIX: 363
• LXXX: 367
• LXXXI: 373
• LXXXII: 377
• LXXXIII: 381
• LXXXIV: 385
• LXXXV: 390
• LXXXVI: 395
• LXXXVIII: 399
• LXXXIX: 403
• XC: 408
• XCI: 414
• XCII: 420
• XCIII: 424
• XCV: 439
• XCVI: 445
• XCVII: 450
• XCVIII: 456
• XCIX: 461
• C: 468
• CI: 475
• CII: 488
• CIII: 491
• CIV: 498
• CV: 502
• CVI: 506
• CVII: 509
• CVIII: 511
• CX: 512
• CXI: 514
• CXII: 515
• CXIII: 516
• CXIV: 518
• CXV: 519
• CXVI: 520
• CXVII: 521
• CXVIII: 524
• CXIX: 527
• CXX: 529
• CXXI: 530
• CXXII: 531
• CXXIII: 532
• CXXIV: 533

Popular passages

Page 20 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you...‎

Page xxvi - We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power or of the hands. For have not the verses of Homer continued twenty-five hundred years, or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter; during which time infinite palaces, temples, castles, cities, have been decayed and demolished...‎

Page 24 - Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.‎

Page 149 - ... intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.‎

Page 34 - Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.‎

Page 454 - Further, it will not be amiss to distinguish the three kinds and as it were grades of ambition in mankind. The first is of those who desire to extend their own power in their native country ; which kind is vulgar and degenerate. The second is of those who labour to extend the power of their country and its dominion among men.‎

Page 34 - I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry : for it is better to marry than to burn.‎

Page 454 - But if a man endeavor to establish and extend the power and dominion of the human race itself over the universe, his ambition (if ambition it can be called) is without doubt both a more wholesome thing and a more noble than the other two.‎

Page 150 - People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.‎

About the author

Michael H. Hart is an American author and astrophysicist. His first and most famous book, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, was published in 1978 and has sold more than half a million copies in 15 languages.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Persons In History: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
• Author: Michael H. Hart
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Citadel Press, 2000
• ISBN: 0806513500, 9780806513508
• Length: 556 pages
• Subjects: History / Reference; Reference / Encyclopedias